A FEW FAVOURITE CAMPAIGNS FROM THE LAST MONTH
NIKE – NOTHING BEATS A LDNR
The brief was almost certainly ‘focus on the
capital.’ And there’s nothing but the capital
on show in Nike’s ad ‘Nothing Beats a
Londoner’. Using athletes, sponsorships and
shots of the city, Nike’s creative and
commercial attention finds itself solely on
13% of the UK population. This is Nike
raising awareness and association for its
brand in an urban jungle while capturing the
authentic London street scene, without
having to hire Danny Dyer – it just works.
The only thing it doesn’t cover is Mayfair but
that’s a city in itself and the swoosh is a
rare occurrence there… Whether this
encourages those outside the M25 to buy
into the LDNR look is another story, but
internationally that is how London is seen.
Nike expects 80% of its growth to come
from 12 identified cities including the likes of
New York, Tokyo and Los Angeles, so don’t
be surprised to see some comparable films
cropping up in the future as they may be
onto a winner here.
MASTERCARD 22 LANGUAGES FORMULA 1 “GRID KIDS” FACEBOOK WATCH – BUBBA WALLACE
Credit Cards, Champions League,
International Diversity and Pele = Bliss.
MasterCard have teamed up with the man
who’s talent in his prime, was no doubt
‘priceless’, through delivering a short film of
22 football fans from around the world
competing in an 11-a-side match for UEFA
Champions League tickets. Goodbye 1970s, hello 2018! In a bid to “make
the pre-race ceremony more relevant and
interesting for fans”, Liberty Media have
made the decision to replace the ubiquitous
grid girls with a new programme called “grid
kids”. In a similar fashion to mascots in
rugby or McDonald’s Player Escorts in
football; F1 bosses plan to use budding
racing drivers to allow them to stand by
their heroes and get up close and personal
with the £6 million car that they aspire to
drive. The children will be chosen from both
karting and junior karting categories and
chosen on merit or lottery. A first for Facebook’s streaming platform,
focusing on an athletes journey to a sporting
event rather than a sporting event in itself.
And Facebook have chosen a remarkably
momentous occasion to do so.
Using their sponsorship of the Champions
League, MasterCard encapsulated the
competition and the teams within it by
traversing borders to formulate 2 teams, in
an attempt to answer the question of, “in a
divided world, can football unite us?”… And
the answer is yes. When the shrill of the
whistle was heard upon the completion of
90 minutes, the players returned to the
changing room to be faced with a moment
none would forget – Lifting the trophy with
the Brazilian legend, Pele.
Meeting arguably the greatest football
player of all time: Priceless.
The decision has divided fans, but the
changes that are taking place within F1 at
the moment can only be putting a smile on
the faces of sponsors. Sponsorship
considerations are becoming a prevalent
factor going forward for Liberty Media,
particularly with F1 teams agreeing to
modify the bodywork of the cars to allow for
more space for logos.
On the 18th February, Bubba Wallace
became the first African American since 1971
to drive in the Daytona 500 (it’s a NASCAR
thing). This is quite a big deal for a sport
supported heavily by those from the deep
south. Facebook Watch got in on the action
by leveraging their NASCAR rights and
featuring Bubba in an eight-part
documentary series leading up to the race.
Behind the Wall: Bubba Wallace, provides a
behind the scenes view of the driver’s
journey to the NASCAR Cup Series.
Even if you don’t like watching 4 wheels and
an engine go round and round an oval for
hours on end, the documentary series
following an African American’s preparation
to do just that is definitely worth a watch!