BASKETBALL DISCIPLES

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TitleBASKETBALL DISCIPLES
BrandNIKE CHINA
Product / ServiceSPORTS APPAREL
EntrantWIEDEN+KENNEDY Shanghai, CHINA
Entrant Company:WIEDEN+KENNEDY Shanghai, CHINA
Advertising Agency:WIEDEN+KENNEDY Shanghai, CHINA

Credits

Credits

Name Company Position
Nike China Client
Wieden/Kennedy Entertainment Agency
@radical.media Production Company
Mindshare Shanghai Media Agency
Razorfish China Digital

The Campaign

There are over 300 million kids in China who play basketball regularly. Only an elite few are dedicated to hard work and training. Kobe Bryant is the hardest worker in the game today. Nike basketball is committed to making Chinese players better. In 2008 we wanted to elevate their games by connecting Chinese kids with Kobe's spirit and taking them on a multimedia training journey. In ancient China, Mentu were top students of the master. They embodied reverence, passion and hard work. We selected 24 Chinese kids to come to Los Angeles and become Kobe's Mentu. After ten days of intense training, a final live game was held in Beijing to crown the ultimate Mentu in front of thousands. This journey was captured and produced as an advertising campaign, 4-week online training program, 6-part documentary, mobile and gaming platform and helped launch Nike Basketball's SNS, The Baller's Network.

Success of the Campaign

We ran the 6 episodes back to back in prime time on CCTV5, the country's only national sports channel. Strength of the content resulted in 2 additional airings – once on the same national sports channel, and once in Guangzhou (tier 1 market, basketball influencer city). Documentary Viewership • CCTV5 June - 10.4 million viewers (all china) • GZ sports channel July bonus airing - 115,000 viewers in GZ • CCTV5 Dec bonus airing - 13 mil viewers (all china) • 300,000 episodes watched online Additional Highlights • First brand to use Bluetooth on courts. Achieved 10,000 downloads of wallpapers, videos & games in 27 days in Beijing and Shanghai. • 21.6 million games played on Kobe Mentu virtual court in Freestyle Online Game • 17 million online views of various video content • 125 million TVC impressions • 145,000 members recruited in first 45 days for Nike's SNS 'Baller's Network

Describe how the campaign/entry was launched and executed across each channel in the order of implementation.

This campaign had 4 phases. First, establish "Kobe as the Master" by releasing his training manifesto poster in key basketball publications and on basketball courts. Second, release "Lessons from the Master" featuring Kobe's Signature Moves in TV and digital and his inspirational training quotes in Print, Outdoor and Digital. The 4-week training program launched across Nike's website and its newly launched SNS "baller's network". Third, time to build buzz around "Kobe and His Mentu". We launched the show trailer in TV and digital and flipped key OOH units to promote the airdate and nikebasketball.com.cn shifted focus from training to entertaining. Finally in "The Master Teaches his Mentu" it was showtime for the 6-part documentary airing daily on China's only national broadcast sports network. Daily show teasers in TV and print featured additional show content online, while web drivers in the show drove kids online for more training tips.