There was a time, not so long ago, when a major World Cup meant a major Nike commercial — the kind of sprawling, star-studded production that advertising people would discuss for years and consumers would actually seek out. The 2010 spot "Write the Future," which imagined alternate destinies for players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, ran more than three minutes and became something of a cultural artifact.
This summer, Nike is trying something else.
The sportswear giant, which is based in Beaverton, Ore., announced on Wednesday that its marketing for the 2026 FIFA World Cup would unfold not as a single cinematic event but as a rolling 12-week series of collaborations, content pieces, and activations featuring a deliberately eclectic cast. That cast includes Mr. Ronaldo and the Norwegian striker Erling Haaland, but also Kim Kardashian, Serena Williams, the rapper Travis Scott, the K-pop performer Lisa, and the Puerto Rican artist Young Miko.
The announcement, made via Polaroid-style photographs distributed across social media, promised "unexpected collabs and cultural expressions" — language that suggests Nike is less interested in making one ad everyone sees than in appearing everywhere, continuously, for three months.
(Whether this constitutes a strategy or an admission that the 90-second spot no longer commands the attention it once did is perhaps a matter of perspective.)
The approach puts Nike on a different path from its longtime rival Adidas, which released a five-minute film earlier this month starring Lionel Messi, Timothée Chalamet, and Bad Bunny — a more traditional swing at the big moment.
Nike, meanwhile, is in the midst of what its chief executive, Elliott Hill, has called a "Sport Offense" turnaround, meant to refocus the company on athletes and product.
"We're utilizing the World Cup as an opportunity to catalyze the football marketplace for quarters to come," Mr. Hill said on the company's most recent earnings call.
The tournament begins June 11. The content, apparently, has already started.
Original story published in Adweek: "Nike's Surprise World Cup Cast Signals a New Marketing Playbook"