If you're reading this blog, you're probably one of the 12 million or so people so far to have watched our new Nike Football campaign: My Time is Now. But you may not have explored the hidden tunnels in the interactive version of the film that lead to additional content. These include CR7 WORKOUT- Train with Ronaldo and download his exclusive football workout (above). KITWALL: Explore Nike product and kit in a giant locker room (below) from which you can click through to buy online.
And FOOTBALL BRAIN (above): Test your football IQ and compare it with your mates'.
There is a new breed of football player emerging. Younger, smarter, and scared of no-one. Driven by the hunger to succeed. Armed with new tools and product innovation. Ready to step out of the shadows if given the opportunity.
Our innovative new Nike 'My Time Is Now' campaign celebrates this next wave of footballers, whether it's the participants in The Chance, Nike's worldwide hunt for football talent (with previous winners featured in the spot), or elite athletes looking to make an impact on the world stage.
But more than simply reflecting the defining qualities of hunger and impatience, this new global campaign provokes and rewards these behaviours in the participating audience too.
To achieve this, the campaign flips the traditional AV model: rather than creating a film for TV and running it online, we created a film for the internet, a version of which runs on TV. Launched online first, with the TV edit following up in Saturday's Champions League Final, the film is driven by a variety of different types of content, interactions and experiences, as well as seamless extensions to the overall narrative flow of the campaign.
Produced in association with Stinkdigital, this interactive film tests and rewards the viewers’ desire to learn, their knowledge of the game, and their hunger to succeed, and those willing to dig deep – the defining qualities of a modern player.
Ed Elworthy, long-time client of W+K London and Global Director of Brand Communications for Nike Football said: “We really wanted to showcase the hunger and impatience of young players breaking into the game – inspirations that are shared not only by our audience but by the Nike brand itself.”
Interacting with the film not only proves challenging and rewarding, it also arms young footballers with information that will help them to go on to be better players, and to seize the chance to shine out on the pitch. And if you explore the tunnels, amongst other things, you can unlock a secret Sonic game…
And even get yourself a footballer's haircut…
Stuart Harkness, our Creative Director on Nike, said: “Nike has always stood for innovation. So we didn’t want to just make a football spot about the next wave of players trying to breakthrough, but instead reward those hungry enough to find what it takes to make it, online, via hidden content in the film itself.”
The film and interactive experience sit at the heart of Nike's 2012 programme to find and elevate unsigned players around the world. This ambition is crystallised in 'The Chance' – Nike's global hunt for the hungriest emerging amateur players around the world, which is run by our friends at AKQA.
As always, this was a collaboration from start to finish. Nike Football, ourselves, AKQA and Mindshare worked on the overaching idea for the campaign. The film and the interactive experience were conceived and created by W+K London and produced by Stink and Stinkdigital, and directed by Adam Berg. The list of all those involved goes on, and deserves (and will get) a post in its own right shortly.
