Although the name Greg Hoffman may not ring off to the average sneakerhead, Nike's Vice President of Global Brand Creative and Experience has had a hand in many of the brand's biggest recent projects. Hoffman is responsible for leading a worldwide team that works on Nike's advertising, promo, and store designs and installations. Now he's sharing some of his veteran wisdom.
In a recent with Fast Company, Hoffman revealed a number of valuable insights on what goes on behind the scenes with Nike's biggest ads. When asked about 2014's "The Last Game" animated ad for the World Cup, Hoffman says the goal was for the project to endure through the entire tournament: "We wanted one big moment where Nike takes the stage, but then we wanted to sustain that heat throughout the month."
To pull it off, Nike had to call upon the big guns. "So we set up a command center in Portland with more than 120 people producing videos in real time every day... We had media, digital, and brand communication teams — Wieden+Kennedy, Passion Pictures, Google, Facebook, Instagram. It was the largest creative network we’ve ever used," Hoffman said.
After the highly successful animation, Hoffman set his sights on the 2015 NBA All-Star Weekend. This time around, he looked to one of the game's greatest, Michael Jordan, for inspiration. "We built an immersive LED basketball court, and we had screens of screaming fans, but with real defenders. You walk on to the court and attempt some of the biggest shots of Jordan’s career. In my 22 years at Nike, as a physical experience we’ve created, this was right at the top," he said.
