Nike uses digital PR by launching campaigns where its audience already is and letting athletes and fans carry them. Three campaigns show the method: Nothing Beats a Londoner (2018), launched through the Instagram accounts of the young Londoners in it; Dream Crazy (2018), the Colin Kaepernick film; and Dream Crazier (2019), which premiered during the Oscars with Serena Williams narrating.
| Campaign | Launch | Digital PR tactic |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing Beats a Londoner | February 9, 2018 | Young Londoners in the film posted it from their own Instagram accounts |
| Dream Crazy | September 2018 | A named athlete, Colin Kaepernick, narrated a film tied to the 30th anniversary of "Just Do It" |
| Dream Crazier | February 24, 2019 | Premiered during the Oscars broadcast, narrated by Serena Williams |
How did Nike launch Nothing Beats a Londoner on social media?
Nike launched Nothing Beats a Londoner on February 9, 2018, with the young Londoners in the film posting it from their own Instagram accounts. Wieden+Kennedy London created the three-minute film, which featured 258 young Londoners alongside athletes and musicians such as Mo Farah, Harry Kane, and Skepta, according to Its Nice That.
The online launch came with offline activity. Over the following week, more than 75 Nike-sponsored athletes visited 250 venues across London. The campaign won a Silver Lion in the Mobile and Social category at Cannes Lions, where Wieden+Kennedy's entry describes putting real kids at the center and athletes and influencers in supporting roles.
The PR lesson is the order of operations. Nike let everyday participants post first, so the campaign reached audiences through peers rather than through a brand account.
What did Dream Crazy show about Nike's digital PR?
Dream Crazy showed that Nike will attach its brand to a polarizing named athlete and let the conversation do the distribution. The September 2018 film, narrated by Colin Kaepernick, marked the 30th anniversary of "Just Do It," as Activative reported. Nike announced Kaepernick's role on a Monday, and the ad premiered the next day, according to HuffPost.
Kaepernick had become a divisive figure because of his protests against racial injustice, and the film sparked debate about racial equality and activism. For the financial and reputation trade-offs of that bet, see the guide to Nike's public relations strategy.
What happened to Nike's sales and stock after Dream Crazy?
Nike's online sales rose and its stock recovered within days. Edison Trends, a firm that analyzes online receipt data, reported that Nike's online sales rose 31 percent in the week of the launch, according to Willamette Week. An earlier HuffPost report cited a 27 percent jump from Sunday through Wednesday, which covered only the first four days.
The stock moved in two directions. According to HuffPost's report citing MarketWatch, Nike's shares fell 3.2 percent on the Tuesday of the announcement and were up 1 percent by Friday. Fortune reported that the shares dipped after the release and Nike quickly erased the losses.
How should you read those numbers?
Read those numbers as a signal and not as proof. Edison Trends measures receipts from more than 200 online retailers, including Nike.com, so the sales figure is third-party data and not a Nike disclosure. Fortune also noted that the campaign debuted three days after the end of Nike's fiscal first quarter, so the first-quarter results Nike reported in September 2018 did not capture it.
The data shows that the feared sales collapse did not appear in the first week. It does not show how much of the sales gain the ad caused, because other factors, such as the football season opening, also move online sales.
How did the online audience respond?
The online audience watched the film in large numbers. HuffPost reported that the ad had been viewed nearly 14 million times on YouTube between Wednesday and Friday evening of launch week. The film later won the 2019 Emmy Award for outstanding commercial, according to a Fox News report on the Creative Arts Emmys.
Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix, offered a read on the backlash. He told Ad Age that social media backlash can be amplified by media attention while representing only a small minority of critics. That view explains why the early coverage and the sales data pointed in different directions.
How did Dream Crazier use a TV moment to drive online conversation?
Dream Crazier premiered during the 2019 Oscars broadcast on February 24, 2019, with Serena Williams narrating a script about the words used to describe female athletes. ABC News reported that the ad "had social media buzzing" and had nearly four million YouTube views within days.
The film featured Williams, Simone Biles, Chloe Kim, Ibtihaj Muhammad, and members of the U.S. women's national soccer team. Williams was already a Nike ambassador, which let the campaign draw on an existing relationship rather than a new endorsement. The brand's influencer partnerships work the same way, and the guide to influencer marketing explains how to structure them.
How do the three campaigns compare?
The three campaigns differ in who carries the message, what earns coverage and how success was reported. The table summarizes the evidence cited above.
| Campaign | Who carried it | Reported result |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing Beats a Londoner | Young Londoners in the film | Silver Lion, Mobile and Social, Cannes Lions |
| Dream Crazy | Colin Kaepernick | Nearly 14 million YouTube views in launch week; 31% online sales rise (Edison Trends); 2019 Emmy |
| Dream Crazier | Serena Williams and a roster of women athletes | Nearly four million YouTube views within days (ABC News) |
Dream Crazy produced the largest published numbers, and it also carried the most risk. Nike accepted a stock dip and a public backlash in exchange for a campaign that audiences discussed for weeks. A brand without Nike's athlete roster, balance sheet and customer base cannot assume the same trade will pay off.
