Watching a professional at home in their craft, no matter what your passion, is inspiring. But if it is a passion you keep, one can’t help but get fired up.

Agency Wieden + Kennedy grabbed a hold of that insight and rolled it out huge with a new spot for Nike.

Copywriter Jeff Salomonsson, takes a regular tennis match (as regular as one with Roger Federer can be) and plays on this emotional activation to take the win one step further; a win for all the fans.

What makes it work is the build up to the full “Roger” effect. Starting with fans covertly putting on sweatbands, to Roger toying with a crowd jacked to get their own game going, right to the full on mob tennis effect.

Add to that the direction of Craig Gillespie, a director with a number of great creatives under his belt, including the fantastically creative LetGo ads, and you’ve got a commercial that effectively builds to a release that everyone is waiting for. The subtle facial expressions and brilliant camera placement and movement (the backhanded ball flying past the camera at 0:26 puts the viewer right in the action) make this ad a win for Nike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv9daYDOCIY