Unreal Speed
Nike
Unreal SpeedApproach
We built this campaign from the ground up — from strategy to messaging, production and post — on the foundational insight that Mbappé’s an ordinary man with extraordinary talent. He’s kind, relatable and enjoys a lot of the same things we all do; he just so happens to have the ability (in his case, unreal speed) to transform himself on the pitch. We wanted to play with that tension, showing the transformation from real to unreal in a full journey with a range of assets — Tik Tok and Instagram Reel teasers, a hero film, social posts, and everything in between.
Challenge
To take their message beyond football, Nike was taking a risk with a boot design unlike any other. Mbappé’s signature Mercurial wouldn’t be just another colorway — it would be a bold anime-inspired design. It was certain to divide the football world but win young footballers looking for something totally new.
We wanted to double-down on Nike’s big play, owning the anime-inspired design with a visual tone that took it to the next level to amplify impact with Gen-Z.
Solution
We wanted to create a fun and irreverent campaign that would highlight Mbappé’s carefree nature and introduce the design inspiration for his signature boot. And when you’re talking Mbappé and the Mercurial, you can’t forget the speed. In every asset, from stills to video, we featured this element of transformation, when Mbappé’s speed takes him from real to unreal. For our videos, we created an anime-inspired bumper to reference the design and end each asset with a performance-centric sign off
INDUSTRY was involved in every part of this campaign, from strategy and concepting to messaging, creative execution, production and post. We shepherded the full journey for the signature Mercurial boot for, arguably, the world’s greatest footballer.
Before revealing the product, we wanted to tease our campaign with an asset that would get audiences excited for what’s to come. We started with a moment of intrigue, showing Mbappé on the set of our shoot, displaying his unreal speed much to the chagrin of the production crew.
Audiences then got a first-hand look at the product when we launched the 15-second animation that showed Mbappé’s transformation into the anime world.
We followed up with Athlete Storytelling — short vignettes telling the story of unreal speed, starting with Mbappé doing something ordinary, but ending with an extraordinary moment.
Then, we brought in Lethal Shooter to deepen our impact beyond football with a beloved basketball influencer. Shooter created one of his signature challenges to trial Mbappé’s speed and introduce our hero’s unreal skill to his followers and others who may not be served much global football content.
