Yes, Nike, Greatness Has Been Found…in a Gatorade Ad

Greatness has been found, and, no, not in a Nike commercial. Instead, I found it in this Gatorade commercial. Check it out:

“Greatness isn’t given. Greatness is taken—taken in the summer when no one’s looking.”

I wasn’t even watching my TV when this ad came on, but the words made me stop what I was doing and look up.

“Oh no you didn’t!” I thought, “Nike just got burned!”

Yes, I realize the Gatorade ad has been out since July, but I hadn’t seen it until recently—after the Olympics.

If you’re like me—maybe even if you’re not like me—you bristled a little at the “Greatness has been found” campaign of Nike’s I covered after the U.S. Women’s Soccer team won gold at the Olympics and donned those t-shirts.

Even not in the context of that event, the slogan seems arrogant and is missing that “Just Do It” nature that Nike commercials usually are very good at selling.

The “Find your greatness” aspect of Nike’s campaign was better, but Gatorade goes one step further with the intense workout footage and the words in their ad, starring Robert Griffin III, better known as RG3—a man who knows how to work. This man didn’t “find” the Heisman trophy, he earned it. He didn’t find his way to a top draft pick and a starting role for the Washington Redskins—he worked hard and earned it.

That’s why I think Gatorade has struck gold with this ad. You know by now that I’m a fan of great copywriting and, indeed, greatness has been found in RG3’s Gatorade commercial. It’s worth repeating.

“Greatness isn’t given. Greatness is taken…taken in the summer…when no one’s looking.”

So true. Go take yours…um, in the winter. Sorry, summer’s over.

The Power of Paralympians Perfectly Expressed

Great advertising can’t always be summed up properly in words—you know it when you see it. The Lloyds TSB-sponsored Paralympics ads are so terrific, I had to share them with you today.

Bold headlines and graphic manipulation of the photos give a palpable sense of motion and power.

Using the most recognizable Paralympics athlete ever is a given. Most of us knew of Oscar Pistorius before he participated in the London Olympic Games. Watching him there probably made more people realize how athletic these “disabled” athletes are. This ad campaign pushes people to realize even more the excitement and power in the Paralympic Games, hopefully drawing in more of an audience.

You know I’m a fan of good copywriting, and these headlines are fantastic! Not only are they intriguing and entice you to want to see these athletes compete, but they also point out what you might be missing. Did you notice the woman above on the horse had no legs?

In the above ad, you would’ve had no way of knowing if one (or both) of the athletes is blind–and that’s kind of the point.

How perfect is that? I hope you were as impressed by these ads as I was. They made me want to see more, and that truly is a sign of great advertising.

Has Nike Found Its Greatness? Not Yet in This Ad Campaign

I’ll admit, when the U.S. women’s soccer team put on their Nike “Greatness has been found” t-shirts immediately after winning the gold medal match at the Olympics, I didn’t like it.

I felt it was rude to the losing team (Japan), and I thought the slogan was obnoxious.

My mind hasn’t changed about the women’s soccer team putting on their shirts, but I have found an appreciation for Nike’s campaign. Maybe you have too?

If you haven’t yet seen the “chubby kid” commercial (starring regular kid Nathan Sorrell) drawing both praise and criticism all over the Web, here it is:

“Find your greatness.”

Meh. It’s kind of a dull slogan. In context, however, it’s super-positive and could be used well by Nike to help boost teen/youth self-esteem.

Bullying is such a major issue these days, and our kids need positive messages and role models to believe in. That’s why I love this ad.

Kids need to know they’re great—just by being born, they are fantastic. Heck, many adults still need to know this too.

Sorrell’s “Jogger” ad goes very well with Nike’s Mark Cavendish ad—the message within his is that despite the negative things people said, he found success. He used their words as motivation.

Kids need to know that other people’s words do not determine their future or their worth.

If anything, I think the criticism of the “Find Your Greatness” campaign should be that it doesn’t go far enough.

In their press release introducing this campaign, Nike doesn’t even seem to understand the potential for this campaign’s greatness. Greg Hoffman, Nike VP of Brand Design & Communications, said:

The idea behind ‘Find Your Greatness’ is simply to inspire and energize everyday athletes everywhere to celebrate their achievements, participate and enjoy the thrill of achieving in sport at their own level.

