www.nike.com/nikesoccer/tiempo/nyc _ flash.html
“Nike’s goal is to make the U.S. a global soccer powerhouse,” says Tim Barber of odopod, the design firm that developed the Nike Tiempo site. If you’ve followed the World Cup, you might think that’ll take some doing. But if anyone has the wherewithal and the balls to do it, it’s Nike.

“When Nike and odopod teamed up, Nike dared to ask the hard question, ‘What do the Brazilians know that we don’t?’” Barber continues. Odopod took the ball and ran with it. “We traveled to Rio to find out what makes Brazilians the best in the world. We shot hours of footage, interviewing dozens of people—coaches, players, former pros, dancers, kids, anyone who would talk to us.

“Then we began the search in our own backyard, visiting Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami, and New York City. We looked for soccer wherever it was happening in an effort to find the raw talents that will launch the U.S. to the top of the soccer heap. The resulting site relies on documentary film techniques and a unique map interface to bring users along for the ride. The biggest challenges,” admits Barber, “revolved around orchestrating live action shoots in Rio, LA, Dallas, Miami, and NYC within a fairly short period of time. We took a documentary approach—the stories emerged from the people we met rather than being premeditated or scripted. When you approach it this way you never know what you’ll end up with, good or bad.”

Clearly it worked. The dynamic format of the site captures the gritty futbol passion of urban youth in the U.S., rekindling that dim spark of hope that maybe the U.S. has a shot at being a contender in the “Beautiful Game,” too.
Melea Britt Alexander

odopod
INTERACTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTORS: Tim Barber, David Bliss, Jacquie Moss
COPYWRITERS: Barber, Moss
ART DIRECTORS: Curtis Nishimura, Peter Reid
PROGRAMMERS: Steve Mason, Ammon Haggerty, Sarah Grant
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Bliss
PRODUCERS: Moss, Keeley Gould
DIRECTOR: Lew Baldwin
CLIENT: Nike
CONTACT: www.odopod.com