How did Nike's own earnings reflect the Dream Crazy campaign?
Nike's own earnings did not capture the campaign at first. Fortune reported that the Kaepernick campaign debuted three days after the end of Nike's fiscal first quarter, yet executives still discussed its impact on the first-quarter earnings call. In that report, Nike's North American sales grew 6 percent to 4.14 billion dollars, and shares dropped as much as 4.6 percent in after-hours trading on mixed results.
Fortune added that Edison Trends data suggested online sales were tracking ahead of the prior year in the new quarter. The company's reported numbers and the third-party numbers therefore described different periods. A reader comparing them should keep the dates straight.
What is the timeline of the Dream Crazy campaign?
The Dream Crazy timeline runs from a Monday announcement in September 2018 to an Emmy win in 2019. The sequence below uses the dates reported by HuffPost, Fortune and Fox News.
- Monday, September 2018: Nike announces Colin Kaepernick as the face of its 30th anniversary "Just Do It" campaign.
- The next day: the Dream Crazy film premieres, and Nike's shares fall 3.2 percent.
- Wednesday to Friday: the film passes nearly 14 million YouTube views, and the shares are up 1 percent by Friday.
- Late September 2018: Nike reports first-quarter results, with North American sales up 6 percent.
- July 2019: the film receives an Emmy nomination for outstanding commercial.
- 2019 Creative Arts Emmys: the film wins the award.
How does Nike's approach differ from Starbucks' approach?
Nike's approach differs from Starbucks' approach in rhythm and in measurement. Nike runs campaign bursts, each built around a film, a named athlete and a launch moment, and the published results are campaign-level figures such as views and a week of sales. Starbucks runs a recurring loop of seasonal drinks and loyalty data, and its published results are quarterly membership and spending figures.
Both models rely on a built-in audience. Nike draws on athlete ambassadors, and Starbucks draws on a daily customer ritual. The Starbucks digital PR case study covers the loyalty side of that comparison.
What are the risks of Nike's approach?
The main risk of Nike's approach is that a polarizing campaign can hurt the brand before it helps. Nike's shares fell on the day the Kaepernick news broke, and President Trump said Nike was facing anger and boycotts, according to HuffPost. The brand recovered quickly, but the recovery depended on the customer base that the ad was aimed at.
A second risk is attribution. A campaign that wins an Emmy and lifts a week of online sales still leaves open how much future revenue it created. Brands that run similar campaigns should decide in advance which numbers they will track and for how long.
What can other brands copy from Nike's digital PR?
Other brands can copy three tactics: give participants the first post, pair the launch with real-world activity, and premiere on a moment the audience already watches. Each tactic comes from a campaign described above.
| Tactic | Nike example | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Participants launch the campaign | Nothing Beats a Londoner | Ask the people featured to post first, from their own accounts |
| Pair the film with local activity | 75 athletes at 250 London venues | Schedule events during the same week as the launch |
| Premiere on a shared cultural moment | Dream Crazier at the Oscars | Pick a broadcast your audience already watches, then publish the full film online |
Pick one tactic, run it on one campaign, and record the social mentions and search interest before and after. Add a third-party sales or traffic panel if one covers your category, and label it as third-party data in any report. The guide to social media PR covers how to measure the result, and what is digital PR gives the definition, costs and benchmarks behind these tactics.
Frequently asked questions
What is Nike's digital PR strategy?
Nike's digital PR strategy centers on social-first launches built around athletes and real participants, paired with events or broadcast moments that give the campaign a second wave of coverage.
When did Nike's Dream Crazier ad air?
Nike's Dream Crazier ad aired during the Oscars broadcast on February 24, 2019. The earlier Dream Crazy film with Colin Kaepernick launched in September 2018.
Did the Kaepernick ad hurt Nike's sales?
The ad did not hurt Nike's online sales in the launch week. Edison Trends reported a 31 percent rise in the week of the launch, and Nike's shares recovered from an early dip within days. The data is third-party and does not prove the ad caused the rise.
Did Dream Crazy win an award?
Dream Crazy won the 2019 Emmy Award for outstanding commercial, according to Fox News. The earlier Nothing Beats a Londoner campaign won a Silver Lion at Cannes Lions.
Sources
Campaign facts come from Its Nice That, Cannes Lions, ABC News, HuffPost, Willamette Week and Fortune. The Emmy details come from a Fox News report on the Creative Arts Emmys. Sales figures are third-party estimates from Edison Trends, not Nike disclosures.
Originally published January 2025. Updated October 2026.