The Sauce - 26/06/2024

By Ashleigh Morris, our Content and Comms Lead.

Welcome to ‘The Sauce’ – your dollop of marketing news from the past week.

This week, we’re looking at Nike’s latest football campaign, Gymshark’s ‘Gym Girl Era’ nod to Taylor Swift, and a powerful new ad campaign from Solace and the National Centre for Domestic Violence.

Awaken Your Madness This Summer With Nike

Caught up in football fever this summer? Us too! After featuring Adidas’ latest ad a couple of weeks ago (check out our take on it here), it’s now Nike’s turn.

The brand’s latest ads capitalise on the ‘summer of football’ with Euro 2024 and the Copa America now underway.

Created by agency Wieden + Kennedy London, ‘Awaken Your Madness’ showcases the dedication shown by elite footballers and features some big stars - France and Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappé, Brazil and Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior, Man City and Norway’s Erling Haaland, and not forgetting the legendary Ronaldinho – even I’ve heard of him.

At over 2 minutes it has to work hard to keep the audience’s attention, and is a big departure from Nike’s usual ads, with an almost whimsical story-telling narrative set to Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ classic ‘There’s Somethin’ Wrong with You’. We see players go through their intense and sometimes bizarre rituals to stay at the top of their game, from 5am starts and drinking raw eggs to whispering to the ball.

Unusually for Nike, it doesn’t feature their iconic ‘Just Do It’ slogan, even on the end frame with the logo. Ironically the Adidas ad ‘You Got This’ is more reminiscent of Nike’s usual motivational content.

Our thoughts? The cinematic ad makes perfect long-form content for footie fans on those long ad breaks, and its departure from Nike’s usual ad narrative, as well as a stellar cast, ensure it stands out in a sea of football-related ads this summer.

Gymshark in its ‘Gym Girl Era’

In a welcome break from sports brands launching football related ads, Gymshark’s latest ad takes a different approach. With Taylor Swift storming the UK recently as part of the European leg of her ‘Eras’ tour, you can’t have missed the Swiftie frenzy that has swept the nation.

It was only a matter of time before brands tapped into the hype, from a ‘Taylored’ tasting trail in Edinburgh, to a Taylor Town Trail Map in Liverpool.

Our favourite so far? Gymshark’s ‘Gym Girl Era’ campaign. The brand has recreated some of Swift’s iconic Eras tour looks (sorry, I’ll stop fangirling) with a gym-inspired twist.

From the Reputation snake bodysuit ‘Repetitions’ to the cute Red outfit ‘Sh(red)’ and the Midnights bodysuit ‘Gymnights’, these looks deliver. The most striking? ‘The Tortured Gym Girls Department’ inspired by Swift’s latest album and shot using a dumbbell as a microphone.

The campaign is sure to make any dedicated Swiftie look twice with such recognisable looks and a Swift lookalike model.

To maximise the campaign, the brand is also selling an ‘I bet you think about gym’ T-shirt in their Regent Street store, as well as running a social media competition to win VIP tickets to one of the Wembley shows.

From a smug Swiftie who’s still buzzing from seeing Tay Tay on tour in Cardiff… I can’t wait to see what’s next from brands when she returns to Wembley in August. And Gymshark… if you could send those tickets my way please?!

‘No More Injury Time’ Makes an Impact

Back to the football ads now, but on a more serious note.

Solace Women’s Aid and the National Centre for Domestic Violence have teamed up for an impactful campaign created by agency The Wild by Jungle.

‘No More Injury Time’ features abuse survivors and aims to remind viewers about the increased domestic abuse around football losses, with the message “when we lose, she loses more”.

The campaign features an alternative England kit, featuring the number 38, to highlight the shocking fact that when the England men’s team lose at a major tournament, there is a 38% rise in reported cases of domestic abuse.

The shirt features ‘No More Injury Time’ on the front in a typical sponsor’s position, and 38 on the back. The campaign film will run across digital and social channels throughout England’s group stage games.

Molly Tappin, Associate Creative Director of The Wild by Jungle, said the campaign aims to spark “the level of conversation and controversy” that was sparked earlier this year when “the country went into meltdown when the colour of the St. George’s Cross was changed on the back of England’s new kit”.

We love that the ad has tapped into the passion for England’s kit to draw attention to such an important cause. 

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