Nike Football – When in Rome

After Kevin Strootman suffered a season-ending knee injury, Nike Football documented the AS Roma midfielder’s road to recovery.

Young footballer Ewold Jansen was recovering from a similar injury and shared his support for Kevin through social media. Kevin returned the favor by encouraging Ewold on his own journey. To give him an extra boost, we recorded a personal video message, which Kevin shared in response to Ewold’s tweet. Ewold also received a pair of Nike Magista boots – just like Strootman’s – to help him get ready for his return to the pitch.

When Kevin eventually made his comeback, we celebrated Ewold’s hard work by flying him to Rome to watch Strootman play in the derby against Lazio.

We captured the journey through authentic social content and Nike Football App stories, inspiring other FOTs – Football-Obsessed Teens – with a simple message: hard work pays off.

For this campaign, I:

• Used social listening and community management to identify and build the connection between Kevin and Ewold
• Created and executed the digital content plan
• Developed the photography brief
• Wrote the Nike Football App articles in both English and Dutch

Client: AKQA