Filipinos lack many relatable, successful heroes. Creating new idols, our idea was Rise: a primetime TV series, terrestrially broadcast and supported by a cross-medium network to reach a nation. Beautifully shot, it uncovered the raw, intense drama and determination of 24 young players chasing a dream they had long thought lost.

We dove into the backstories of players from across the country; stunningly shot as they took us into their homes, villages and communities, telling us of their adversities. We captured the excitement of receiving top-tier facilities, expertise and resources; the nerves and camaraderie as they faced off against the best young collegiate talent. Top basketball heroes dropped in along the way for candid interactions, and dramatic eliminations saw the dream end for some.

And finally, we captured the elation as scouts and coaches from leading schools offered 13 of the kids scholarships and tryouts – an incredible life-changing success.

Following nationwide tryouts, 24 kids arrived in Manila to eat, sleep, and breathe basketball at the purpose-built House of Rise, with ex-national head coach Chot Reyes and superstar guest mentors such as LeBron James, Paul George and Jimmy Alapag.

The journey unfolded in five ‘documentary-style’ 20-minute episodes. Broadcast every Sunday on primetime terrestrial TV, it shared their highs, lows and inspirational backstories with millions.

It was supported across OOH, digital and retail, and picked up by the country’s biggest news and sports outlets and influencers in TV, print, and online.

Partner show ‘Rise Live’ went deeper behind-the-scenes after episodes. We also created exclusive, high-octane training videos, enabling anyone to improve.

The finale saw the team play in the 10,000-seater MOA Arena with LeBron, gaining the confidence they needed to rise to their final challenge: a live, televised game against a collegiate All-Stars select, in front of top coaches and scouts.

Rise content reached 28% of Filipinos, with 290m impacts. In total episodes attracted 7.5m views across TV and digital, with trailers and bulletins cumulatively further accounting for ten times as many impacts. The shows also attracted a rating almost three times TV5’s daily average.

Consuming 85 years’ worth of video online, 31% of digital episode views were to completion: an incredible level of engagement for longform. Social engagement was high: 1.2m likes, shares and comments, 3.3m total engagements, 63.5m total impressions and 4.7k Rise-related hashtags.

Our dedicated microsite received 115k pageviews: deepdiving into backstories, hosting superstar training videos, and heroing product. Rise fuelled an upswing of over 120% in unique visitors, and over 175% in average pageviews to Nike Basketball .com pages; users dwelling almost 40% longer once there. It drove 3000 footwear and apparel unit sales, the flagship Manila store bringing in over $1000 per square foot during August.