Bright colours, big names and real emotions surrounded the campaign across the Internet, to taxis on the streets, from radio to newspapers, the message was loud and clear... "Ole!- pleased to beat you".
Nike launched the campaign through skilful players like Roberto Carlos, Figo, Ronaldo, Henry and local heroes like Brian Boloyi, Stanton Fredericks and Aaron Makoena who are at the forefront of this beautiful game. The campaign took an integrated approach to launch Nikes innovative football products and to create a sense of magic around the game. On TV, radio, in store windows and on the streets, in magazines, newspapers, at football games and on the players themselves, football fever struck with a vengeance!
The two television adverts have proved to be a talking point and favourite amongst audiences, using humour and flair to get Nike to stand out from its competitors. "The Other Game", featured Ronaldo, Carlos, Ronaldinho and Figo in some boisterous pre-game competition. The second, The Home Game, features Thierry Henry, causing chaos as he executes some breathtaking moves indoors with shouts of "Ole!" being heard in the background.
South African audiences were less familiar with the expression of "Ole!" used in the context of football and herein lay the challenge for Nike; to get the meaning and the association to take on in this country.
Radio is a proven method of reaching the masses, and most South Africans are familiar with the cheeky Nike football ads flighted on Metro FM, 5FM and YFM. Nike took the rich cultural aspects of life in South Africa and used them in five different executions of the radio advert. "Ole!" was incorporated into typical South African situations. Sounds familiar to all South Africans, such as the shouts of a taxi driver, or a well-known insult were cleverly teamed with the chants of "Ole!", as the sound of magical moments in football. Each radio ad concluded with the pay-off line "nikefootball.com: pleased to beat you".
Nike made use of the taxi's iconic status in South Africa by gathering an army of red, green and yellow taxis sporting "Ole!" that could be seen traversing the streets of Gauteng, Western Cape and Durban, spreading the Nike message loud and clear to thousands of passengers around the country.
Readers of the Sunday Times weekly comic, Super Strikas, soon found themselves chuckling at the exploits of "Shakes", a character that brought Nike football into the story. This was in addition to advertising placed in soccer publications such as Soccer Life and Kick Off.
Nikefootball.com provided football fans with all the info they needed to know about the game, the teams, the players and of course the products. The 3D multiplayer game was a clever tool to bring hours of fun to fans young and old, whilst establishing interaction with the browsers.
The campaign came alive at retail around the country with window displays that were nothing short of spectacular. Shoppers would be forgiven for thinking their favourite player had just passed by; broken windows, bouncing balls, and the eye catching Nike colours were sure fire attention grabbers.
In store and window displays were supplemented by a competition to add value to the consumer. One lucky winner was the given the chance to experience the magic for themselves at the Euro '04 finals in Lisbon, Portugal.
By making use of all tools available to them, Nike used a multitude of marketing tools to create a campaign that was far reaching, impactful... and scored with consumers.
Channel Communications for Nike
