Nothing Beats a Londoner - Celebrating Londoner’s Athletic Attitude

1. ‘Nothing Beats a Londoner’ : A Global Brand Goes Local “Nothing Beats a Londoner” integrates humour and youth-oriented meme styles with the everyday living of the driven Londoner youth. The passion and the athletic spirit of the Londoners is aptly marked by this spot created by Wieden+Kennedy London and Megaforce Directors for Nike LDNR. The 16mm film is nonetheless a tribute to the multicultural global city with youngsters from the country areas where rowing is a family custom to a stadium filled with young football players and street runners, ace boxers, ice hockey players and swimmers. The real-life London-based young athletes are shown deprecating and one-upping the celebs with a lot of slangs and sparring. Albeit showing how hard it is to train in their sporting fields, the local athletes represent the city’s sporty vibe and exude pride in being a Londoner. Celebrating this spirit of the modern London, the ad makes clever use of inspirational celebrities – the likes of Skepta, AJ Tracey, Harry Kane, Alex Iwobi, Eden Hazard, Mo Farah and Dina Asher – Smith. However, it is the young and aspiring local kids of London with their unstoppable and gritty attitude who are the forerunners of this Nike spot. As Creative Directors of W+K, Paddy Treacy and Mark Shanley noted in a statement,“The campaign is from London, for London, and celebrates the next generation of sporting stars against a city backdrop thriving with a culture of sport in every street, park and building. Despite the star cameos, the creative flips the traditional model and holds kids up as the inspiration for all— championing them, their spirit and incredible athlete mindset.” The three-minute spot that won the inaugural Grand Prix for the social and influencer category at Cannes Lion 2018 is a unique approach even for Nike as for the first time they celebrate the

2. passion and gumption of the local kids in a language that resonates with them. A healthy competition ensues between celebs and the local athletes where the latter showcases an inspiring one-upmanship. LDNR seamlessly pans different scenes from one to the other with crazy camera moves and beat shifts. By channelising the cultural diversity on a grainy 16mm, Nike taps a breathtaking yet authentic feel to the different sports of the city, its people with their unbeatable determination and optimism pulsing through the streets.