Nike has already shown its support for the FIFA World Cup with its epic three-minute TV spot, entitled 'Write the Future', featuring football stars such as Wayne Rooney, Ronaldinho, Cristiano Ronaldo and Didier Drogba.
Each segment of the ad, created by Wieden & Kennedy Amsterdam, shows a crucial moment of the match, and the consequences of making a winning contribution or a mistake.
Nike is now bringing its support to the host nation of the World Cup through the creation of a huge interactive billboard affixed to one of the most prominent buildings in Johannesburg, the Life Centre. Fans from all over the world are invited to submit a 57-character inspirational message that 'writes the future' of their favourite player through Facebook (http://go.nike.com/WhoWillWriteTheFuture), Twitter (using the hashtag #NikeFuture), Mxitt and QQ.
Similar to Nike's Chalkbot campaign, which saw a robot print messages of support to cyclists competing in the Tour du France, this campaign sees 100 fan-generated headlines selected each night to be displayed on Africa's largest LED screen, measuring 44x42 metres. If your message is displayed, you receive a personalised notification with a picture of your headline and the accompanying animation of your player.
So far fans have 'written the future' of the likes of Rooney ('Just Roo it!'), Drogba ('Beware of the Drog!') and Ronaldo (Ronaldastico!).
Nike wanted to develop a campaign that inspired the world through Nike's POV on football but then created opportunities for consumers to participate in the experience themselves through social media.
Write the Future was a global campaign that was launched simultaneously around the world in 32 countries during the World Cup season.
The key was igniting the conversation with the 3-minute film starring the professional footballers. Nike needed the film to reach as large a global scale as possible. This was also an opportunity to disrupt the global blogosphere and grow Nike's social community.
For five days, Nike took control of the blogosphere and lead the global football conversation leading into the World Cup. By releasing the film to Nike's social community first, this lead to global takeovers of Facebook (20 countries), Youtube (14 countries) and X-Box to running on TV in the Champions League Final, Nike disrupted the world. This launch changed the game instantly and Write the Future became the rallying cry for the World Cup in South Africa.
From there, Nike had a robust social network it could activate the 'Write the Future' message. One of the highlights was the Lifecenter experience in Johannesburg. Footballers around the world had the opportunity to submit who they thought would 'write the future' each night of the tournament and the messages were projected on a digital wall on one of the tallest buildings in the city.
Results
The World Cup has been won. And the winner is Nike.
The Telegraph newspaper said, "Other companies who want to win with social media should take note".
Harvard Business Review: "The quotes from the press speak for themselves. Nike was very successful in connecting with consumers, driving conversation and creating community around the biggest global sporting event".
Nike global product orders were up 7%
Nike sentiment / brand buzz was twice adidas and 30% of the overall football conversation
Nike community membership (Facebook) grew over 300%
Youtube views of the 3-minute film reached 12 million views in one day and 40+ million and growing