Nike is such a powerful company, this campaign could be so much more. They have sharing aspects in place, but the social sharing seems to be focused more on Nike tools than on social good.

And that’s fine. It’s completely their own prerogative, but I just wish they used these ads and social sharing as just a start. Team up with schools and turn part of it into a drive to:

• Reduce obesity in kids
• Counter bullying in schools and on playgrounds
• Boost self-esteem in youth and teens

The possibilities here seem too good to pass up. Nike does have a history of supporting kids and communities, so hopefully, they will use “Find Your Greatness” as another way to help even more.

Or, if Nike’s not up to the challenge, maybe schools and parents can use this message to start helping kids on their own.

What about you? Any ideas on how to make this “great” campaign even better?

Olympic Advertisements: And The Medals Go To…

The Olympics are over, so it’s time to award medals for the top three Olympic-themed commercials.

Bronze Medal

My choice here will probably surprise you. I’m giving the Bronze medal to Fruit of the Loom for their series of ads. The beauty of these ads is the simplicity—“You move. It moves with you.”

It’s a lovely series highlighting the same type of body control and movement that elite athletes must have. Here are three from that series–Rings, Trampoline and Backflip:

Silver Medal

The silver medal goes to an unusual contestant in this year’s ad Olympics—a movie trailer. This Paranorman video is laugh-out-loud funny! Paired with what I think is audiotape of actual gymnastics announcing, it draws you in immediately.

I have to say, a movie I knew very little about just made me want to see it. If that same humor and creativity runs throughout the movie, it should be a hit.

Gold Medal

And the gold medal goes to AT&T with Ryan Lochte in “Warming Up.”

I’m sure many of you are shocked that I didn’t include any of Proctor & Gamble’s commercials. But, in my eyes, P&G ran the same types of ads in the previous Olympic Games.

AT&T’s ad gave me goose bumps. See for yourself.

“Luck doesn’t get you to the Olympic Games. You can’t wish your way onto the podium. You can’t buy it or hope for it. It’s not enough to dream about it. Luck didn’t get me to London. I swam here.”

One minute long and that’s all that’s said. Every line is true. Every line is important. It’s perfect in words and images. After all, what’s harder than swimming in the ocean?

I only included ads I saw, which aired in the United States. I found another winner made for Adidas in Great Britain. What a way to pump up a nation!

So, that’s it. If you disagree, feel free to mention which ads you would give medals to and why. Maybe you can change my mind.

Does This Dart Hit Its Target?

Good copywriting always catches my eye, so I decided to investigate Dodge’s promoted tweet today. “Build a car that will change everything” is a strong statement. Does this new car live up to the high expectations Dodge just set?

See for yourself. “Dodge Dart: How to Change Cars Forever” is the video that was linked to the tweet:

Gotta say, I like it. Let’s take a look and then let me know what you think.

Pacing

Excellent tone and pacing in this advertisement. It’s fast enough to keep your attention, but not monotone. The pauses set in, for example, around “sleep…okay, that’s enough sleep” are perfect.

Copywriting

The script is fantastic, especially for a car company. There’s not too much detail thrown at you. Humor is there, but not forced or overdone. “Start with a simple idea” it begins and it continues by executing these simple ideas very well. The right words work with the video for a pace that engages and builds expectation.

Images

Instead of a straight-through video, images shoot out at you in a fast-paced montage. Notice all the people working on the car are young–not 20-young, but young looking.

Each image leaves an impression, with some that really stand out. Like what happens when you rely on committees (per the script):

Target Audience

So, here’s the question–Does this Dart ad appeal to its target audience or not?

I think the answer is yes…for the most part. You can tell Dodge is going after a young, hip audience here. And to their credit, they don’t seem like a stodgy, old car company pretending they get Gen-Y likes, needs and personality.

Starting price just under $16,000 for what seems like a cool car, or cool enough anyway, is a great takeaway. It’s placed near the end so you’re more likely to remember it. Plus, they didn’t lead with price because they want you to like the car first. And I think the video does give the viewer a good impression of the car–good enough to go test drive even.

I’m not sure why they featured Tom Brady at the end as their “celebrity endorser.” The way they introduced him was cute and fitting with the vibe of the rest of their video, but does Tom Brady really appeal to Gen Y?

