England Kit Launch Shows Brands – And Athletes – Want Something Fresh From Creative Campaigns

England captain Harry Kane tries to suppress a smile. Chelsea’s rising star Mason Mount laughs as a hand plays with his hair. And Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford grins beneath a bucket hat.

There was something different about the campaign to launch the latest Nike
NKE-designed kit for the England national team.

In previous years, these sorts of sporting apparel launches have stuck to a tried and tested formula. Players with stony faces and crossed arms fix intense stares at the camera. These are warriors ready for battle. They aren’t here for fun – professional sport is a serious business.

The latest campaign, from London-based creative agency False 9, strikes a different tone.

“The campaign was all about humanizing the athlete,” Jordan Wise, co-founder of False 9, tells me in an interview.

The agency, which has previously worked with Nike on kit launches for Chelsea and Spurs, commissioned photographer Olivia Rose, whose work has included acclaimed portraits of UK grime artists.

In a nod to its cheekier approach, the campaign was called “A Wink & A Roar”.

“A Wink & A Roar is about doing away with the age-old illusion that football players are untouchable or superheroes. What we don’t often get access to is their humanity, their authentic selves or their real stories,” Rose says.

“I love that these images go against the grain. They are the polar opposite of the regular digitized, retouched and highly static images we are used to. I want people to look at the images and feel like they are learning a little something about their team and their country.”

The campaign was shot on film, not digital, a very risky move given how difficult it is to get high-profile professional soccer players together in one place.

“We were confident it was a risk worth taking,” Wise says.

He and Hamish Stephenson, co-founder and creative director at False 9, founded the agency in 2019 after growing frustrated with an industry they didn’t feel was taking enough risks.

Stephenson previously worked as a photographer and director, including shooting campaigns for clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona.

“For me it was incredible – you’re shooting Lionel Messi, you’re shooting the Barcelona team. But the way the brand frames that kind of project creates this very dull, very sterile, very transactional environment,” he says.

“There was no real consideration for the talent and how they wanted to look and present themselves. You walked in, had 10 minutes to get your shots, and you were out of there. You’re not connecting with the players and it’s not an enjoyable experience for anyone involved.”

The pair, who also run GAFFER, a content platform “committed to bridging the gap between football, music and fashion”, set out to create an environment where players could show their personality.

“Our shoots are an experience. The music goes up loud and we do everything we can so the athlete or artist is enjoying themselves,” Wise says.

“That also enables us to have longer with them because any athlete or any talent in the world, if they’re having fun, they’re not looking at their watch every five minutes. It should not feel like work.”

For brands striving for athlete campaigns that resonate, the key word is “authentic”.  

“It’s all about audience and the way this new generation consume and the way they crave authenticity,” Stephenson says.

“There’s such a strong desire from that audience that it needs to feel real. Anything that doesn’t feel real, there’s no interest.”

Engaging the athletes, and encouraging them to show another, more playful side in campaigns, is a trend the pair believe comes naturally to the younger generation of soccer stars.  

“This generation is different. They have other passions outside of the remit they’re known for and to them it’s more natural to amplify all of the things that they’re up to,” Wise says.

“There have always been stereotypes attached to athletes that you need to be very alpha, you can’t have any distractions, you need to be totally focused on and off the pitch. But they’re still humans.

“We work a nine to five but we still play golf on the weekends or go to the movies or go to a music concert. So I think it’s just about encouraging this generation, that already very naturally has more to say.”