Nike Football

THE K11

Joe helped young soccer players make it to the professional game, turning selfies into pro scouting videos.

SCOUT YOURSELF. MAKE THE TEAM.

The scouting system in Russia is broken. With pro teams ignoring the youth systems in favour of importing foreign superstars, Russia’s next generation has little chance of being scouted.

The K11 (Korobka 11) is a team, made of street players, trained by pro coaches, with the sole purpose of helping young Russians reach the highest level of the game.

Using an innovative scouting system, called ‘Selfie Scouting’, we connected every young player with a Nike scout, allowing them to share selfies of their skills, anytime, anywhere. So whether they visit one of our digital Korobkas – fitted with multiple cameras that stream a live feed to pro scouts – or they film themselves playing at home or in the streets, the players can always reach a scout.

FORM WITH FUNCTION

To help young players prove their ability, we turned Nike-branded posters into challenges for them to complete. The posters included target practice, passing accuracy, speed, agility, and power. Hung all over Korobkas and around the cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, the posters’ visual style were designed to reflect the raw ability and attitude of young Russian, Korobka players.

A young man with a backpack spinning a soccer ball on his finger in front of sports banners, one of which includes a Nike logo.
An outdoor padel tennis court with a red playing surface, surrounded by a high blue fence with advertisement banners, and two goals for the game. Trees and buildings are visible in the background.
A soccer ball on an outdoor track with a person standing nearby. Behind them is a red barrier with Russian text and a Nike logo.
A soccer goal on a field with advertising banners on the fence, featuring Nike and other sports-related logos and text in Russian and English promoting the Nike K11 website.
A young boy dressed as a soccer goalkeeper lying on artificial grass, resting with his head on his hand, next to a large advertising board with Cyrillic text and a Nike logo at a soccer field.
Empty outdoor basketball court with white lines, surrounded by a fence with advertisements in Russian, in a park with trees and playground equipment in the background.
A person in a green shirt, black and white striped shorts, and yellow cleats is playing soccer on an artificial turf field. Only the lower half of their body and a soccer ball are visible. In the background, there are three posters featuring the K1 logo and Nike branding.
People playing soccer on an outdoor field surrounded by a fence with advertisements, near tall buildings and trees.

CAMPAIN KICK OFF

We started the campaign with a 60 second TV ad, directed by Dexter Navy, at halftime during the Russian Cup final. The message was simple; the streets have been ignored – until now. Scout yourself, send us your videos and make the K11 team. 1,000s of young players, from all over Russia, shared their videos using #задайуровень, with every video watched by our scouts.

DIGITAL CAGES

While thousands of Selfie Scouting videos poured in through multiple social channels, we also built state-of-the-art digital Korobkas, designed to capture every play and piece of skill. Teams simply had to book a slot and turn up and play. If they did something they thought would get them noticed, they just hit the K11 button, and the footage went directly to a scout.

A rooftop soccer field with players practicing, surrounded by a metal fence, with tall residential and commercial buildings in the background and some trees around the field.
A young man in athletic apparel, wearing a Nike shirt, stands on a sports field or court, with a fence and advertising banners in the background. He is leaning against the fence with his right arm and has his left hand on his hip, looking confident.
A man in a gray Nike T-shirt and black Nike cap holding a soccer ball at an outdoor basketball or sports court, pointing with his left arm and making a confident expression.

FROM STREETLIGHTS TO FLOODLIGHTS

After four weeks of scouting, a two-day trial period, and a grueling 4-week training regime at a pro facility, the K11 took on the Nike Academy at Spartak Moscow’s stadium – live on Russian TV, watched by 850,000 people. Thanks to the K11, two players earned full-time contracts with the Nike Academy, allowing them to play in front of pro scouts each week.

Soccer players from two teams standing in tunnel, preparing for match discussion

Creative Direction: Joe Fox

Creative Direction: Ricky Bowry

Group Creative Director: Toby Burnett // Design Director: Pedro Villas Boas // Editor: Sam Rushworth // Director: Dexter Navy // Client Services: Andrew Freshwater // Production: Hype