April last year saw Nike launch its ‘Better For It’ campaign, which ran largely as a typical campaign with print ads, commercials and digital stuff. But now the Nike Women brand has gone down a completely different path and launched its own eight-part YouTube series.
Taking cues from Netflix, the brand has launched its own original series that follows the story of two adopted sisters, Margot and Lily, on their quest to essentially ‘swap’ lives and prove who can do it better.
This is made complicated by the fact that Margot is a slacker with heaps of friends, and Lily is a fitness YouTube star with no social finesse. You can see a snapshot trailer of it here:
https://youtu.be/vjvZfXNeF7g
The series, Margot vs. Lily – a collaboration between Wieden + Kennedy and the makers of the film Me and Earl and the Dying Girl – will post an episode every week for eight weeks, with the first episode, ‘Resolutions’ now showing on YouTube.
So far it’s nabbed over 500,000 views since it was posted. You can check it out here:
https://youtu.be/Iggq7fbL6-8
It is surprisingly light on the product placement, with only the occasional shot of a Nike shoe or some activewear, a nice change to other native advertising.
The episodes point to nike.com/betterforit, which will feature, among other content, vlogs highlighting specific Nike+ workouts seen in the show, with the end goal of getting women everywhere to ignite their own ‘Better for It’ journeys, using Nike products and services.
NikeWomen and Women’s Training VP of global brand marketing Kerri Hoyt-Pack said the campaign is about relatability and growth.
“Better For It and the original series ‘Margot vs Lily – A Better For It Production’ is a celebration of athletes. It’s about personal growth and pushing yourself to be your best,” she said.
“This message embodies a relatable range of human experiences and emotion – from self-confidence to self-doubt – that women encounter with sport and fitness. Being ‘Better For It’ doesn’t mean accomplishing an unbelievable feat; it means being bold enough to take on a personal challenge, like the characters Margot and Lily do.”
“We wanted to surprise and inspire her through story, and we knew that longer form would give us something where we could get a little richer in bringing the story to life,” she added in a chat with AdWeek. “It’s also a format that clearly women around the world today value. Connecting to this longer-form original programming just made sense for where she is.”
“As a brand, that’s something we’re really proud to showcase, to invite our consumer into that experience, to be relatable.
