Winning NIL Creative: The Power of Photos
Featuring brand deals with Reebok and Crocs.
Each issue, we’ll be rounding up some of our favorite NIL creative campaigns from athletes having success in NIL, and highlighting what other athlete content-creators can learn from them. This issue we’re focusing on photo-driven NIL collabs.
By: Lauren Huttner (Northwestern)
Andy’s x Lily Smith (UGA Gymnastics)
Lily Smith’s partnership with Andy’s included a selection of photos outside the restaurant with a custard in hand. By selecting three photos with different poses, Smith expressed her excitement and enthusiasm for the brand. Smith clearly communicated her partnership in all pieces of content, regardless of what aspect of the post a user saw.
The Takeaway: Make sure you're taking photos in a place that is relevant to your personal brand or the product you are promoting. Doing so will help provide context to the content and ensure the success of the campaign.
RJ Davis’ Jibbitz-filled Crocs capture the attention in this collaborative post. Three different photos showed the shoes from different angles. Together, they emphasized the synergies between Crocs and Davis’ personal brand.
The Takeaway: The product should be the focal point of your photos. Davis highlighted the Crocs in every photo and used a lighter-colored background to make the black shoes stand out. Think about ways you can use color to emphasize aspects of the photos you post.
Reebok x Sophie Herriot (Wisconsin T&F)
Sophie Herriot’s photo collaboration with Reebok shows her running shoes in motion. Not only did she include full-body shots, but she also made sure to show close-ups and action shots. This helped highlight the dynamic nature of Reebok’s shoes, communicating their value.
The Takeaway: It’s important to show more than tell. Think about how photos can share the what, where, why and how of a product. Herriot does this by including lots of photos, highlighting the versatility of the shoes. However, this can also be accomplished through framing and combining action shots with stills.
Lauren Huttner (Northwestern Medill ‘24) is a journalist and strategist for creators and brands. Lauren has written for Inc. Magazine, worked with Dorm Room Fund and was VP of Community at AMA, a Youtube data-analytics firm acquired by Jellysmack.
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