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 oday’s Nike doesn’t “just do it.” Nike now does it raw, rough, and edgy. At least that’s the feel created by its multi-event-marketing blitz targeting street-savvy, soccer-loving kids. In a Jordan-size flight of genius, Nike took its product and its legacy to the streets with this series of 13 events. |
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| The preparation started with some unusual locations. An abandoned slaughterhouse, an unfinished, underground subway station, an old tanker ship, to name a few, provided the raw, street-focused look the bold footwear company sought. Within these environments, Nike went industrial, using chain-link fences, stacked oil drums, scattered sea containers, aging, rusted-metal walls, spray-painted logos, and super-graphic images of professional soccer’s best players. Tying these elements together is a scorpion image, chosen to reinforce the motivational message, “Every touch counts.” These unusual environs became the perfect setting for Nike’s “Secret Tournament” event series. For those not familiar with the secret tournament concept, it began as a couple of Nike TV commercials featuring 24 of the world’s best professional soccer players duking it out in a series of 3-on-3, no-holds-barred secret soccer matches held in a caged field in an abandoned ship hull. Britain’s soccer-star-turned-actor Eric Cantona, refs the matches with one rule: “First goal wins.” The Fight Club-esque competition ends in the second commercial when, on the final goal, one player kicks the ball so hard it smashes through the rusted tanker hull and water floods in. “We wanted to give the kids an opportunity to experience something that only professionals had experienced,” says David Odusanya, global performance design director for Nike. Accordingly, Nike created a series of sports-park environments to bring the secret tournament to life in 13 cities around the world. Nike wanted to celebrate soccer, to feed on and contribute to World Cup fever. More specifically, it hoped to reach 1.2 million kids in a 30-day period, reinforcing the benefits of Nike’s soccer footwear with a series of Scorpion Knockout (SKO) competitions. These matches would feature ordinary kids testing their mettle with 3-on-3 soccer games in caged fields similar to the ones in the gritty TV ads. Sites for the events were built in London, Paris, Madrid, Tokyo, Seoul, Berlin, Rotterdam, Rome, Los Angeles, Mexico City, São Paulo, Santiago, and Buenos Aires. “This was one of the largest and most logistically challenging projects ever undertaken by this exhibit house,” says Sam Kohn of Exhibits International, the Toronto firm tasked with the fabrication and installation of the parks. Though planning for the event series happened over a two-year period, the actual construction of the parks happened in the last six months, and installation took about five days for each site. The events, publicized through radio and TV spots and Nike’s award-winning Web site (www.nikefootball.com), attracted a whopping 1.8 million kids over the 30-day campaign. “It was so much fun to see it all come together,” Odusanya says. “Kids were just having a blast.” In keeping with Nike’s ongoing “legacy” efforts, the outdoor sections of the event sites were left behind for kids to continue using. Judges were impressed by Nike’s innovative, and risky, choice of installations. “They took found environments, created something memorable, and then left something behind,” one judge marvels. “They’ve invented their own playground — their own forum — their own arena to create a new type of exhibit,” another remarks. “It’s a standout.” Rough, rugged, and a little bit dangerous, the Nike touch doesn’t just count – it stings.  |
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| Nike Brand Design, San Francisco, 415-896-049, www.nike.com Exhibits International, Toronto, 416-252-2818, www.exhibitsinternational.com $10 Million |
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Each park features indoor and outdoor playing areas totalling about 80,000 square feet. Inside are interactive games and a “scorpion cage.” A central cage with a DJ spinning music adds an underground rave feel. Outdoor installations feature more fenced playing areas. |
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