A standout strand of Nike’s Russia 2018 World Cup work saw the sportswear behemoth rework an iconic commercial from a past tournament – paying homage to 1998 Brazilian team airport ad.
Titled ‘Going Brazilian’, the 1-minute 40-second ad infuses skills and samba and aims to embody the spirit of Brazilian football.
Fteauirng famous football faces from past and present, it opens with Barcelona star Phillippe Coutinho watching a game on his phone in a dressing room, before he nutmegs teammate and Chelsea attacker Willian from which point the tempo speeds up as a footballing montage unfolds.
The new edition, which features a high profile guest appearance from Brazilian legend Ronaldo recreating that famous airport scene, also has an added focus on fans and players on the streets of Brazil.
It climaxes with a rousing speech delivered by a young child wearing the Brazil shirt.
The Brazil commercial’s copy reads: “Our football is born in the streets, in the várzea, in the lawns. Our football inspires the world. This shirt has history.”
Called ‘Going Brazilian’, the spot was first posted on 3 June.
The objective is not just to generate excitement and support for the Nike backed Brazilian team and help motivate one of the tournament favourites to again lift the famous Jules Rimet trophy, but also to rekindle fond memories of World Cups past
The original spot starred Ronaldo, Romario, Roberto Carlos and the rest of Brazil’s 1998 World Cup squad running amok in an airport to a hypnotic samba beat.
Comment:
Nike rarely disappoints with its stylish, elaborate soccer spots and this latest film doesn’t disappoint.
It notched up 3m YouTube views within 24 hours.
This 2018 ad contains many of the ingredients that have seen so many Nike World Cup spots achieve a classic status for consumers and an iconic status in the advertising community.
But does the 2018 truly match up to the original or is it simply and shortcut creative rip it off?
The justification behind the reworking is ‘the Brazil shirt has history’ and ‘history with Nike’, but is it enough?
And why this nostalgic approach now?
Does it aim to revive happier memories than those from Brazil’s heartbreaking defeat to winner Germany when they were the 2014 tournament’s host nation?
Or perhaps it hopes to help fans rekindle their World Cup passion following values and political criticism surrounding host nation Russia and of the FIFA corruption scandal?
Brazil will open its 2018 World Cup campaign at the Rostov Arena on 17 June when they take on Switzerland.
Other strands of Nike’s World Cup related marketing include a series of Russian ‘Never Ask’ multi sports host market campaign (see case study) and its endorser player led responsive ‘Believe’ activity (see case study).
Plus, of course, there has been plenty of buzz, hype and PR around Nike’s stylish and very trendy Nigeria kit (click to view Instagram 1 & Instagram 2).
A shirt which broke pre-order sales records with a staggering 3 million kits purchased.
To put that number in perspective, it is more than Manchester United sold through the entirety of 2016.
As well as plenty of player-specific social content pieces across Nike Football’s channels,
plus a teaser for the upcoming ‘The Battle Inside Cristiano’s Mind’.
Links:
Nike / Nike Football
https://www.nike.com/gb/en_gb/c/football
https://www.youtube.com/user/nike
https://www.youtube.com/user/NikeFootball
https://twitter.com/nikefootball
https://www.instagram.com/nike/
