Weeks before the World Cup touches down for its North American takeover on June 11, Nike is retooling in time for the tournament and says its shifting its marketing formula from traditional campaigns.
The sportswear maker unveiled out the first glimpse of its “One Universe of Football” on Thursday as part of 12 weeks of programming that includes activations, apparel rollouts and collaborations.
And the company leaned on over 40 athletes, artists and personalties like Cristiano Ronaldo, Erling Haaland, LeBron James, Serena Williams, Travis Scott, Young Miko and even Kim Kardashian in Polaroid photos to illustrate their connection to the sport.
What follows will also be a flurry of product reveals since the kits of federations that qualified for World Cup group stages were already shown in March.
The company was clear to note that its approach during the 12 weeks and the World Cup goes beyond issuing a single statement ad, since emphasis is on the staying power of gestures that truly stick the landing. That message was emphasized as the brand noted that it is is not “dropping a big hero ad and moving on.”
Last June, Nike launched youth soccer competition Toma el Juego with events in Los Angeles, Seoul, Mexico City, Santiago, Lima and Miami and eventually pushing to over 20 cities globally.
Connecting with younger players through the free platform also meant reaching street soccer culture under the impression that far outside of the lights of the biggest stadiums, moments are happening across neighborhoods.
Even without explicitly mentioning that each move along the 12 weeks is crucial moment for the company, Nike is likely banking on the World Cup resonance to ensure that this pivoted marketing approach is worth the effort — and time.
The brand is not one of the global partners of the tournament like Adidas, Aramco, Coca-Cola or Visa but still get top billing via Ronaldo, Haaland, Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior who will feature prominently regardless if their squads advance deep in group stage play.
Still, the mission is clear: make the extended campaign rollout feel authentic and latch onto the company’s existing “Sport Offense” initiative that simply pushes its athletes and performance products. Amid a larger turnaround with Nike to reignite sales across all sports and lifestyle segments, being a bystander during a critical summer of soccer wasn’t an option and the 12 weeks of visuals, collaborations and event are the real time make-or-break experiment.
Following the Polaroid photo portion of the campaign, which also includes soccer legends Ronaldinho and Wayne Rooney, singer Lisa from Blackpink and rapper Central Cee, the company promises “unexpected collabs and cultural expressions over the coming weeks.” Closer to the start of the World Cup next month, Nike will show its latest Mercurial soccer boots, which will likely rides alongside its own tailored ads for the new silhouette.
