The One Show
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Category
Integrated / Omnichannel Campaign
Annual ID
OS25_DM078M
Background
Running is in Nike's DNA - a company born from an obsession with runners and their feet.
50+ years later, we were tasked with redefining Nike Running and getting the brand back to doing what it does best: understanding runners better than anyone else.
50+ years later, we were tasked with redefining Nike Running and getting the brand back to doing what it does best: understanding runners better than anyone else.
Creative Idea
To reset Nike Running, we did what no other brand was prepared to do: we would tell runners the truth.
The campaign, ‘Winning Isn’t Comfortable’, is about the conflicting reality of the sport - if you really love running, you kind of hate it too.
The campaign, ‘Winning Isn’t Comfortable’, is about the conflicting reality of the sport - if you really love running, you kind of hate it too.
Insights & Strategy
When the running industry was selling a fantasy of effortless movement. We chose a different path, radical honesty: Running isn't easy, and it never will be.
Running is hard. It's hard for everyone. But that discomfort doesn't mean you're doing it wrong – it means you're doing it right. If you're comfortable, you're not winning.
Each execution in our campaign speaks to the reality of running, focusing on a different discomfort and speaking to all the hate & love that comes with it.
Running is hard. It's hard for everyone. But that discomfort doesn't mean you're doing it wrong – it means you're doing it right. If you're comfortable, you're not winning.
Each execution in our campaign speaks to the reality of running, focusing on a different discomfort and speaking to all the hate & love that comes with it.
Execution
The campaign launched just in time for marathon season with three films titled “Sunshine”, “Morning” and “Joy”, each one showing the love and hate relationship with running from a different angle. The fourth film, “Stairs”, aired the day after the Chicago marathon — showing the all-too-real aches and pains of walking down the stairs after running 26.2 miles.
Then we made OOH around the globe which spoke to runners of all levels, using a unique device. Each line was a run-on sentence that completely changed meanings halfway, mimicking the shift that runners go through every day: first you can’t stand the idea of going, but after running you feel amazing. The photography starred characters from each film. The images were a purposeful departure from the cliché of the “smiling runner” you usually see in ads, and instead celebrated unapologetically what people really look like when they go for a run: exhausted, out of breath, messy, sweaty, and usually unable to pull off a full smile.
After the launch we went hyper local and took over the Chicago Marathon and the New York City Marathon (this one being an event that Nike doesn’t even sponsor), where we met marathoners every step of their journey with tailored messages. We reached runners from the moment they picked up their bibs, to subways & stations where runners gathered to commute to the start line, as well and most importantly at key points of the race with tactically placed roadside out-of-home. Finally, we celebrated the finishers with a full-page newspaper ad that spoke to the pride and exhaustion you feel the day after a marathon.
Then we made OOH around the globe which spoke to runners of all levels, using a unique device. Each line was a run-on sentence that completely changed meanings halfway, mimicking the shift that runners go through every day: first you can’t stand the idea of going, but after running you feel amazing. The photography starred characters from each film. The images were a purposeful departure from the cliché of the “smiling runner” you usually see in ads, and instead celebrated unapologetically what people really look like when they go for a run: exhausted, out of breath, messy, sweaty, and usually unable to pull off a full smile.
After the launch we went hyper local and took over the Chicago Marathon and the New York City Marathon (this one being an event that Nike doesn’t even sponsor), where we met marathoners every step of their journey with tailored messages. We reached runners from the moment they picked up their bibs, to subways & stations where runners gathered to commute to the start line, as well and most importantly at key points of the race with tactically placed roadside out-of-home. Finally, we celebrated the finishers with a full-page newspaper ad that spoke to the pride and exhaustion you feel the day after a marathon.
Results
Nike got back its street cred as a running brand -- 82% who saw the campaign felt Nike was an authentic running brand -- winning over a quarter of the skeptics.
Post campaign the search for Nike products nearly doubled -- 90% increase in search volume.
Chicago and New York City Marathons alone generated 19m impressions -- While the retention rate was more than double the Nike benchmark. Meanwhile, our films nearly doubled searches for Nike running products online and 81% of those exposed to the ads found Nike to be an aspirational running brand, convincing over a quarter of skeptics from before.
Organic film views blew through the benchmarks -- 850 million views globally, including more than 48 million organic views which beat Nike's Instagram benchmark by 90%.
Post campaign the search for Nike products nearly doubled -- 90% increase in search volume.
Chicago and New York City Marathons alone generated 19m impressions -- While the retention rate was more than double the Nike benchmark. Meanwhile, our films nearly doubled searches for Nike running products online and 81% of those exposed to the ads found Nike to be an aspirational running brand, convincing over a quarter of skeptics from before.
Organic film views blew through the benchmarks -- 850 million views globally, including more than 48 million organic views which beat Nike's Instagram benchmark by 90%.
2025 Awards
Total Points: 3
Merit
Credits
Agency
Wieden+Kennedy / Portland
Client / Brand
NIKE / Beaverton
Production Company
Primo
Art Director
Naoki Ga
Laura Wood
Copywriter
Guilherme Souza
Andrew Chhour
Executive Creative Director
Blair Warren
Caleb Jensen
Executive Producer
mauricio granado
Global Group Strategy Director
Becca Taylor
Group Executive Producer
Kerli Teo
Senior Strategist
Ollie Chakraverty
Associate Business Affairs Manager
Stefanie Goodell
Associate Creative Ops Manager
Asako Takahashi
Associate Media Director
Chris Abledinger
Brand Director
Paanii Annan
Brand Executive
Morgan Batts
Brand Manager
Charity Pourhabib
Creative Operations Manager
Sebastian Obando
Digital Retoucher
Amy Ellers
Frances Brown
Shay Platz
Executive Art Producer
Grace Tsai Petrenka
Global Executive Assistant
Val Harder
Global Managing Director
Kathryn Addo
Group Design Producer
Sarah Starr
Group Media Director
Brian Goldstein
Head of Business Affairs
Amber Lavender
Head of Production
Orlee Tatarka
Head of Retouching
Frazer Goodbody
Media & Comms Supervisor
Alyssa Chu-Tom
Media Director
Reme DeBisschop
Production Assistant
Lauren Hill Vaughan
Senior Art Producer
Rosie Ollero
Senior Creative Operations Manager
Andrea Drapcho
Senior Digital Retoucher
Greg Radich
Sr. Studio Specialist
Beth Schuenemann
Matt Blum
Vicki Liu
Visual Research Lead
Emily Bibey
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