Nike: Run Your Way to Greatness Digital Ad
*Original Photography + product retouching, design, and motion graphics done by Nathan Hayes.
Chris Bennett, Nike’s Running Global Head Coach, stated that “the first run has nothing to do with pace, nothing to do with distance, nothing to do with duration. It’s about starting it and ending it and wanting to do a next run.”
Part of Nike’s initial success (or Blue Ribbon as they were first known as) was due to their ability to sell running shoes to the masses in an era where people who weren’t runners didn’t wear running shoes. This digital ad, which could be used on social media or digital billboard platforms, harkens back to that strategy by targeting the beginner runner.
This ad, which highlights a beginner model shoe utilizes a calming color palette to create an inviting atmosphere for the beginner runner. The dynamic imagery, in which the image is in constant flux coupled with the tagline “Run Your Way to Greatness” emphasizes habit formation by calling the runner to keep on running, to never give up. Here, we are selling an ideology, not just a product with this art direction.