The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2018
Nike's 'Nothing Beats a Londoner' casts 258 real kids' boasts as film — Cannes Grand Prix
Nike turned young Londoners' competitive boasts into a film launched through the kids' own Instagram accounts; London searches for Nike rose 93%.
Nike
What it had to solve
Nike was already the best-selling sports brand among young Londoners, but its long-term health depended on keeping that loyalty. Youth research told the agency the brand no longer felt like it belonged to them, and the brief was simply to create a London-centric campaign.
How it works
Nike was the best-selling sports brand among young Londoners, but keeping that loyalty was the long game. Research with the audience revealed the brand no longer felt like it belonged to them, so Wieden+Kennedy London set out to make a campaign that was unmistakably of the city's youth culture rather than about it.
The idea was an escalating battle of one-downmanship: 258 real young Londoners from Dalston, Peckham, Brixton and beyond one-up each other's sporting struggles with authentic slang, cameos from heroes like Skepta and Sir Mo Farah, and cult locations such as chicken shop Morley's. The kids themselves shaped the script, translating lines into local slang.
The film was launched through the athletes' own Instagram channels, each scene posted by its star and linked to the next competitor, before the full film aired on 9 February 2018 across TV, cinema and online. It went viral, became YouTube's #1 trending video, and was shared by figures including the London Mayor and Drake.
Within weeks, Lyst reported London searches for Nike up 93%, Manchester up 72% and the UK up 54%, with nearly 90% view-through on VEVO VOD. The work collected a Cannes Grand Prix and Titanium Lion, seven D&AD Pencils, a Campaign Big Award, a One Show Gold Pencil and a Webby, and spawned a wave of parodies from homemade remakes to a Guardian cartoon strip.
Why it lands
- The insight came from the audience itself — kids saying the brand no longer felt theirs — so the campaign handed the film back to them.
- Casting 258 real young Londoners and letting them write in their own slang made the boasts feel authentic instead of staged.
- Launching scene-by-scene on the athletes' own Instagram turned the ad into a peer-to-peer battle that spread before the full film even aired.
- The results were measurable and fast: a 93% rise in London Nike searches and a #1 trending YouTube slot within days.
- The awards run — Cannes Grand Prix and Titanium, seven D&AD Pencils, One Show Gold — showed the idea worked at both creative and effectiveness level.
What it did
The film quickly became YouTube's #1 trending video. Fashion search platform Lyst reported London searches for Nike up 93% after launch, with Manchester up 72% and the UK overall up 54%; VEVO VOD hit nearly 90% view-through. It took a Cannes Grand Prix and Titanium Lion, seven D&AD Pencils, a Campaign Big Award, a One Show Gold Pencil and a Webby.
What you can take
Give the audience ownership instead of talking at them: casting real kids and launching through their own channels made the film something Londoners shared, not a corporate broadcast.
Since then
The film was extensively celebrated and parodied, from homemade remakes to a special Guardian cartoon strip, and it sparked debate about whether Nike was ignoring the rest of the UK — searches actually rose 72% in Manchester and 54% nationwide. It became a benchmark for city-specific brand work and a reference point for youth-culture casting, and the campaign's results were documented in WARC's case study library as a Creative Effectiveness Lion entry.
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