A thread, on why the strategy deserves as much praise as the editing in THAT Nike ad

Two months ago, the Head of Strat at W+K told @onstrategy1 about the tension between elite athletes and everyday athletes.

[side note: this was a brilliant interview, on an even more brilliant show. listen to them all - @OnStrategyUs]

Nike has historically created great campaigns that elevate the brilliance of elite athletes. Write the Future in 2010 was a beauty.

They can also showcase the everyday athlete, like this famous example.

And the more recent Find Your Greatness campaign.

Yet as good as those examples are, they don't represent Nike at its best.

The brand is at its best not when it switches between 'everyday' and 'elite', but rather stitches them together into one dazzling fabric.

And it took this whole thing for Nike to realize that 'everyday' and 'elite' weren't binary distinctions.

Many elite athletes struggle to get out of bed. Many everyday people can do things athletes would deem elite.

It would be easy {and lazy} to assume that COVID has brought us all together.

In many ways, it's shown how divided we are. It's closed our vision, narrowed our focus, concentrated our gaze on personal survival.

Sport hasn't been spared.

NBA players are living in a Disneyland bubble while single parents spoon-feed their kids and try to close sales on email.

Million dollar golf tournaments have started, while millions are unemployed.

The chasm between 'elite' and 'everyday' was about to expand out again and Nike was staring down the barrel of more division, unless it could show that not only are we not that different, we only achieve progress when we pool our strengths and do it together.

GET everyday athletes who are struggling for motivation TO see that they possess traits that are equal to the world's best BY showing the obstacles we face are only overcome together.

A final note on the media strategy.

1. Nike always launches with Twitter. Chances are you saw the video with a Promoted button as the second Tweet on your feed, the highest-reaching and most premium placement possible, in a platform known for its social influence.

2. It's no coincidence the campaign launched on the same day as the country's youngest and most progressive sport returned.

They didn't buy an ad, they showed up on the court, reinforcing the importance of the campaign by owning the most important asset, the court itself.