Ad Age is marking Hispanic Heritage Month 2024 with our Honoring Creative Excellence package, in which members of the Hispanic community revisit pivotal projects or turning points in their careers. (Read the introduction and all the essays here.) Today, guest editor Will Esparza turns the spotlight to Jose Jorge Netto, a freelance creative director who writes about challenge and opportunity of helping Nike get more kids interested in baseball and softball.

Among my recent work, one piece that stands out to me is Nike’s “This Is How We Play,” which was part of a multiyear plan to help Nike grow youth interest and participation in diamond sports.

It was followed by other campaigns we created, including “Never Done Making Diamonds Shine” and “Doin Damage,” which all aimed to bring an edge back to the sport of baseball and increase play on the field.

“This Is How We Play” was our launch. It was inspired by youth culture creating the future with an absolute disregard for traditions or how things used to be, which is also true in baseball: They’ll play if they can play their way. The work also challenges the structures and pay-to-play realities in the sport that exclude many. For youth, baseball is stickball and streetball, a game no one rules. “This Is How We Play” was an invitation for them to make the game theirs and show everyone how they play it their way.

We had a beautiful sonic concept, creating a music video that plays with the norms of the game. We hijacked one of the biggest traditions in baseball, the seventh-inning stretch sing-along “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” and reimagined it with the same IDGAF attitude young athletes have about baseball’s conventions. For the final punctuation mark, our call to action was the reclaiming statement, “We’re up.” 

Leading the work on one of the biggest and most creative brands in the world was a welcome challenge and a tremendous opportunity for professional growth. It wouldn’t have been possible without the trust and support of Will Esparza and his team at Hyphenated, along with the collaboration of a multicultured and multitalented team: Erik Wade, field sports and cultural marketing at Nike; Justin Polk at Invisible Collective; directors Rodney Lucas, Kevin Oh and Ryan Chun; Devin Gati and Russell Cloder at Dream Radio; the Las Fotos Project; Virgilio Santos, Manuel Dilone, David Rinman and Bruno Silva at U.N.N.A.M.E.D Studios; and many others.