Have Fun with a Run

Source: www.adsoftheworld.com
Advertising Agency: 72andSunny, USA
Music Artist: Gnarls Barkley
Song: Run (I’m a Natural Disaster)

Nike, the proud owners of one of the world's most popular slogans "Just Do It" and the max-recognized logo, the famous swoosh to match it, has done it again.

At the beginning of this year, http://www.nikeplus.com/ (the world's largest running club) tallied the kilometers of men and women who join an official Men vs. Women online running challenge using the Nike+ system through March 13 to April 20. The website is not new, but the challenge is. Those who think User Generated Content or UGC is a waste of time should think again. This idea was first suggested by a consumer on the Nike+ website, an interactive portal launched by Nike way back in 2006. The website allows Nike+ running shoes to transmit data wirelessly to an iPod nano, an iPod touch or Nike+ SportBand. Information on time, distance, pace and calories burned during a run is stored on www.nikeplus.com. You can stay motivated by setting goals, challenging others to virtual races, reach specific goals or use the tons of other features offered on the website.

As usual, Nike has partnered with Apple...nothing new about that.

But Nike has got many things right with this campaign.

1. Used integrated media. The above TV spot is just one of many promotions.

2. Made good use of humor and great music, both sure-shot winners with the target group.

3. Carried on with their co-branding efforts with a brand well-suited to their own image. Apple and Nike speak to similiar demographics.

4. Tapped on our most basic competitive spirit, I mean, what can be more fun than Men Vs. Women?

5. Given us the whole Nike experience. The gears, the tracking, the camaraderie and the sheer thrill of a sport which is the easiest and the most difficult at the same time.

Check out the video posted above and tell me if you dont feel like putting on those shoes and going for a run.

'Trust Me' me on TNT - branded entertainment at its best

Creative executives, Hunt Baldwin and John Coveny are part of the team responsible for creating "Trust Me", a series premiering tomorrow on TNT. The authenticity is provided by the fact that both have worked at agencies like Leo Burnett, JWT and Y&R.

Now, what does this mean for all the brands competing with each other in every possible media in every possible way? Can we hold the television viewer's attention in today's fast paced touch-screen dominated world? Let's hope so, for Unilever's sake. Apart from being one of the sponsors of the show, Dove hair care products are actually being woven into the story-line. Which of course is no big deal since the show deals with brands and products anyway.

And that is why big brands like Apple, Chris-Craft boats, Effen vodka, Green Giant, Hallmark, Frosted Flakes from Kellogg’s, Nike, Pillsbury, Potbelly Sandwich Works and Starbucks have jumped on the proverbial bandwagon. Not all of them have the luxury of being the focus of an episode, some are merely being mentioned or featured...in-show or in-film brand placement as we know it.

To balance out the heavy dose of real brands, the show also has a few imaginary products like Arc Mobile Cellphone Service. But is that enough to ensure that the series maintains its distinct flavor and doesn't become lost in a sea of brand promotions? In order to preserve its individuality, the script of the show may sometimes deviate from what the sponsors prefer.

According to the Jan 21, 2009 New York Times - David Rubin, United States marketing director for Unilever hair brands in Chicago is fine with it. “What is so central on any branded integration,” Mr. Rubin said, “and I’ve worked on a bunch, is that with the ones that do it right, the brand’s involvement adds to the story being told without usurping the storyteller’s job.The show has to be great entertainment for me to succeed in doing what I’m trying to do.”

True, and given the premise of the show, it will be fairly impossible for it to be anything other than entertaining. Having worked in an advertising agency including two of the three mentioned above, I can safely say that no advertising firm can dare to be boring. Ego clashes, weird fashion choices, creative temperament, hard-to-please bosses and unreasonable client demands...all add in making an ad agency unlike any other.