The Russian ‘Never Ask’ campaign is one of the three principle strands of Nike’s World Cup marketing: the other two being ‘Going Brazilian’ (which focuses on its principle team partnership) and ‘Believe’ (which focuses on its key player ambassadors).
This host country campaign is a multi sports initiative released in the days immediately leading up to the tournament’s kick-off.
Developed with long-time creative agency Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, this multi-sport campaign was designed to show the realities of Russian sport – including both its highs of lows.
Collectively the campaign celebrates the spirit of the ‘korobka’ – the murals that dominate the streets of Moscow – and, as well as its flagship video creative it also includes around 240 murals (all between 2 and 16 metres high) erected across Moscow about Russian kids learning to play football.
The artistically stylish lead commercial tells the story of a Russian kid who learns how to play football on the streets.
This central video is supported by an additionally three spots – each of which focuses on a specific Russian sports star who Nike believes represents the ‘korobka’ spirit.
The first of this trio features Fyodor Smolov, a Russian striker who fought tooth and nail to elevate himself from well-known bench-warmer to his country’s leading scorer.
The second spot addresses homophobia in Russia through a film about Aleksandr Maltsev – the country’s first and only professional synchronized swimmer.
While the third ad tackles disability and sport in Russia and focuses on blind runner Elena Fedoseeva.
As well as producing ads with a Russian theme, Nike has created a series of murals, and made an action-packed film to share the results.
Comment:
This Russian, host nation ‘Never Ask’ campaign partially tackles some of the more serious, values-based challenges and issues in the host market.
It is supported by various other international Nike marketing strands leveraging the World Cup including activating around its single biggest team shirt supplier sponsorship via ‘Going Brazilian’ (see case study) and its player-led, real-time, response work primarily fronted by the brand’s principle player ambassador Cristiano Ronaldo (see case study).
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/
https://www.instagram.com/nikefootball/
