RISK EVERYTHING

As a kid, I couldn’t get enough of Nike’s World Cup campaigns and top-tier advertisements. From ‘The Cage’ to ‘Secret Mission’ I watched them religiously as a young player, practicing every move until I sincerely believed I could one day play on the beautiful game’s greatest stage.

Fast forward to today,  I never did get to play in a World Cup (although there’s still time!); however, I was able to do the next best thing: be the voice of Nike for the World Cup.

For two years, I oversaw the brand’s voice on social and contributed at-large, reacting to big moments and developing the language for massive product and creative launches. The culmination of this surreal experience was the 2014 World Cup and Nike’s Risk Everything campaign, which was the brand’s biggest marketing effort for a sporting event ever.

While the World Cup is only one glorious month, the planning and aftermath take far, far longer, and I was able to be there for the full ride, working with incredible creatives, artists, and players.

At the end of the day, the World Cup doesn’t just decide the best football team in the world for the next four years. It decides the number one football brand in the world for the next four years. Nike’s challenge was to make sure that despite not being an official sponsor, the company would still prevail as the number one global football brand and dominate the football conversation before, during, and after the final tournament match.

So we just did it.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Client: Nike

Agency: AKQA

Date: December 2013-October 2014

Services: Copywriting, Creative Direction, Creative Strategy