Nike’s ‘Art of Victory’ campaign won Gold in Experience at The Drum Awards for Marketing. This innovative campaign, set against the backdrop of the 2024 Paris Olympics, transformed the Centre Pompidou into a global stage for sports and art, showcasing groundbreaking stories and merging athletics with avant-garde creativity.
In 2024, Paris—the world’s most visited city where art, fashion, music, gastronomy, and architecture greet millions of people every year—had the privilege to host the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, the pinnacle expression of sport around the world. Top worldwide athletes competed in front of the most iconic landmarks, in the backyard of renowned luxury brands, in front of millions of viewers—making it a key moment for brands to connect with their audiences.
Nike, the leader in sport innovation, created a groundbreaking way to celebrate sport, combining disruption and emotional connection to leave a lasting impact. To achieve this, Nike stayed true to its DNA by focusing on elevating sports, athletes, innovation, and ultimately connecting and inspiring communities worldwide to create the future of sport.
The revolutionary Centre Pompidou—the museum that created disruption around the world in 1977 with its inside-out architecture and became an iconic symbol of creativity and avant-garde worldwide—was the chosen venue. It is also the place that inspired the radical design of the Air Max 1 nearly 40 years ago.
Led by a bold and avant-gardist vision of sport, Nike curated a unique space where athleticism and art converge, elevating sport to new heights—inside, outside, and across the globe—and creating a lasting emotional connection with the audience.
Nike transformed the Centre Pompidou’s iconic façade into a canvas that showcases groundbreaking stories of sport, youth culture, and creativity in one of Paris’ signature outdoor spaces. Nike’s roster of international athletes appeared on the 5,492m² LED wall—the largest outdoor sport installation in Europe—in stunning visuals displaying athletic brilliance and capturing the eyes of millions of witnesses across Parisian streets, on TV, and from any flight passenger in the sky.
Beneath this bold visual expression of sports, the public and skate enthusiasts alike were drawn to the reveal of 'Cycloid Piazza,' a skateable sculpture designed by French artist Raphael Zarka with architect Jean-Benoît Vétillard, commissioned by the Centre Pompidou with Nike—a new way of merging arts and sports... Launched as part of the country’s 'Olympiade Culturelle,' the masterpiece welcomed the global skate community, featuring legends like Eric Koston and Oskar Rozenberg as well as skate crews and youth from all around the world.
Nike x Centre Pompidou’s 'Art Of Victory' exhibition unveiled another chapter of the epic storytelling around Air—sport’s most celebrated innovation and worn by top athletes during the games—and offered a breathtaking glance at the future of sport.
As part of the ongoing journey of Nike Air innovation, the experience offered visitors a breathtaking glance at A.I.R—Athlete Imagined Revolution—a new co-creation process between teams of Nike designers and innovators and 13 of the brand’s elite athletes, from Victor Wembanyama to Sha’Carri Richardson to Kylian Mbappé.
A.I.R brings together some of the world’s best athletes, Nike designers and innovators, and the most cutting-edge technologies, amplified by AI, to co-create the future of Air.
All over the city’s iconic landmarks, Nike’s bold experiential programming fused global vision with authentic French culture, celebrating the power of sports and exciting communities all around the world.
Tinker Hatfield, Nike’s Vice President Creative Concept and mastermind behind the iconic Air Max 1, came to pay a visit and surprised hundreds of fans.
Turning a global stage into a celebration of the next generation of athletes, Girls from the 'Team Go Girls' program, a movement organized by Nike and Agence Nationale du Sport empowering 1,300 young female athletes to reconnect with sports, came to celebrate sport and move together.
With Nike’s live broadcast of 'The Shop,' basketball superstar LeBron James provided fans an unparalleled one-on-one experience at the intersection of sports and culture, drawing over 606K YouTube viewers.
A partnership with graffiti artist Futura brought together fans of breakdancing and street art, while a 4-day experience with French design house Paulin, Paulin, Paulin invited communities and showcased a fresh vision of running culture.
'Victory Project' kicked off the journey for runners in Paris, creating a collective platform for Nike’s running community, inviting run crews from all around the world to come and celebrate the moment, powered by Mo Farah, Caster Semenya, and Uzi, E-sport legend taking on the challenge of running a marathon, followed by millions of consumers in Greater China.
Thousands of young athletes joined the Victory Mode All-Star for an epic celebration of sports, from basketball to breakdance, in the presence of icons like Scottie Pippen, Colin Kaepernick, and Raysa Leal. Hosted by Kai Cenat and Nella Rose, the event culminated in an electrifying live performance of Central Cee.
Nike’s entire robust suite of experiential programming as well as the bold vision of sport resonated with the world of sport, joining the 'Grande Cause Nationale' of France to empower citizens to do sport every day.
In true avant-garde fashion, Nike’s presence at the Paris Olympics left a considerable impact globally and locally, for consumers, media, officials, retailers, elite athletes, and partners.
The Pompidou façade installation alone reached 160M people organically, tallying millions of earned impressions on social and capturing international TV broadcasters’ attention.
The 'Art of Victory' attracted over 18,000 visitors (1,000/day, 20% over planned foot traffic), with spontaneous visits from icons like Devin Booker and Olympics Committee members, leaving a lasting impression... “Combining the human aspect of Sports with personality, innovation, and futuristic technologies as only Nike can, the exhibition is perfectly aligned with the values of the Olympics—and allows us to dream big for the duration of the show and beyond” states Patrick Clark for Schön magazine.
Nike reinforced a unique vision of sports that created disruption, distinction during the pinnacle sport moment. Turning a building that inspired their iconic innovation into a platform of expression for the next generation, Nike ultimately contributed to inspiring youth to fall in love with sports after the Olympics—continuing to push the boundaries of sports.
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