Nike Takes Gamers to Training Camp in Its First-Ever Esports Ad

Nike encourages esports fanatics to stay fit in mind and body—so they can play even more esports!—in this cheeky, frenetic film from Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai that posits a high-tech training center and wacky workouts led by League of Legends icon UZI and his workout guru NXT.

“Gamers’ brains get bombarded with stimuli all day long. So, we needed to wow them or lose them,” explains W+K creative director Matt Meszaros of the 90-second spot’s punchy pace and flashy sci-fi vibe, driven by the Trashmen’s irresistibly frenzied 1963 track “Surin’ Bird.” (Everybody knows that the bird is the word!)

“Our goal is to inspire gamers with a nonstop entertaining film,” adds Jeff Fang, also a creative director at W+K. “We don’t want to preach. And most people don’t like to be told, ‘Go work out.’ “

Gamers are incredibly competitive, and top players can put in 16-hour days, six days a week, Nike says, which takes a toll on their physical and mental acuity. Here, in a whirlwind of high-tech energy punctuated by game-style graphics and eye-popping animated effects, Nike reminds players to keep in shape in if they want to reach the next level.

“It’s not just about strengthening the body,” Fang says. “Both sport and working out build mental strength, too. The same discipline that helps you grind out a 10k can help you grind out a marathon gaming session.”

So, take care of yourself, dudes. Then just do it … for 16 hours!

Touted as Nike’s first esports foray, the film launched last week in China during the month-long League of Legends World Championship in Shanghai. 

CREDITS

CLIENT 
Nike Greater China
Steve Tsoi – Vice President of Marketing, Nike Greater China
Simon Lee – Senior Creative Director, Nike Greater China
Che Lin – Senior Brand Communications Director, Nike Greater
China
Jimmy Chen – Brand Communications Strategist, Nike Greater China
Diana Tang – Art Director, Nike Greater China
JT Griffith – Music Licensing Manager
Ryan Luo – Designer, Nike Greater China

PROJECT
Camp Next Level

AGENCY
W+K Shanghai
Executive Creative Director Ian Toombs, Vivian Yong
Creative Director Jeff Fang, Matt Meszaros
Copywriter / Art Director Gem Xu / Jing Qiu, Josh King
Producer(s) Raymond Lau
Account Team Member(s) Chuck Xu, Xueer Ren, Elaine Weng
Head of Strategy Planning Renee Zhang
Senior Planner Chris Kirkup
Junior Planner Bart An
Business Affairs Jessica Deng

PRODUCTION COMPANY
Production Company The Loft Films
Director Adam Lau
DP Allen Lv
Executive Producers Geok Lem

EDITORIAL
Editor Song Yang

VFX
Company MPC
Creative Director Barry Greaves
CG Supervisor Paolo Gnoni, Jacob T. Oommen
2D Supervisor Barry Greaves, David Rouxel
Producer Chris Li
Line Producer Chanakya Chander
Production Coordinator Sririthika Iyer, Taruna Sehgal
Lead Compositor Marielle Santens
Compositors Yao Zhang, Minnie Chen, Chloe Gao, Balakrishnan Ramadoss,
Shalwin Shaiju, Vipin Tripathi, Iman Javaherypour
Motion Graphics Neo Chu
FX Team John Svenson, Imen Zhu, Kyle Wang, Alok Dwivedi
Asset Team Aram Hakze, Cherish Zhou, Cathy Xi, Jaspreet Kaur Dua
DMP Team Taylor He, Shanmugavel V, Winnie Sharma
Animator Alexey Petryaev, Ambalika Nandy
Lighting Lead Yao Zhang
Matchmove Elangovan G, Trace-VFX
Roto and Cleanup Robin Liu, Arulanandhan P, Bijeesh K U, Prasanth Palaparthi,
Karthikeyan M D, Trace-VFX

COLOR
Colorist Nikola Stefanović
Assistant Colorist Agua Jiang, Christine Wang, Eric Ju

SOUND DESIGN
Sound Design Company Lime Studios (LSD)

VO
Company Ker Sound Studios Shanghai
VO Coordinator Lena Zhou
VO Recording Engineer Lynn Lai

MIX
Company Ker Sound Studios Shanghai
Re-recording mixing engineer Benjamin L’hôtellier
Sound Editor Lynn Lai
Music Editor Greg Yu, Akira Terao
Project manager Akira Terao