Nike · Twitter · R/GA Los Angeles · 2016
Kobe Bryant #MambaDay
Overview
For Kobe Bryant's final NBA game, Nike needed something worthy of the moment. I designed the world's first custom branded athlete emoji for Twitter — a Kobe shoe that auto-populated when fans tweeted #MambaDay. Kobe saw it and replied
with two words: "No edits." The campaign went on to generate 2.9 billion impressions in a single day.
The Core Work
World's First Branded
Athlete Emoji
The design had to work at 18×18 pixels — readable at the smallest scale Twitter rendered, while still capturing
the Kobe XI's signature silhouette and gold Swoosh. It needed to feel like Kobe: precise, unmistakable, earned.
Getting it approved by Kobe in two words — "No edits." — was the brief answering itself.
The Kobe XI — sneaker the emoji was based on
Final emoji design
The emoji auto-triggered in every #MambaDay tweet — from Nike, athletes, and fans alike
Twitter's #MambaDay search results, live on retirement night — 4/13/16
The Tributes
Athletes, celebrities, and fans submitted tribute words for Kobe — generating custom campaign art in real time.
The campaign became a live cultural moment, with everyone from LeBron to Rafa Nadal to Bill Clinton to Muhammad Ali joining in.
Custom tribute cards generated in real time — with Kobe's final tweet at center
LeBron, CP3, Carmelo, Rafa Nadal, Kevin Durant, Serena Williams — the world showed up
Campaign Visuals
The visual identity explored the full duality of Kobe's legacy — every word a contradiction, every frame a provocation.
The suite ran across social, digital, and Nike Basketball's channels on retirement night.
Hate · Love · Hero · Villain · Relentless · Ruthless · Confident · Arrogant
Hate · Love · Hero · Villain
Impact
2.87M
#MambaDay tweets on retirement day
2.9B
Owned and earned impressions
360K
New followers across Nike Basketball
368K
Images created via Mamba Day generator
266M
Snapchat geofilter views — most-viewed ever at the time
Twitter Strategist: John Lee · Client: Nike · Creative Agency: R/GA Los Angeles
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