After viewing the Dodge Dart commercial for yourself, what do you think? Did Dodge hit the mark with this one?

***************

Note to fellow WordPressers: Make sure when you try and embed your YouTube video that you’re not logged into Google. The link you get will then be a secure link and the video won’t embed. Get the unsecure link and all will work fine. Thanks to Jackie at WP for her quick and helpful reply.

Best Commercial of 2012 So Far?

What’s the best commercial on TV today? My vote is that it has to be this one, called  “New Dad”:

When this ad first started, I thought it was for a smartphone—iPhone, HTC—and mobile cloud capabilities. But, no, it was about something bigger than that—Google+.

According to TheNextWeb’s article and Google’s Bradley Horowitz, the ad’s story is true. And when Bradley posted it on his own Google+ page, he got more than:

• 260 comments
• 1,600 +1s (likes for those not on G+ yet)
• 1,100 shares

Completing the Great Advertising Checklist

1. Story that connects with the audience

Who hasn’t lost their phone (or their camera) and mourned the photos lost forever? This story is something most people can connect to—even those who aren’t parents. Losing the contact list alone is enough to make us cry, but losing pictures? Good grief.

2. Images that evoke an emotional response

How cute is that baby? There’s such a feeling of happiness while we watch these photos go by that we (the audience) can really identify with the pain of losing these photos. Did you catch yourself smiling, laughing or saying “aww” while the photos flashed onscreen? If you didn’t, then you’re made of stone and who needs you as a customer! But, the fact that we are captivated by the baby photos means that the ad is doing exactly what it’s supposed to. We don’t want this guy to lose his photos—we’re invested in the story.

3. Ending or call to action you can remember

Every picture instantly saved. That’s a plus. There’s kind of a collective sigh of relief at the end of this commercial because we see all those photos in thumbnail size, online, on this man’s Google+ page. The visual is a powerful reminder of the tagline: Every picture instantly saved. We think to ourselves, “Yeah, that is a plus.”

With Google+ Instant Upload, every picture you take on your phone is instantly backed up to a private Google+ album. It’s a simple way to make sure you never lose another memory.

This is from Google’s YouTube page, and the copywriter has certainly done a great job here.

Bonus: Brilliant choices that may seem subtle or unnoticed by the audience.

Notice, most of all, this ad is not called “New Mom.” It’s “New Dad” for a reason. Okay, one reason is because it’s a true story. But the other reason is that by having the dad narrate, the ad reaches a broader audience of women and men.

Nearly 70 percent of Americans ages 25 to 34 own smartphones—a target audience every business wants to snag. Overall, 50.9 percent of women and 50.1 percent of men own a smartphone.* So, it’s awfully smart to appeal to this entire audience, and Google+ does a fantastic job of that.

Now, whether this actually draws people to use Google+ is another story. Do you think it will work?

*Source: Zeman, E. Men Are From Mars, Women Love Smartphones [commentary online]. Information Week. May 7, 2012.

My Pitch for You to Watch “The Pitch”

If you love advertising, watch AMC’s The Pitch. If you are a college student or an adult changing careers and you are thinking about going into advertising, watch The Pitch. As one advertising exec on the show put it, “You have to be insane to work in advertising.”

I spent a block of time this holiday weekend watching the five episodes that have run so far (Sunday a sixth ran, but I haven’t seen it yet). I loved every minute!

The setup in each episode is this: Two ad agencies send reps to a large client and gather info for a creative brief. These reps then fly home and share the info and brief with their teams. The teams have seven days to come up with an idea and develop it enough for the ultimate pitch. The reps fly back to the client and pitch their idea. One agency wins the account.

You learn a few things very quickly:

• You have to have an ego and thick skin to work at most ad agencies.
• The best ideas aren’t always chosen.
• You must have good listening skills so you can really deliver what the client wants.
• Advertising is not an easy business to be in…and that is sometimes half the fun.

You also have to have guts to go on this show. No one wants to walk away a loser, especially not twice (SPOILER ALERT—Skip to the last three paragraphs if you don’t want to know who won).

The Ad Store vs SK+G

The Ad Store did just that. But I am not the only one who thought they should’ve won. AMC runs polls on their website after each episode that asks “Who should’ve won?” Here are the results so far for the Ad Store episodes.

