As part of a global initiative, Nike South Africa"s BTL agency partner, Mick & Nick, was given the opportunity to create a local campaign to launch street football onto the South African market.

“As with a lot of global brands, the opportunity to create work locally is severely limited, since most global work simply gets adapted with a local voice over,” says Mick & Nick"s Creative Director, Nick Liatos. “It’s really a big deal that Nike looked to us to create a campaign which engaged and resonated with a local audience.”

Mick & Nick plugged into the global Nike concept, but localised the content, setting, and players. The first creative decision made by the agency was to tweak the concept slightly to make it more “township” than “big city”. Once Nike had bought into this change, local football stars were leveraged.

Kaizer Chief"s Siphiwe Tshabalala, and Orlando Pirate"s midfielder, Teko Modise, the PSL Footballer of the Year for 2008, were brought on board. “It was great to get two such iconic players from such staunch rival teams to take the game back to the streets, which is the essence of the campaign,” says Mick & Nick"s MD, Michelle De Gouveia.

These local giants of the game were transported from the pitch to the streets, in an in-store campaign which ran exclusively in Cross Trainer stores across the country.

Set in local, urban settings, the in-store promotional material shows the pair going head to head, showing off their ball skills in some of the latest Nike Sportswear footwear. The inviting tagline – “Bring a ball” – talks to the ‘street football’ style of being on the street, playing soccer with no field, lines or parameters. “It’s more about skill and ability with the ball,” says Liatos.

The campaign has since been lauded from a Nike regional perspective. “We’re getting the message out there that South Africa really can produce the goods on a global stage, while still remaining locally relevant,” comments Liatos.