During Euro 2016 Nike Football’s inspirational message was to ‘Spark Brilliance’. To create the moment that changes the game.

Our brief was to enable our audience to be that spark.

We started by really interrogating what Spark Brilliance means. And that for any single moment of brilliance on the pitch, the spark always starts as an idea in the mind. Johan Cruyff’s classic quote, “Football is a game you play with your brain” is one of many soundbites from players at the top of the game that reinforce the thinking around mental training. It became apparent the disconnect between this acceptance and understanding at the Pro level, and lack of understanding at grass roots.

This was our opportunity.

Over the course of five months we developed the digital training tools alongside launch content. Each tool consisted of either an interactive mobile game or audio guide paired with an introductory video explaining the concept and benefit. All games lived within the Mental Training section of the Nike Football App. The tools were designed and built by our internal development team in partnership with Nike’s digital team.

To launch, we leveraged the social power of Nike’s elite footballers to reach over 500 million followers. Launch was timed alongside the summer’s biggest football events, UEFA European Championship and Copa America. To capture the huge football seeking audience, we placed Pro Genius films and stills on Nike.com, Nike social channels, Nike retail locations and athlete social channels.