Max Nissinen-Le
Hi! I'm detail-orientated, creative and social with a keen eye for branding and storytelling through illustration. Feel free to reach out!
49% of elite level athletes suffer from high performance related stress, despite the “elite” support and resources they often have access to, in order to support them before, during and after performing. Amateur athletes or the average user of Red Bull will often suffer a similar level of stress, despite the varying levels of competition.
To combat this, 90% of athletes at all levels have reported to engage in ritual, in order to “control the uncontrollable”.
Red Bull is very much often a part of this ritual space, but misses the mark in its brand language – too often focusing on the spectacle and performance, but ignoring the preparation beforehand.
“What Gives You Wings?” aims to refocus Red Bull’s branding away from the spectacle, to the quieter, more personal moments of preparation through the use of rituals and provide a resource to manage performance anxiety.
In order to refocus the brand, Tarot Cards and spiritual tools were uncovered during interviews as a vessel for ritualistic processes for this campaign. Tarot Cards were utilised for their versatility in micro-storytelling and humanoid illustration, grounding the project within a realistic context, as opposed to, for their functional use.
THE WINGS, THE EYE and THE BULL are all archetypes created from real stories and processes from amateur athletes, based on their different personal processes in preparation, varying from quiet visualising to specific high energy movement.
To further expand the campaign into a digital, shareable avenue, a new tab on Red Bull’s website appears in order to allow the Tarot Cans to function as digital collectables, and provide Red Bull consumers with rituals and grounding techniques whenever they need them most – making Red Bull consumers’ go to drink for preparation before performance (not just in sport).
Alongside my degree, I worked on the social media for the University Rugby League club, creating matchday graphics, teamsheets, results and promotional graphics, every week, depending on what was needed. I was responsible for online recruitment and organising media events including photoshoots or shooting content with university content creators – as well as basic editing.