Title	YOU CAN'T STOP US: VICTORY SWIM
Brand	NIKE
Product/Service	VICTORY SWIM
Category	D06. Sports for Good
Entrant	WIEDEN+KENNEDY AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
Idea Creation	WIEDEN+KENNEDY AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
Media Placement	MINDSHARE London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production	RATTLING STICK LTD London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production 2	TRIM EDITING London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production 3	KOM (KAY-OSKWAREK MUSIC) Manchester, UNITED KINGDOM
Production 4	GETTY IMAGES London, UNITED KINGDOM
Post Production	GRAND CENTRAL RECORDING STUDIOS London, UNITED KINGDOM
Post Production 2	GLASSWORKS Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS

Name	Company	Position
Blake Harrop	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Managing Director
Eric Quennoy	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Executive Creative Director
Mark Bernath	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Executive Creative Director
Evgeny Primachenko	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Creative Director
Craig Williams	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Creative Director
Zeynep Orbay	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Art Director
Macie Soler-Sala	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Copywriter
Jake Barnes	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Copywriter
Kervins Chauvet	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Copywriter
Joe Togneri	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Head of Broadcast Production
Stijn Wikkerink	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Broadcast Producer
Kathryn Addo	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Group Account Director
Franky Wardell	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Account Director
Abderrahim el Khouani	Wieden Kennedy Amsterdam	Account Manager
Fulvio Itagiba	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Account Manager
Roberta Hilgert	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Account Executive
Martin Weigel	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Head of Planning
Reid Schilperoort	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Planning Director
Danielle Pak	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Head of Comms & Digital Strategy
Elsa Stahura	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Comms Planning Director
Eline de Roo	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Art Producer
Lizzie Murray	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Studio Director
Loes Poot	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Studio Print Producer
Yaleesa Waëlauruw	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Designer
Alex Raybould	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Motion Designer
Noa Redero	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Studio Artist
Scotti Raz	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Editor
Michael Graves	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Head of Business Affairs
Marie Hernandez	Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam	Business Affairs
Sara Dunlop	Rattling Stick	Director

Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

nspire a new generation of female athletes to stick with the sport they love. We created a movement, a community of women who can inspire and lift each other up. In doing so, we were able to expand upon the cultural conversations already happening and spread our message far beyond the Middle East or any traditional advertising outlets. From the very beginning, this piece of entertainment was designed to transcend sport and inspire women everywhere to tap into their collective power.

Background

Nike has always believed that sport has the power to move the world forward. One way to do that is to create a level playing field where men and women have equal opportunity to pursue the sports they love. That was not happening in the Middle East. Cultural, family, and religious pressure was causing many women to abandon sport at an early age or never start at all—especially water sports where dressing modestly presents even more challenges. So, Nike created the Victory Swim collection. A first-of-its kind performance swimwear line for modest women. Rather than focusing on the performance of the product, we set out to make a statement. We invited women back into the water by creating an unstoppable community—united by their love of watersport. We showed them that everytime they get in the water, they’re not alone—they’re supported by a powerful community of women just like them.

Describe the creative idea

Women in the Middle East must overcome many barriers to pursue their love for water: covering oneself after a certain age, cultural taboos, swimming pools dominated by men, and the fear of being the only woman in the water. Nike knew they needed a fresh way to launch their VICTORY SWIM COLLECTION - a first-of-its-kind range of modest performance swimwear for women. They had to create an unstoppable community of swimmers - united by their love for the water. Our anthemic film inspired women across the Middle East to take to the water and showed that together nothing can stop them.

Describe the strategy

We thought we understood all the barriers these women were up against, however, after interviewing several modest athletes we learned about another, potentially bigger problem—their fear of being alone. We heard from them, time and time again, that they were afraid of being the only woman in the water, the only competitive swimmer who chooses to cover, the only daughter in the family to pursue sport. “I’m afraid of being the only one in the water.” - sourced from first-hand research Knowing that gave us a sharp insight and a clear path forward. If we could alleviate the feeling of loneliness, we may be able to encourage more women to stick with the sport they love.

Describe the execution

Nike kicked off the campaign with messages to inspire women and girls worldwide to take to the water. Nike’s full-length anthem film dropped on October 30 on YouTube, and a 60-second version on @nike, @nikewomen and @nikeswim on Instagram. Nike promoted the film and cut-downs with paid digital and social media through mid-November in the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. And in retail locations across those markets, Nike displayed powerful images and clips from the film alongside the Victory Swim collection. Then, Nike launched a month-long swim clinic at the Hamdan Sports Complex and provided free member access to beginner and intermediate swim classes (48 in total) with Olympic swimmer and coach Sarra Lajnef for the month of November. Nike also created a WhatsApp Business Group to coincide with the Dubai Fitness Challenge in November to provide members with a curated 30-day program to support their physical and holistic well-being.

Describe the outcome

The campaign reached women and girls worldwide, with 22.6 views of our campaign AV in paid media, and 1.37M views of the anthem film across Nike social globally. PR coverage for the film had a total reach of 30M. Retail locations with the campaign AV saw a 21% revenue increase and 74% increase in traffic versus the previous week. Nike’s swim clinic classes were fully booked within an hour of the program launch, with 148 swimmers participating throughout the month. Coverage of the swim clinic had a total reach of 35M. The WhatsApp community led to a 63% increase in active members across Nike Training Club and the Nike Training club, with 12K NTC live participants during the month of the Dubai Fitness Challenge.