Showing posts with label NIKE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NIKE. Show all posts

26.1.21

Puma | How ambush marketing was taken to a new level at the Olympics?

Promoting at the Olympics is safely guarded. After all, the keys to sponsorships sell for more than a billion dollars every four years.

Outside of that, no shenanigans are permitted.

When the clearly-defined rules are tampered with, the IOC gets very angry. They impose steep sanctions on those who transgress.

Meanwhile, with marketing, the brilliance often occurs at the edges, the tiny, hidden grey area between what is allowed and what isn’t. It is in this small pocket, that guerilla marketers unlock fortunes.

This is why this story is so brilliant.











The Setup

Usain Bolt owns the word ‘fast’. He is sponsored by internet companies. He is sponsored by jogging apparel.

And at the time, he was heavily sponsored by Puma, who was paying Bolt $10M a year as his primary sponsor, making him the face of the company.

They needed to capitalize on the Rio Games to justify this investment. Running a mere minute-long commercial would cost millions. And they lacked the budget to become a full-blown Olympic sponsor.

They needed a workaround.



100m Final

Usain Bolt flew across the finish line in 9.81 seconds, securing his gold medal.

He lifted his golden shoes high up in the air, striking his pose, and then took a lap around the stadium




It was all staged.




And as soon as he’d crossed the finish line, the marketing department at Puma kicked into high gear. It was 4 a.m. in their German offices. Their social media teams started carpet bombing social media with these images:

Notice this image doesn’t include a picture of Bolt or a reference to the Olympics. This was deliberate.
Here’s why

If you look at the actual footage from the race, he was wearing his gold shoes but they were modified:






The Olympic Committee had strictly forbidden marketing slogans being displayed by athletes. This was enforced down to the most minute details.




How Puma and Bolt Tricked Everyone

Technically — they hadn’t broken the rules. At the time of his race, the phrase was not an official marketing slogan. It was just in the moments after that it became one.

Additionally, and with a slight twist, the phrase on his shoes ‘forever fastest’ was simply a homage to Puma’s official slogan ‘forever faster’, which was named after Bolt in the months prior.

Bolt and Puma planned beforehand that he would hold the gold shoes up while doing his pose to help them be seen on cameras.

The inscribing on the insoles of his shoes was also deliberate. Bolt was zoomed in on more than any other athlete during the Olympics.

There was an additional reason Puma didn’t reference the Olympics or medals when posting Bolt’s shoes: they didn’t need to.

Everyone on the planet who was following the Olympics knew Bolt won his 100m when they saw these images. They knew exactly what Puma was talking about, without Puma having to be explicit.

By circumventing the rules, they’d pulled off a monster free advertisement that would have easily cost them tens of millions to buy. In turn, it led to more than $50M increased sales of their product in the following months.

Meanwhile, Nike was infuriated. They’d paid more than $100M to be the featured shoe brand of the Olympics. They threatened legal action in the aftermath, but when push came to shove, there was nothing more they could do.

Following these Olympics, the IOC had to tweak the marketing rules yet again which, when it comes to ambush marketing, is the surest sign of a win.


31.5.20

For once, Don’t Do It | Nike



The latest Nike advertisement is a play on the company's slogan, "Just Do It," while also addressing racism.

The ad, titled, "For once, Don't Do It," contains several powerful messages throughout the one-minute spot:


  • Don't pretend there's not a problem in America
  • Don't turn your back on racism.
  • Don't accept innocent lives being taken in front of us.
  • Don't make any more excuses.
  • Don't think this doesn't affect you.
  • Don't sit back and be silent.
  • Don't think you can't be part of the change.
  • Let's all be part of the change.
The ad, created by Wieden + Kennedy Portland, is a series of simple yet powerful statements set on a black background: 

“Nike has a long history of standing against bigotry, hatred and inequality in all forms,” said a Nike spokesperson. “We hope that by sharing this film we can serve as a catalyst to inspire action against a deep issue in our society and encourage people to help shape a better future.”

The spot illustrated Nike’s commitment to social issues and highlighted one of the brand’s most visible athletes in that space.

26.5.20

Nike|Never Too Far Down



Nike's back with another uplifting ad designed to give us the courage to get through the pandemic. This 90-second narration from LeBron James reminds us how sports are the ultimate beacon for hope. No matter how far you might be down, like say three games to one or behind 28-3 in the Super Bowl, there's always hope.


The 90-second spot, “Never Too Far Down,” was created by Wieden + Kennedy Portland. Humanity’s comeback story, featuring world-class athletes, is what one would expect from a Nike ad. Narrated by LeBron James, the film features elite Nike athletes, including Serena Willams, Naomi Osaka, Tiger Woods, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Nadal, Megan Rapinoe and others.
The three-act structure in the minute and a half spot vacillates from struggle and pain, to finding a way through, to, ultimately, triumph. It’s a hopeful, inspiring message that we’re all hoping to experience before too long.

