Nike, an official supporter of the football tournament, is also sponsoring the Indonesian, Thai and Malaysian national football teams. “People like Nike, but do they really understand what ‘Just do it’ means? A poster of LeBron James looks good, but we want to make better use of local context,” explained Tim Parkinson, Nike’s marketing director for Southeast Asia.
‘Ini kandang kita’ (“This is our turf”), the Jakarta campaign, refers to the pride felt by Indonesians at hosting the finals. Billboards featuring Indonesian footballers as traditional folklore characters are displayed around the stadium. The national team will also don Nike-designed shirts with a crest of the garuda, Indonesia’s national symbol. The campaign was developed by Publicis Indonesia.
In Bangkok, a banner of footballer Suchao Nutnum breaking away from the fiery grasps of demons is displayed on the Witthayu building, while local band Clash wrote a song for an Ogilvy & Mather-created TVC. In Kuala Lumpur, ‘Jangan togel’, street slang for ‘Go naked’, is a four-pronged campaign conceptualised by M&C Saatchi. It refers to a local custom where the first team that concedes a goal must play the rest of the game topless.
The campaign comprises a documentary by local filmmaker Kubhaer T Jethwani and a campaign anthem written by indie band SevenCollar T-Shirt. A four-part comic series, illustrated by local artist Leman, can be found at nikefootball.com.my/jangantogel /index.htm.
Nike also launched its first initiative in Vietnam with its ‘Choi het minh’ (‘Play freely’) campaign in Hanoi, conceptualised by Publicis Vietnam. As part of a community programme in a country which Parkinson describes as “typically adidas territory”, Nike is sponsoring the cost of building football courts for children.
It has also signed on 17-year-old rap artist Kim JoJo as spokesperson.
Separately, the Guangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee (GAGOC) expects sports marketing to prove lucrative for the 2010 Games. According to Yuan Yue, GAGOC’s deputy director of marketing, more than three million visitors are expected to visit Guangzhou.
“For the Doha Games in 2006, there were 1,000 rights-holding broadcasters providing more than 2,000 hours of coverage. The exposure will be great for companies,” said Yuan.
