NIKE:
RUN, NIKE, RUN
Forty-two kilometres.
Very little room for unnecessary words.
COPYWRITING · LOCALISATION & TRANSCREATION ·
OUT-OF-HOME · BRAND VOICE
For the Amazing Thailand Marathon 2024, I wrote a series of motivational Nike billboards positioned throughout the 42-kilometre route.
With very little existing Thai Nike copy to draw from, the job was less about translation and more about finding how the brand should sound in Thailand. Every line had to be bold, economical, and unmistakably Nike, while still feeling completely natural to a Thai runner.
The copy had a different job at every stage of the race: build excitement at the beginning, provide encouragement when the legs began negotiating their resignation, and deliver one final push towards the finish.
Writing for exhausted people is an excellent creative discipline. They have no patience for a headline that requires a second reading.
After years of leading creative teams, returning so directly to the words was a genuine joy. Seeing them illuminate the marathon route reminded me why I became a copywriter: sometimes a few well-placed words can meet someone at precisely the moment they need them.
Good running copy follows the same rule as good running: remove anything that slows you down.