In their first episode, The Ad Store went against SK+G to win the Waste Management account. The Ad Store’s campaign was brilliant—Trash Can. No, not “can” as in canister. It’s “can” as in is able to.

SK+G had a horrible tagline—Turning waste into WOW!—but a better presentation. Their initial video was emotionally strong and well done. And the deal sealer was most likely their mobile component—where the video playing on the mobile phone becomes the mouth of the person on the print ad. Creative and fun!

However, as good as they were, I would’ve had a hard time hiring them because of the jerk who kept interrupting his own colleague during the pitch. So unprofessional. This guy was pretty much an ass through the entire episode.

The Ad Store vs Kovel/Fuller

In the second Ad Store episode, they competed against Kovel/Fuller to win the Frangelico liqueur account. This one was very close. I liked both pitches. And now that I’m exploring The Pitch website (they have the artwork posted there), I think Kovel/Fuller deserved to win. But here’s what I liked about the Ad Store’s pitch:

1. They were honest enough to tell the client that their bottle looked like Mrs. Butterworth (and their recommendation to go clear was perfect).
2. This all-male team was open enough to consult with a women-led agency first to get the female perspective and to start over when told their idea sucked and sounded like a feminine hygiene product.
3. Their storytelling idea matched well with the Legends theme Frangelico wanted to keep (but their copy was a little weak).

Check out the show for yourself and spend some time on the website. AMC is doing a terrific job with all the extras available online. You get to vote for who you think should’ve won, and you get to hear why each client chose the agency. Plus a whole lot more.

Sadly, I don’t think The Pitch will last because I think the audience is too narrow and the 11pm time slot is a killer. People may madly love Mad Men, but not everyone wants to see the real behind-the-scenes of the advertising world.

The Pitch is very interesting and well worth watching. And the website keeps your interest going. I hope it catches on. And, really, if you think you want to go into advertising, watch all of the episodes and then decide. You’ll get a very good sense of what you’re getting yourself into.

bareMinerals Proves It’s a Force for Women

Pretty is what you are. Beauty is what you do with it.

Not quite the Dove Beauty messaging, but it’s a step in the right direction. The above message appears in the bareMinerals® ad campaign. The overall tagline, Be a Force of Beauty™ only begins to hint at the impact of this campaign.

In fact, the word “force” is something Leslie Blodgett, Executive Chairman of Bare Escentuals, wants women to focus on. She wants these ads to help women see they are bigger than just what they look like–realize their own potential.

That’s the beauty of this campaign.

The ad I saw this weekend features a real-life firefighter (Lauren) and emphasizes that the best make-up shows off your natural beauty.

Listen to the song in the background too, singing “I know you’re beautiful inside.”

Like Dove, Bare Escentuals, the maker of bareMinerals, uses real women and their real-life stories in their ads. To recruit models, the company reviewed surveys women filled out rather than looking at headshots.

They chose women with interesting stories, and then they used those stories too in video interviews.

Here’s Lauren’s story (the firefighter):

You can go to the Bare Escentuals YouTube channel to see all the ads and interviews. Melanie is a black belt in karate and a former mechanical engineer. Keri is a mother of three, and what she says really sums up the intent of this whole campaign:

These women are true role models. Something Dior could certainly learn from. Teen magazines should stop running the Dior Addict ads and make sure they run these bareMinerals ones instead.

Girls and young women need positive stories, positive role models to look up to. They also need to hear that beauty is not just “pretty” but what’s on the inside and what you do as a person that counts.

Absolut Shift from Advertising Icon to Enigma

It’s not enough anymore for brands to “just” have a TV commercial. Video can be spread much farther, so the goal is often for a brand’s commercial video to go viral.

What started me thinking about this lately was the Absolut Greyhound ad. It has this very cool, futuristic vibe to it, but it didn’t seem to really push the product.

See for yourself:

I’m not a fan of this video as an advertisement, though it does make a decent music video for the Swedish House Mafia. And you’ll see there’s even a call to action in the bottom left corner of the ad to “Shazam now” and, I guess, find the music and/or video on the mobile music site.

Maybe Absolut wanted it to seem like product placement in the video instead of an advertisement. The problem is, will you really make the association between futuristic greyhounds and Absolut vodka? I doubt it. But their previous ad, I think, did things a bit better.

