Following November’s host nation ‘Dare To Be Brazilian‘ campaign and December’s ‘Ordem‘ ball launch, Nike kicks off the main global thrust of its 2014 World Cup work with the launch of its content rich ‘Risk Everything’ participatory platform.
Spearheaded by a TV spot starring a set of three key Nike player ambassadors – Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar (each of whom play for a Nike sponsored national team) – and exploring the pressure placed on some of the world’s top players as they prepare for Brazil 2014.
The Wieden+Kennedy commercial follows the players travelling to games and explores their fears and challenges: can Ronaldo carry Portugal, will Neymar living up to the iconic Brazil Number 10 shirt and how will Rooney cope with the viscous British media?
The commercial is directed by uber ad (and music video) director Jonathan Glazer and ends with the tagline: ‘Pressures shapes legends. Risk Everything’.
The message is simple: too win on the world’s biggest stage, the world’s greatest footballers must risk everything.
The somewhat sombre tone of the spot is reflected in the ‘Risk Everything’ logo – a skull with the Nike swoosh slashed into the forehead, accompanied by a burning dice and a flaming football.
Nike’s initiative is a set of content initiatives under the “Risk Everything” umbrella idea and revolving around a bespoke microsite.
Online the campaign encourages fans to ‘show how they risk anything’ by uploading videos of themselves and/or their own teams and the best users’ content uploaded through the channel will be used in a future campaign creative.
The Twitter hashtag invites consumers to ‘share your best moments’ by tweeting using #riskeverything to be in with a chance of having their own creative featured in the campaign.
The central participatory pillar of Risk Everything is a global, brand-hosted small-sided football tournament played during the build-up to Brazil that adds an element of ‘don’t just watch them, join them’ to the campaign.
RiskItAll is positioned as the ultimate ‘Winner Stays’ small-sided tournament where teams take on rivals from their own region and then nation, before the winners go through to take on the best in the world.
See http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/football/winnerstays
The website is also a transactional platform and sells replica kits of the 10 World Cup teams Nike backs, plus a set of Nike football boots appropriate to small-sided tournaments.
Consumers are even invited to interactively ‘shop the ad’ at http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/pw/riskeverything/dqm and the campaign’s website invites viewers/players to ‘chose their weapon’ (in other words get ready for the initiative’s tournament by buying Nike products).
‘The expectations – from a nation’s hopes to the historic power of a shirt – are massive, but these are players who thrive on that responsibility,’ says Nike Chief Marketing Officer Davide Grasso.
‘These players play on the edge because they know great moments usually spring from attempts to try something out of the ordinary. Those moments do not occur without fearless risk-taking.’
‘This film embodies that sentiment and reminds players in every country at every level: if you are prepared to risk everything, there’s no telling what you can do.’
Comment
Nike, of course, isn’t an official FIFA World Cup sponsor, but as ever it is leveraging its key official player sponsorships and major team partnerships to engage with consumers around the tournament.
Indeed, Nike will be hoping for more than just simply spoiling adidas’ official pitch.
Retail industry analysts report that Nike is hoping that its 2014 World Cup work will finally see it overhaul rival and official FIFA partner adidas as top dog in the global football category.
This new 90-second spot has echoes of Nike’s now legendary ‘Write The Future’ ad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
A spot which many market watchers feel successfully ambushed official FIFA World Cup sponsor adidas’ activation.
‘Write The Future’ also explored player fears about failing on sport’s biggest stage, so there is thematic ‘World Cup pressure and the psychic stresses of stardom’ consistency between the 2010 and 2014 work.
Links
Nike Risk Everything Website
