Nike: "PLAY THE REAL THING" Ambient Advert

Type of entry: Product/Service
Category: Consumer Products
Advertiser: NIKE JAPAN
Product/Service: NIKE FIVE
Agency: BEACON COMMUNICATIONS Tokyo, JAPAN

Creative Director/Planner/Producer: Shunsuke Kakinami (beacon communications k.k.)
Senior Copywriter: Shuhei Tsuji (beacon communications k.k.)
Art Director, Designer: Yusuke Morotomi (beacon communications k.k.)
Art Director, Designer: Masato Konno (beacon communications k.k.)
Copywriter: Ryo Kobayashi (beacon communications k.k.)
Strategic Planner: Takuro Amada (beacon communications k.k.)
Account Supervisor: Norio Serizawa (beacon communications k.k.)
Account Director: Kenji Kondo, Satoshi Inoue (beacon communications k.k.)
Website Production Company: Root Communications ()
Film Production Company: TYO PRODUCTIONS ()
Executive Film Producer: Takeshi Fukuda (TYO PRODUCTIONS)
Director, Editor: Satoshi Mori (easeback)
Film Producer: Hiromichi Takagi (TYO PRODUCTIONS)
Film Production Manager: Koichi Shibukawa, Shun Uesugi (TYO PRODUCTIONS)
Creative Coordinator: Shingo Fujii (oddjob)
Sound Designer: Takuya Murakami (Artist Bureau)
Camera: Masashi Sasaki ()
Book Producer: Shohei Mukaide (TENPRINT)
Photo Producer: Jun Fukahori (Root Communications)
Photographer: Ryosuke Dohi (CAS & CAS)

Results and Effectiveness:
Nike sold out, of all NIKE5 boots and clothing.
The matches became more and more crowded with spectators as the rumors got out that a mysterious professional team was at the local field playing any team who challenged.
Creative Execution:
We used the actual futsal fields as our media. We created a mystery dream team of futsal professionals to invade tournaments across the country. They were like a futsal “Harlem Globetrotters” putting spectators and other players in awe with their skills and expertise.

Our Nike5 mystery team started invading fields and playing games to whoever wanted to challenge. These masters gave an abject lesson in how the game is played at the highest level, time and time again.
Insights, Strategy and the Idea:
Futsal is a game of five-a-side football played on a small field.
The sport is growing in Japan but few people have seen or experienced it played at higher level outside of weekend get-togethers. In fact many players don’t even know the real rules.

The objective was to promote this high performance line of products to Japanese players.
But how do you launch high performance sportswear to weekend players?

Our idea was to “Play the Real Thing.”
Nike needed to create a benchmark for the game and give players the opportunity to experience first-hand how it can really be played.