Nike ‘Together’ Celebrates Lebron's Cleveland Return

Not only is the NBA back, but its stand out player LeBron James is back too – back playing for his home town Cleveland Cavaliers.

Nike Basketball, just one of several brands with an association with the team or the player, is celebrating his return home with a new two-minute film called ‘Together’.

Premièring on the 30 October in the national telecast at the start of the NBA team’s first game of the season, this black and white homecoming spot shows Cleveland fans converging on the team’s Quicken Loans Arena to welcome the sports undisputed number one player back to the city.

The film portrays the city’s residents from all walks of life all joining James and his teammates in a pre-game huddle prior to the opening night tip-off.

The entire city joins hands as a show of unity that aims to celebrate the pride and emotion of LeBron’s return: One team. One city. One goal.

The creative also includes shots of Cleveland landmarks like The Q, Terminal Tower and restaurants along East Fourth Street.

Several people genuinely close to the superstar make an appearance in the campaign: from his mum Gloria Marie James, to coach Dru Joyce and children from his LeBron James Family Foundation, plus new teammates Kyrie Irving, Dion Waters, Anderson Varejao, Shawn Marion, Tristan Thompson, Matthew Dellavedova and Joe Harris.

The campaign continues to run on air across national entertainment and sports networks through November.

It also coincides with the launch of James’ latest shoe – the LEBRON 12 HRT OF A LION – which hit stores the same day in tandem with James’s on-court return to his hometown team.

The new shoe is part of the brand’s ID range and thus ready for custom design at www.nikeid.com wherever NIKEiD is available.

In addition to the ‘Together’ commercial, a huge 10-story banner welcoming James back to Cleveland was unveiled Thursday – a 25,000 square foot installation on Cleveland’s Ontario Street.

The outdoor ad is so large that it took more than nine hours to uncover the full image, which sees James literally represent Cleveland on is back, pre-game.

Nike also ran a time-lapse web film of the banner’s unveiling,

as well as running newspaper ads to support the campaign.

Nike Basketball worked with long-time agency Wieden + Kennedy Portland to create the campaign.

The film was directed by the Malloy Brothers, while the global creative directors were Alberto Ponte and Ryan O’Rourke, the interactive director was Dan Viens, the copywriter Jordan Dinwiddie, the art directors were Jason Campbell and director Emma Barnett and the agency producers were Matt Hunnicutt and Chris Capretto, while account management was handled by Jordan Muse, Katie Gurgainus and Ricardo Hieber.

The production company was H.S.I., the editorial company was Spotwelders, the VFZ was done by The Mill and music and mix companies were Barking Owl and Lime.

Comment

Of course, such an approach to the happy family packaging of event is met with scepticism in some quarters – not least because when James announced he was leaving Cleveland (in the Decision TV show) for further fame and success in Miami, the Cavaliers’ owner Dan Gilbert wrote a public letter decrying James for betraying his home city team and fans.

Like it or loathe it, the spot generated around 1 million views in its first six hours and racked up 3.5 million views in three days.

Sadly LeBron’s Cavaliers lost their first game of the season to the New York Knicks.

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