Like most women, Andressa Alves, a Brazilian soccer star, was always given dolls as a child. Passionate about soccer, the option that little Andressa found at the time was to turn her dolls into something that really was of interest to her: doll heads became the first soccer balls of the future star. Wieden+Kennedy and Nike brought that doll-ball to life by creating the ideal doll for the new generation of girls in love with sports: a doll that is shaped like a ball, ready for playing, designed in partnership with artist Elisa Sassi. The briefing called for creating a brand perspective that would reverberate in the media and impact the local culture, bringing women’s soccer to the same level of relevance as men’s soccer – and to do this with a reduced media and production budget.

The inspiration for Nike's campaign with Andressa Alves came from a real story, one she shares with so many other girls who fall in love with soccer. More than telling that story, we felt the need to bring it closer to people, and to provide a concrete expression of the lack of incentive for girls in the sport. That was the drive that turned an episode into a film, and a film into an innovative and inspiring product.

With the briefing and context in hand, we set out to research and interview the main women soccer athletes sponsored by Nike – and especially the campaign's star, Andressa Alves. We analyzed everything we learned and arrived at an insight that reflects their reality – and that of so many other girls who love the sport. As a girl, Andressa got dolls as gifts instead of balls. Passionate for soccer, she tore off the dolls’ heads and used them as balls. Nike created a video and the first doll that all soccer-obsessed girls would love: a doll that is a ball, ready for playing, designed by artist Elisa Sassi.

In order to bring the project to life, we sought an artist that would be able to create a character that was based on Andressa Alves' story and with which every girl could relate. We found Elisa Sassi, an illustrator that had experience with the brand and with children, and asked her to create the only doll that every girl who is passionate for soccer wants: a doll that is a ball. She produced the first units by hand, and we ramped up production with another partner. Producing the doll-balls and the specially designed boxes took about one month.

The 100 units of the Andressa Alves'Doll were sent to influencers and Nike partner athletes who were a good fit for the narrative and the universe of women's soccer. Andressa Alves (675,000), Letticia Muniz (719,000) and other women shared the gifts they received on Instagram, generating organic media and buzz on the social networks. Phillippe Coutinho, one of the country's best players, was also chosen to receive a doll-ball. He has a small daughter, and was eager to join the conversation about women in soccer, sharing with his 23 million fans how surprised his daughter was when she received the best soccer doll ever. The #dollIneveraskedfor (#abonecaquenuncapedi) was used in more than 230 posts on Instagram, and the campaign was covered by many publications directly linked to culture and social issues in Brazil. The doll-ball gained space in the conversations about the visibility of women in the sport.