Purpose Moves Us

Campaign & Content

Nike

Every two years, Nike releases a report on their work in sustainability. In the past, the audience was largely industry and academic. But this time, Nike wanted to also connect with conscious consumers by creating content around five core values.

The challenge was how tell this story through athletes in an authentic and honest way. How could we acknowledge areas of growth without seeming critical? And how could we highlight all the progress without boasting?

Everything at Nike starts with the voice of the athlete. Our initial concept was to have ten athletes, from elite to everyday, write personal letters to Nike. Each letter would become the voice-over for a video about that athlete, who we’d select to align naturally with one of the five values. The approach then shaped our strategy for social, where we’d engage consumers to write their own letters. The idea was to create a dialogue that gave Nike a chance to shift the narrative and gain valuable insight into what mattered most to athletes around the world. #DearNike

We captured some incredible footage and personal narratives with athletes in London, Los Angeles, Portland, Oahu, and Shanghai. But, as we neared the finish line, the whole plan changed. Nike decided to pivot away from the letter concept all together, which meant we had to rework each piece. We still had some really powerful stories, but no messaging to connect it all. So in the final stretch, I penned the line “Purpose Move Us” to unify the campaign.

Director: Will Mayer
DP: Ian Rigby
Photographer: Dante Marshall