The Witness campaign pays tribute to James and acknowledges the legions of fans worldwide who are ‘witnessing’ his greatness, power, athleticism and beautiful style of play. The campaign was first introduced in November, 2005 with the unveiling of a 110-foot high by 212-foot wide billboard located adjacent to Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. The campaign has continued to live through fans in Cleveland and around the world donning “Witness” t-shirts and bearing “Witness” placards.
The new execution will include a print ad featuring a photo of James from the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals and the iconic line “We Are All Witnesses”. The black and white ad will appear in Sports Illustrated, The Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Akron Beacon Journal this week.
The television commercial, also in black and white, will feature a highlight of James in the 2007 NBA Playoffs and set to the song “I Shall Be Released” sung by the soulful Marion Williams (original track by Bob Dylan). The 30-second spot will run during ESPN SportsCenter at 11p.m. (ET) on Wednesday, June 6, as well as during the first quarter of Game One of the NBA Finals, initially. The commercial conveys the athleticism, beauty and power with which James plays the game.
The newest piece of the campaign is the digital execution that will live at www.Nikebasketball.com and www.inside.nikebasketball.com. Visitors to nikebasketball.com will find downloadable “Witness” content including wallpaper and both commercials from the past two years of the campaign. Visitors to Inside.Nikebasketball.com will be able to access the "Witness Board" featuring shared testimony from fans about James, as well as a running tally of Witnesses as they are added. Nike will select notable testimonials each day from a fan as the prize-winning "Witness of the Day". The site will be live in time for the series opener on Thursday, June 7.
The digital advertising buy includes homepage takeovers, banners and video placement at sports sites such as espn.com, si.com and cbssportsline.com, as well as vertical basketball destinations. The print and television executions, created by Wieden & Kennedy in Portland and the digital execution, created by R/GA in New York, will be live throughout the NBA Finals.
NIKE, Inc. (NYSE:NKE) based near Beaverton, Oregon is the world's leading designer, marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities. Wholly owned Nike subsidiaries include Converse Inc., which designs, markets and distributes athletic footwear, apparel and accessories; NIKE Bauer Hockey Inc., a leading designer and distributor of hockey equipment; Cole Haan, which designs, markets, and distributes fine dress and casual shoes and accessories; Hurley International LLC, which designs, markets and distributes action sports and youth lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories and Exeter Brands Group LLC, which designs and markets athletic footwear and apparel for the value retail channel.