Crowdsourcing the Creative

The previous ad was called “Absolut Blank.” Here it is:

Absolut Blank is described on their YouTube site as:

a global creative movement, in which ABSOLUT appears as a catalyst for contemporary leading-edge creativity. In collaboration with a new generation of artists:

Adhemas Batista
Aestethic Apparatus
Brett Amory
Dave Kinsey
David Bray
Eduardo Recife
Fernando Chamarelli
Good Wives & Warriors
Jeremy Fish
Ludovica Gioscia
Marcus Jansen
Mario Wagner
Morning Breath
Robert Mars
Sam Flores
Thomas Doyle
UVA
Zac Freeman

This is a fantastic idea—a way to get more people interested and involved. I don’t know so much about using Absolut as a catalyst for a “global creative movement,” but they do get an international audience as evidenced by the comments on YouTube being in various languages.

My personal favorite comment is one that contradicts the ad’s closing statement, “It all starts with an Absolut Blank.” The commenter’s idea was (I’m paraphrasing): Doesn’t the night usually end as an absolute blank if you’ve been drinking?

I love that the artists get credit for their work. However, these videos, both Greyhound and Blank are far from viral.

Greyhound

1-min ad = 5800 views

3-min offical music video = 614,000 views

Blank
1-min ad = 83,700 views

Notice it’s the music video that gets the most views. What does that say about the intent here?

A Look at Absolut’s Iconic Past

If you’re a consumer of Absolut, which I am, you will know that they named their vodkas for flavors: Absolut Citron, Absolut Mandrin, Absolut Kurant, etc.

So where do “Blank” and “Greyhound” come from?

Absolut was always known for their iconic print ads, which featured the outline of a vodka bottle seen “naturally” in different locations or items (like the Paris Metro and this watch below).

They had to do something different to compete in today’s world, and they had to stay in brand too. I think their new ads do stay in brand but need some tweaking to get the Absolut brand back to iconic status.

I’m not confident they’ll be able to do that. Are you?

Unleashing the Beauty of the Web and the Talents of Filmmaker Keith Rivers

What’s the hottest commercial out right now? You might argue with me, but I say it’s the advertisement for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 (IE9).

That’s right. I said a boring, old web browser is actually the most exciting commercial on air. Take a look:

Choosing the right music

What makes this ad so great? First, the music. Alex Clare’s “Too Close” is an excellent choice! I was walking out of the room when I heard this commercial come on, and I stepped back in to see what it was for. That was all due to the power and excitement of the music. The music is loud, bold and soulful and completely sets the tone.

Microsoft, of course, agrees. They say:

It was the emotional intensity of Clare’s song coupled with the depth and richness of sound that made film director Keith Rivers feel that “Too Close” was the perfect complement to the visuals and message of the Internet Explorer TV spot, which was to focus on making an emotional connection.

Creating the right visuals

Keith Rivers is more filmmaker than advertiser, which works tremendously well here. At 29 years old, he has quite an impressive, award-winning portfolio. And the Microsoft IE9 commercial leaves no wonder why. Rivers started out directing extreme ski films, and I kind of feel that it’s that extreme sports mentality that boosts the impact of this commercial.

The visuals are vivid, strong and on beat with the music. I completely agree with Rivers’ own description:

What makes Alex Clare’s song so complementary to the advertisement is that it’s filled with uplifting energy and vocals that speak to what Internet Explorer stands for, a humble force powering your Web experience. The song carries you through a journey and re-energizes you, and Internet Explorer is all about that, giving the power to the user to focus on what you care about.

Starting with a great idea

The remaking of the Windows browser into IE9 started with a visionary idea—“to unleash a more beautiful web.” When you read the Windows blog, you can sense their excitement around this idea. And, in case you’ve never experienced this, when your whole team is excited about and unified by an idea, you usually create a terrific product.

But, it’s not really about the product itself. It’s about what the product can allow you to do or make it easier for you to do.

“The song and its lyrics are entirely about the emotional core, the consumer — the person using a browser,” Rivers says. “Emotional core has nothing to do with a browser; we know it isn’t about the browser. It’s about your personal experience of the Web.”

Ahh…honesty. Browsers are boring, but if they’re designed correctly, this boring web browser opens the door for you to experience the beauty of the web.

The ultimate question—does IE9 unleash the beauty of the web? I guess that remains to be seen. But I know for sure that this commercial sure does.