In classic Nike and W+K fashion, the simplicity of impactful imagery, sound (in this case, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ excellent version of David Bowie’s Life on Mars?) and words make a significant impact. The latter is particularly impressive, with obvious metaphors to the current crisis.






CREDITS:
Client: Nike
Campaign: Never Too Far Down
W+K Portland
Executive Creative Directors: Eric Baldwin, Jason Bagley
Creative Directors: Alberto Ponte, Ryan O’Rourke
Art Director: Lee Jenninigs
Copywriter: Kevin Steele
Head of Production: Matt Hunnicutt
Executive Producers: Jake Grand, Krystle Mortimore
Producer: Emily Knight
Associate Producer: Shani Storey
Group Brand Director: Andre Gustavo
Brand Director: Kate Rutkowski
Brand Manager: Steve Smith
Group Strategy Director: Paula Bloodworth
Global Group Media Director: Daniel Sheniak
US Group Media Director: Reme DeBisschop
Associate Media Director: Emily Dalton
Media Supervisor: Graham Wallace
Sr. Business Affairs Managers: Laura Caldwell, Adam Caviezel
Integrated Traffic Managers: Sabrina Reddy, Billy Mucha
Sr. Creative Operations Manager: David Ramirez
Studio Manager: Michael Frediani
Retoucher: Amy Ellars
Designers: Nick Humbel, Mitch Wilson
Production Company
Production Company: Park Pictures
Director: Lance Acord
Executive Producer: Jackie Kelman Bisbee
EP / Producer: Caroline Kousidonis
Production Manager: Joe Faulstich
Editorial
Company: Spot Welders
Editor: Robert Duffy
Assistant Editor: JC Nunez
Assistant Editor: Fatos Marishta
Managing Partner: David Glean
Executive Producer: Carolina Padilla
VFX
VFX Company: Shipping + Handling
Creative Director, Lead VFX: Casey Price
Creative Director, VFX: Jerry Spivack
VFX: James Buongiorno, Johannes Gamble, Evelyn Lee, Rachel Moorer
Managing Partner: David Glean
VFX Executive Producer: Scott Friske, Dustin LaForce
Color
Color Company: A52
Colorist: Daniel De Vue
Color Executive Producer: Thatcher Peterson
Color Producer: Jenny Bright
Mix
Mix Company: Joint Editorial
Audio Mixer: Natalie Huizenga
Executive Producer: Leslie Carthy
Music Supervision
Company: Walker
Senior Executive Producer: Sara Matarazzo
Executive Producer: Stephanie Pigott
Producer: Danielle Soury
Music
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross “Life on Mars?” by David Bowie

11.10.10

Nike Argentina| Flying trainers at the Nike Air Show

Nike’s clever involvement of in-store and online players in the Air Show demonstrates perfectly the potential of customer facing brand activity.

If someone told you to blow into your computer’s microphone to make a shoe fly in Buenos Aires, you’d either think they’d been drinking heavily, or had fallen for some new internet hoax. However, Nike’s latest in-store promotion in Argentina requires visitors to do just that, and take part in the Nike Air Show. 
Without wanting to spoil the magic, Nike has used microphones, magnets and a little bit of internet magic to promote the Nike Air identity in a very literal sense. 

22.5.10

NIKE "Write The Future" Full Length Film Version








What better time than now to launch this beautiful campaign when FIFA World Cup is approaching fast. Nike is unveiling an action-packed film that brings together some of the world’s greatest players to inspire soccer lovers and sports fans around the world. The epic three-minute film, “Write the Future,” takes people on a journey that dramatically captures that one moment when headlines are written - from a single pass or one strike that brings a nation eternal happiness, while bringing others to their knees.


The film, directed by renowned Hollywood director and producer Alejandro G. Iñarritu (21 Grams, Babel), features some of the world’s best players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney, Fabio Cannavaro, Franck Ribery, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott, Patrice Evra, Gerard Pique, Ronaldinho, Landon Donovan, Tim Howard and Thiago Silva. Special guest cameos are made by tennis legend Roger Federer, basketball superstar Kobe Bryant and Homer Simpson.


AgencyWieden + Kennedy, Amsterdam, The Nederlands
Creative Director: Mark Bernath, Eric QuennoyArt Director: Stuart Harkness, Freddie PowellCopywriter: Freddie Powell, Stuart HarknessProducer: Elissa SingstockProducer: Olivier KlonhammerExecutive Creative Director: Jeff KlingHead of Broadcast: Erik VerheijenProduction Company: Mokkumercials – AmsterdamProduction Company: Independent Films – LondonDirector: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Stuart Harkness, Pablo CasacubertoDirector of Photography: Jeroen van der PoelVFX Company: The Mill

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