Results and Effectiveness

The 120-second Nike film reached over 700,000 spectators in 72 hours of brand experience. It showed in screens larger than 32 inches and played 2,160 times versus playing only twice on national TV with the available money. In short, we were the unofficial sponsors of Euro Cup minus paying the royalty premium.

Creative Execution

Overnight, the humble eateries were turned into Nike’s home-ground where owners of “mamak” eateries and cafés were rallied to join our campaign by installing DVD players and manually playing Guy Ritchie’s 2-minute Nike ad during breaks of key matches. The selected eateries were chosen based on their large screens and looming sounds – something average homes did not have – ensuring that Guy Ritchie’s work was delivered brilliantly to excited spectators. To rally greater support for the Nike sponsored teams, we also distributed Nike stickers during breaks via promoters in Nike jerseys.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The 2008 Euro Cup was a defining moment for football fans. Whilst Nike did not sponsor the Euro Cup telecast, we had to ensure Nike as the dominant football brand by stealing the limelight from the official sponsors. The Guy Ritchie directed Nike Football ad was 2-minutes long and our budget for this execution was less than RM100K. On national TV, it could only play twice. 90% of Malaysians watch football with friends outside their homes, we had an idea: we took this insight and used it to Nike’s advantage by hijacking our competition’s multimillion-dollar global sponsorship at Malaysia’s humble, everyday eateries: Mamaks.