✍️#11: When It Matters Most: How NIKE Excels in Their Own Arena -- BREAKING 4
Similar to Breaking 2, NIKE's Breaking 4 project with Faith Kipyegon shows how they do their best when they create their own world.
NIKE set the tone of “internal storytelling” in 2016 with its Breaking 2 project, which skyrocketed the brand into the stratosphere of boundary-pushing development, the products to an industry-leading perspective, and the athletes, like Eliud Kipchoge, to household names. In NIKE’s recent push to renew their vows in running, they produced a new challenge with Faith Kipyegon to attempt to capture that lightning in a bottle again.
BREAKING 2 (2016)
In a first-of-its-kind approach, NIKE partnered with National Geographic to document a feat of human spirit, athleticism, and engineering in a project to break 2 hours in a marathon. In short, they were able to connect the following elements in unison to make the most of the moment:
Content/Distribution: National Geographic documentary that chronicled several years of athlete training and product development and optimization. Specifically, NatGeo offered the professionalism of documentary filmmaking, but also the distribution to a wider, non-endemic audience through its channels and the ability to license on platforms in addition to YouTube.
Product: NIKE led the development of the 4% as the main character of footwear development, but auxiliary stories included the use of aerodynamic adhesive strips and aero elements on apparel and the use of a fuel system , which we now know to be Maurten.
Arena: Live event at Monza race track, known for its speed and it’s legacy in racing.
Athlete(s): 3 Athletes in the NIKE roster who were selected for their probability to break 2 hours in the marathon based on their athletic trajectory. This created 3 storylines to follow, which Eliud Kipchoge emerged as the hero with the highest probability as the opportunity unfolded.
INEOS 1:59 CHALLENGE (2019)
9 year spoiler alert: While Kipchoge ran an amazing effort that day in Monza, he came up short by a matter of seconds. All three athletes went on in unsuccessful attempts to strike gold in sanctioned competition from 2016 onward…until Kipchoge circled back for a second bite of the apple.
INEOS, a sponsor known for its impact in cycling (INEOS Grenadiers) tapped in to sponsor this next attempt: Project 1:59. Again, the idea was to optimize conditions for success: pacers, lead cars, course, etc. NIKE played a role too by providing an array of its athletes to pace Eliud and to create the Alphafly, it’s newest creation for record-breaking success. Let’s look at the factors once again:
Content: It’s important to note here that this project was led by INEOS and INSULATED by INEOS. Content was hosted and produced by INEOS and the Live Event was broadcasted by INEOS as well.
Product: As mentioned, NIKE’s newest creation, the Alphafly was the focal point from the footwear side.
Arena: INEOS sculpted a back and forth flat course with two bulbous roundabouts to maximize efficiency without letting off the gas. They had a special formation led by a car projecting lasers on the ground again (similar to Breaking 2).
Athlete(s): NIKE provided an array of pacers that swapped in and out of the laps Eliud ran to keep pacers fresh in how they flanked him for aerodynamics.
HE DID IT! Kipchoge broke the seemingly impenetrable barrier of 2 hours in a marathon — a feat etched in history and untouched to this day, but the impact of this second go-around felt different…
Whether it was the content distribution method, the presence of other athletes/brands attempting this feat in competition, the carefully crafted conditions of the environment to ensure success, or something else, the impact was muted.
THE DOLDRUMS (2019 - 2025)
Following the 2 hour barrier being broken, the hangover ensued. Did performance peak? Likely not, but the attention on these feats slowed. The investment in these self-produced moments evaporated to some extent as the pendulum swung back towards community running for many brands and the attention shifted back towards business objectives through COVID.
This 6 year stint was quite the void in the realm of aspirational performance (but shoutout to events like HOKA Project X and Lululemon’s Further for stoking the fire).
BREAKING 4 (2025)
2025 rolls around. NIKE restructures again to pour fuel back into the running engine. “Aspirational performance” as a lens of storytelling is seemingly building momentum.
Enter: Breaking 4.
The stars are aligned: the brand, the focus, the funding, and the athlete are all here and primed for another groundbreaking moment. Faith Kipyegon, a NIKE athlete, has methodically approached and smashed race after race and record after record in her return to racing post-partum. The track world knows who she is as she put the world on notice, but track poses a tricky hurdle: WHO WATCHES TRACK?
In the Breaking 2 and INEOS 1:59 Projects, the brands have the ability to connect the story, challenge, and athlete to the masses through an activity that many viewers have personal experience or personal familiarity with — The Marathon. In Breaking 4, the challenge exists to not only inform the audience about the mile, but about the time as well as they may lack the familiarity. For example, for those who have not run track before, a 4-minute-mile is fast, but a 9-minute-mile may also be fast — why 4 minutes? No small feat for the marketing department here. In their approach to Breaking 4, NIKE had the challenge of connecting the following elements again:
Content: Leading into the Live Event, NIKE partnered with Box to Box (most famous for producing the Drive to Survive series on Netflix) to produce a short docuseries on Amazon Prime to introduce the concept and characters. They produced a LIVE event on Amazon Prime and NIKE’s YouTube (which is a landmark moment considering that there are only 3 livestreams documented on NIKE’s YouTube account and Breaking 4 is the only running-related piece).
Product: NIKE balled out with specific storytelling around the creation of a “super-spike” for Faith to wear on the track, but also a flyprint apparel set for her to maximize aerodynamics and reduce weight.
Arena: NIKE organized this singular race to take place in Paris for the scope of the attempt and packed sections with esteemed guests of the brand. They even brought in celebrity personalities for the livestream and commentary.
Athlete(s): NIKE’s primary focus was elevating storytelling around Faith, but they also were able to surround her with a fleet of their top track and road athletes to help block the wind and pace her. Some of these personalities also were able to join commentary as well.
IN A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
First and foremost, bravo to Faith for taking a massive swing and for breaking her own record. Many headlines, pundits, and social media posts have called the event and its objectives into question — and I have no place to discuss the COST of this event and where those dollars “could have went.” The part I’d rather highlight here is how NIKE excels best when they do exactly THIS. THIS level of production and spectacle where they organize the documentary and livestream, THIS level of product innovation and storytelling, THIS level of athlete integration, and the like. It’s simply untouchable by other brands in the space — likely because of the spend, the athlete stable, and the engineering capability.
Say what you will about ROI or how “efficient” the spend was for NIKE’s bottom line, but this is just a reminder that if Faith ran this exact time (or faster) in these spikes and in that speed suit in a Diamond League track meet or at Grand Slam Track, we wouldn’t be talking about it. NIKE does best when they create their bubble — manufacturing the challenge, placing the athletes, developing the product solutions, creating the arena, and controlling every aspect of the content and storytelling.
Let’s see how this one plays out long term.
Great read!