Callum Slatter, alumnus of the Sookio Bootcamp, gets to grips with Nike's wildly successful Nothing Beats a Londoner campaign. What elements combined hit the mark so perfectly? Let's find out.

Legal gaffes aside, Nike’s campaign was an all-time great. From captivating visuals to subtle celebrity cameos… here’s why it was so effective. When Nike first launched their Nothing Beats a Londoner campaign in early 2018 it bowled people over.

Racking up 4.6 million views in less than a week, the ad fizzed through WhatsApp group chats and the Twittersphere alike. It became the #1 trending video on YouTube, and had everyone from Drake to Sadiq Khan interacting with it on Twitter. Real big stuff.

Unfortunately for Nike, they trod too hard on the toes of one London company. Activewear brand LNDR mounted a legal challenge protesting Nike’s use of the hashtag #LDNR in the campaign.

(To be fair, did you spot the difference between these two logos?)

The verdict fell in favour of the underdogs; LNDR won the case, and soon enough Nike were forced to pull the campaign from all their channels.

Though smothered before its peak, Nothing Beats A Londoner was an all-time great.

Remembering who the real stars are

Every great ad demonstrates some form of ingenuity. By making their target audience the stars of the ad, Nike struck the core of many viewers.

Nothing beats a Londoner is not about big names like Harry Kane, Dina Asher-Smith or Kurupt FM. Nor Skepta, Eden Hazard or Ian Wright. Or even Big Shaq, Alex Iwobi or Adebayo Akinfenwa.

Nothing beats a Londoner is authentically focused on the kids. Not superficially. Authentically.

Kids like the footballer who runs two miles to training. Kids like the boxer, who “fights her own family” before stepping into the ring. Kids like the lonely ice hockey player, who’s his own teammate, opposition and manager. And so on.

They are the essence of the ad. It’s their language that speaks loudest. And it’s the authentic focus on their struggle that resonates strongest with the target audience.

Nike’s use of celebrities here is something to be inspired by. The supporting role that the stars play merely augments the admiration that the audience develops for the kids during the ad. In a world saturated with brands seeking to create buzz through simple celeb association, the authentic interplay between the kids and the stars means this Nike campaign stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Deft celebrity inclusion

Nike nailed the subtlety of celebrity inclusion in this campaign. Should the references have been even slightly more obscure, and you’d imagine the celebrities would have flashed on screen without being recognised by the audience. Any more mainstream and their appearance might just have seemed a bit insincere.

An example of Nike getting it right? MC Grindah features briefly on the side-lines of an astro pitch. Kurupt FM fans will know him as the likely lad and overgrown child from BBC3’s People Just Do Nothing. If you’ve watched the show, then seeing MC Grindah in full flow at a 5-a-side match makes perfect sense. In the ad he brings Wembley-level enthusiasm to a municipal sports facility, just as he would in the show.

And if you haven’t seen the show? No problem. You’ll still giggle at the bravado of the teenage girl who rips his mic away.

MC Grindah’s inclusion is deft, just like the integration of the countless other stars. Though Nike hardly reinvented the wheel by including entertainment stars in a sports ad, they showed a subtler understanding of London’s youth culture than you might expect from such a monster organisation.

Nike played the line brilliantly. When making slightly niche cultural references you risk alienating the wider audience. Yet the subtlety of these references did not come at the expense of the wider audience’s appreciation of the ad. No matter how au fait you are with London’s stars, Nike ensures that something tickles you in every sequence.

Flawless videography

Having a great feel for your target audience isn’t quite enough though. To really hit home, projects like these need exquisite execution and distinctive imagery. Creating compelling visual content that cuts through the kaleidoscope of modern advertising is no mean feat. Nike more than stepped up to the plate.

The ad is 3 minutes of controlled chaos, and switches seamlessly between the raw streets of London and otherworldly animation. At one moment, the camera pans up to Gareth Southgate, almost Zeus-like in the clouds above Wembley’s arch. He casts thunderbolts upon unsuspecting football players, offering an uncharacteristically megalomaniacal (but no less humourous) view of Southgate, before panning back to the kick about below.

Interspersing the ad with such dynamism captivates the viewer for the duration. But that’s not the only visual stroke of genius. The surrealism that Nike incorporates into the mundane leaves the campaign with unforgettable stills. Who’ll ever forget these tears?

Replicating genius

Genius, almost by definition, should be inimitable. But there are things we could all learn from this campaign. Most important of them all? You must think about what will genuinely resonate with your target audience.

Nike’s Nothing beats a Londoner was authentically focused on London. Not even the exuberant and flamboyant videography or abundant inclusion of A-listers could prevent this focus from shining through.

On the other hand, despite a near singular focus on London’s youth culture, Nike successfully maintained pace, energy and unpredictability in an ad that speaks to a wider audience. Flair, ingenuity and authenticity runs through the veins of this campaign: it makes you wonder how Nike managed to stimulate a creative environment in which so many wild ideas could flourish, without deviating from the central focus. 

Nothing beats a Londoner was a tantalising campaign, and it’s a real shame it was crushed so soon.

What do you think will be the key to next great campaign?

This piece was written by one of the students on our first Sookio Bootcamp, a week of remote work experience for 20 young marketers. Read the other pieces in the series about Bodyform and Iceland.