Paris Olympics
A single moment on the Olympic podium represents a lifetime of pursuit. We traveled to Paris with Nike to celebrate every victory through the eyes of the athlete.
ASSIGNMENT
Narrative direction & writing for 60+ elite athlete reactives, strategized at Nike WHQ and built in real time at the command center in Paris.
CHALLENGE
Nike’s brand distinction lies in their embodiment of the winning mindset. How do you bring that mindset to life through the voice of each athlete?
Start with the athlete’s story.
We built our narrative direction around athlete insights – from a deep dive on their personal history to direct quotes used to inspire headlines. Below are two examples of the story that inspired the strategy.
Sifan Hassan
THE STORY
Ethiopian-Dutch distance runner Sifan Hassan entered not one, not two, but three running events in Paris: the 5k, the 10k, and the marathon. She said herself that she was crazy to try it.
But she made history by medaling in all three, shattering the Olympic record in the marathon and becoming the only athlete in Olympic history to win medals across a middle-distance event and both long-distance races in a single Games.
THE STRATEGY
To celebrate Hassan’s record-breaking Olympic gold performance, we spoke both to the historic moment and her understated tone. Hassan is a force, but she brings a humble determination to a sport full of main character energy.
Her gold medal reactive for the marathon reflected that quiet power on the streets of Paris, Amsterdam, and across Nike’s social channels.
Amsterdam
Le Centre Pompidou, Paris
Oksana Masters
THE STORY
American multi-sport Paralympic athlete Oksana Masters is the definition of grit. Born in Ukraine three years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, she competes – and dominates – despite losing both her legs to radiation-induced birth defects. At the Paris Olympics, she cemented her status as a top contender with two gold medals in para-cycling and bronze in the team relay.
THE STRATEGY
The Paralympics have not always been given the respect they deserve, but these are serious competitions. Our reactives for Masters’ two gold medals nodded to her dominance across sports and the indomitable spirit that drives her forward.
New York City
Behind the Scenes
Sunset at Nike Paris HQ. Just getting started.
Guiding a global team
Working closely with fellow narrative director Eric Montgomery and sr. creative director Justin Abbott, we developed a storytelling playbook at the Global level to set the standard for all Nike geos – including Asia Pacific & Latin America, Greater China, Europe, the Middle East & Africa, and North America. Each geo assembled brilliant teams to lead the creative for athletes hailing from their regions. Our role was to unify this global effort under a singular vision.
Narrative pillars
Storytelling guidelines to inspire a new generation of Olympics fans through a digital and OOH ecosystem of hype for our athletes.
Athlete insights
We developed a template for teams to capture insights for quick reference – from past medal counts to key quotes.
Tone of voice
Nike’s voice is always bold, confident, and rebellious – but it was amped up for the world’s biggest stage.
Writing guidelines
Because every headline would be written from the athlete’s POV, we defined a high-level sandbox to ensure consistency.
Social best practices
Integrating learnings from past Reactives work, we provided guidelines to optimize each digital placement.
IOC & accessibility
The International Olympic Committee had particularly strict rules for Nike’s creative placements due to a pilot partnership.
Stay ready
The Global team alone was tracking 60+ Olympic and Paralympic athletes across five weeks of Games. We pre-wrote headlines for multiple scenarios – from consecutive gold medals to broken records – and took each set through a review process with Nike stakeholders and the athletes themselves to build alignment around each narrative ahead of the games.
We were lucky to have exceptional writer Kennedy Rasberry join our team for the pre-writing phase at WHQ and then on the ground in Paris. Our team’s process was highly collaborative and iterative, building headlines from athletes’ direct quotes and key insights to ensure they felt authentic to their voice and story.
We were as prepared as possible, but we knew we needed to expect the unexpected – this was just the warmup.
Bienvenue à Paris
Our team spent three weeks on the ground in Paris to follow the Games from the command center, where Nike teams from around the world came together for late nights, early mornings, and too many croissants.
It was an incredible opportunity to work closely with our senior leadership, writing and designing in real time. From last-minute curveballs to stunning upsets to history-defining victories, we were there to celebrate it all.
Dream Team
Leadership
Helena Thornton, Andy Walker, Evan Baechler, Tim Barrett
Brand
Ali Scharkey, Brooke Snow
Creative
Nick Parkinson, Justin Abbott, Eric Montgomery, Emily Jensen, Kennedy Rasberry, Mia Stevanovic, Holly Johnson, Chantel Sanchez
Ops
Matt Ripley, Rachel Boucher, Natalie Mussotto
Social
Lauren Thompson, Bennett Dewan, Noelle La Provette
Sports Marketing
Ralph Newbrook
