[CLIP] How PORTO ROCHA Made Nike Run Again | Felipe Rocha & Leo Porto (PORTO ROCHA)

Felipe Rocha (0:00)

A lot of people, like they say, like, hey, but it felt like this logo is so familiar, it feels like it's always there. And for me, that's my favorite type of design. When the creation, when the designer, it feels invisible because it makes so much sense.

Leo Porto (0:12)

Our growth was always a consequence of us focusing on work and our people. We're not planning to grow, but growth is a consequence of doing great work. What do you do exactly ?

Felipe Rocha (0:24)

I like to say that the work that we do doesn't really create culture, but in a way, it's a dialogue with everything that is going on out there.

Leo Porto (0:32)

We see designers as strategic thinkers and vice versa. I think strategists should also be able to contribute with their vision of how that gets translated into design.

Felipe Rocha (0:42)

A case study starting from the beginning when somebody is entering the room and ask you, can you walk with me on my brand identity ? Can you tell me everything ? The one thing that guided the work, what's the one thing that Nike has that no one else can claim ? It's their legacy. And the one thing that I love the most about this work is that this solution is so obvious, so simple. It's pretty much like just taking the Nike logo and replacing Nike with brand.

Leo Porto (1:10)

I think COVID happens three months later.

Felipe Rocha (1:12)

Could you be able to have a system from A to Z designed by AI ?

Leo Porto (1:16)

AI is replacing the base of the pyramid when it comes to designers who are starting out. What are the different phases you are going through between the brief and the solution you came with ? I 100% believe that if you put a bunch of people that think the same in a room, nothing interesting is going to come out of there.

Felipe Rocha (1:35)

So what did you start with ?

Leo Porto (1:36)

What did you start with ?

Felipe Rocha (1:37)

I mean, what does it look like, a brief from such a company ?

Leo Porto (1:42)

So first, I mean, they outlined the challenge. They wanted to reconnect with runners and people in general and basically change the perception of Nike as a pioneer in the running space, which they always were. But over the years, they kind of lost that connection. Nike was born as a running brand. But as they expanded into different verticals, different sports, lifestyle, streetwear, football, football, running became sort of a piece of that puzzle.

And because people already knew them for running, they invested a lot more into the other sports that they were not known for. And sort of inevitably, they kind of lost a little bit of that.

Felipe Rocha (2:24)

And a lot of the other sports, they were also more like in the culture, like the Zyguys at the moment.

Leo Porto (2:31)

Yeah.

Felipe Rocha (2:31)

Running, not as much.

Leo Porto (2:34)

Yeah.

Felipe Rocha (2:34)

There was a moment where like, you know, like skateboard was totally the thing, or like basketball. So running and running is having a moment, like for a few years.

Leo Porto (2:44)

So that also coincided with running becoming even more popular. As you know, everyone's running now.

Felipe Rocha (2:50)

Yeah.

Leo Porto (2:50)

So I think they were very well aware of that.

Felipe Rocha (2:54)

So the goal was more like to claim the space they had since the beginning.

Leo Porto (2:58)

Yeah. Because they had new competitors coming in and taking market share.

Felipe Rocha (3:01)

Yeah.

Leo Porto (3:01)

So yeah, that was the goal. We are the number one running brand. We're the first one. We're Nike.

Felipe Rocha (3:10)

Okay. And that was the one thing that guided the work. Yeah. Like what's the one thing that Nike has that no one else can claim ? It's their legacy, you know ? So I think that was the starting point for us. Like let's go back. Let's go back through their college.

Leo Porto (3:25)

The brief is that clear at the time ? It was that clear, yeah. We want to take... We need to... Yeah, we want to reconnect with runners and we want to reclaim our space within the running category.

They had already a system in place, they had already multiple campaigns going on, but they wanted a system that also could help them, from a global perspective, activate simultaneously across the entire world.

Felipe Rocha (3:51)

Yeah, and besides that, I also think there was a desire to bring more confidence and make Nike more bold, you know, which is something that people often associate with Nike. But back like a few years ago, that association was not as big as it was in the past.