Nike "Writes The Future" with a big bet on Facebook
And it paid off. BIG time.
Nike, in an effort to raise awareness of the brand going into next week's World Cup, launched a new campaign called "Write The Future" with a 3 minute video depicting some of soccer's greats and how their accomplishments and failures on the field affect society and their own lives.
The video features Nike sponsored stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Ronaldinho and others. The video also includes other Nike athletes Kobe Bryant and Roger Federer and even a surprise appearance from Homer Simpson.
Using Facebook as the centerpiece for the entire campaign, Nike premiered the video spot on the Nike Football Facebook Page a few days early to give Nike Football fans early access before debuting the spot on TV at half time of the UEFA Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Inter Milan.
Of course, beyond early access, Nike's goal was also to grow their Nike Football fan base on Facebook. On launch day, they had an ad on most users' Facebook homepages prompting them to watch the video. Smartly, they made it so that users needed to visit the Nike Football page and "Like" Nike Football in order to watch the video.
Indeed, according to a recent New York Times article, the ad buy is among the largest in Facebook’s history. But boy did it pay off.
Here's a look at the numbers:
The move caused Nike Football fan numbers to increase from 550,000 to over 1.1 million today. They essentially doubled their fan base overnight.
I think this Nike campaign will make for a great case study for other brands. I expect we'll see many brands following suit with this "insider access" approach to social.
Now let's not forget the video itself. This campaign's success speaks volumes to the creative and once again, the creative team at Wieden+Kennedy killed it. They continue to impress. At the time of writing, the has 12.7MM views.
If you haven't seen it yet, here it is:
Ah, branding and marketing. You gotta love it.
