Nike Implements Daktronics LED Sticks to “Write the Future”

Nike, Inc.’s™ “Write the Future” campaign allows football (soccer) fans around the world to support their favorite player in a unique way.

Nike recently implemented Daktronics PXS LED freeform lighting elements, combined with various social mediums, into the company’s first LED guerilla campaign and Africa’s largest interactive LED installation, “Write the Future”.

“Write the Headline” allows football (soccer) supporters from all over the world have the opportunity to submit a 57 character, maximum, personal message through five different social media networks, Facebook.com/nikefootball, Twitter (#writethefuture or #NikeFuture), Facebook, Mxit (a South African IM application) and QQ (a Chinese chat program). Users can vote on the player they think will “write the future.” One hundred individual messages are then chosen each night and displayed, along with digital player animations, on the Daktronics video display, located on the top of Johannesburg’s fourth largest building, Southern Life Centre building, which can be seen from about 1.5 miles away.

Nike first launched a viral video campaign for “Write the Future”. The video can be viewed on Nike’s YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/nikefootball) and on the Nike Facebook page. It is designed to spread virally through Facebook, as it requires users to “like” the footage before they are able to watch it. To date the video has almost 18 million views on YouTube.

Nike Football on Facebook, with more than 1.2 million followers, is where fans can discuss the game’s best talents, watch the latest Nike Football videos, see exclusive shots of Nike players and more. Football enthusiasts can use the “Write the Future” campaign to build their own Facebook fan pages and promote themselves in order to catch the attention of Nike scouts and potentially be selected for “The Chance,” an elite Nike Academy football camp, partnered with the Barclays Premier League in England, which allows players to get scouted and noticed at the highest level of football (soccer).

Nike’s “Write the Future” campaign is a perfect example of how far social media has come in the past few years.

Equipment Information

PXS-125 LED freeform lighting elements
Lines of LEDs on 125 mm centers
Appox. Dimensions: 42.0 m x 44.0 m (138’ x 144‘)