Sportscentric

When one virtual door closes, another opens

2009-12-28T14:17:00.000-08:00

Michael changed his sport.
Cassius changed his name.
Tiger changed his swing (insert your joke here).

Marv Albert changed his clothes.
Carlton Fisk just changed his Sox.

Renee Richards changed sexes.
Sugar Ray changed his mind (a few times).
Kenny Lofton changed teams (17 times, an MLB record).

Change isn’t always necessarily good, as the above examples may or may not prove. But it’s hard to argue that change changes the game.

And in my experience, change is good.

So as of today, SportsCentric is retired. And Twist Your Thinking is launched.

I loved writing about Sports and Marketing, but that was when I wanted to be a Sports and Marketing person when I grew up. Not that I’ve grown up, I want to be a person who pokes, prods, inspires, informs, shares, celebrates, collaborates, and forces people to think differently to come up with better ideas.

I want to make you Twist Your Thinking. Come and get it.

A message for Reebok: You suck.

2009-11-11T18:52:00.000-08:00

You suck for taking a brand with great potential and doing 17 random campaigns over 15 years.

You suck for spending 100’s of millions of dollars on properties like the NFL and barely ever activating them.

You suck for being so desperate for attention that you do an ad like this:

“Make your boobs jealous?”

Actually, it’s hard to blame the folks who created and made this ad. They came up with an attention-getting idea. But their challenge is to sell a shoe that’s “proven to shape your butt up to 28% more and your hamstrings and calves up to 11% more than regular sneakers.” Do you get a free bottle of snake oil with every pair? Forget the fact that the announcer talks so fast that the statistics are forgotten before he’s done talking. It’s the statistics themselves that are the head-shaker.

Don’t get me wrong: I liked this ad. With the sound turned off. It’s pleasing to boob likers, a group from which I wouldn’t exclude myself. But when the boobs start talking it feels like two boys in freshmen AV class wrote the dialogue and cast their ex-Valley Girl moms as the boob-overs.

Let’s just hope Reebok doesn’t come up with a new sports bra. I cringe just thinking about what the other body parts might have to say about that.

Go ahead, have the bone-In filet!

2009-10-04T09:58:00.000-07:00

Today SportsCentric takes a break from being centered on sports, but to stay focused on marketing, we’ll talk about one of the unrecognized victims of the economic meltdown:

Expense accounts.

The handsomely postured, starched collared and pillbox hatted employees of places like the Peninsula and Joe’s Stone Crab are feeling a little lonely these days, but the happy, efficient folks at Chili’s and Chipotle and the Inns Holiday and Hampton can’t wipe the smiles off their faces. Airlines are missing you but video conferencing is loving you. Sorry about losing your premium status at hotels worldwide. There’s always 2010.

How many times have I sat at my local Starbucks and heard two newly-minted sole proprietors hearken back to they days (well actually, last year) when they got “$55 bone-in filets at Joe’s—the ones that were only on the dinner menu but my guy would get em for me at lunch…”

Well, not that many times. But I do know that these days, a lot more business lunches are taking place at Roti instead of Rosebud. $45 for a steak in 2007 was not a big deal for a person wooing a new client or getting more business from a current one. But in 2009, that’s a little harder to justify. You should be more resourceful these days, right? Get the business without spending too much. Invest your brainpower instead of your credit power.

The smart and talented folks at Maloney and Porcelli understand that.

So they’re making it a little easier for you to enjoy one of their gorgeous well marbled steaks with their online Expense-A-Steak Headquarters.

With this playful expense account tool, you can have it all. They provide you fake receipts from fake places like Office Supply Hut, but the best part is the doggie bag: They’ll put your leftover steak in a Chipotle bag, so not only can you head back to the office with a new client, you can do it with a clean conscience.

Talk about a stimulus package...

2009-09-27T07:11:00.000-07:00

I shouldn’t admit what this new site from Puma makes me wish for. But it’s definitely not a fiscally responsible wish. If Puma has its way, a lot of people out there will be cheering for the stock market to keep taking its lumps. And I may just be one of them.

It starts with the hallmark of success, especially for something viral. Simplicity. You can describe it in one line: If the stock market goes up, a hot model puts clothes on. If the stock market goes down, a hot model takes clothes off.

Simple.

And of course, when they strip, they wind up in their skivvies. But there’s not just any underwear underthere; it’s Puma Bodywear. It’s nice looking stuff. And it’s featured very nicely, in a way that gets your attention.

The models are there all day and all night. You can watch them toss in their sleep if it’s nighttime. And be all playful and modelly during the day as they wash cars and jump on trampolines.

And of course, as they say on the TV, “there’s an app for that.” With the iphone Puma Index app, not only can you have scantily clad reminders of the stock market performance, you can save money. According to Darren Rovell of CNBC, when you show the Puma Index app at a Puma Store, you get 20% off.

This may finally get me to pay more attention to the stock market. Or buy an iphone. Or both.

Nike Scores Again

2009-09-13T19:37:00.000-07:00

By Sportcentric contributor Benjamin Schuman-Stoler

Note: This post can also be found on ParenTheSteeze.

The 2009-2010 international soccer season is well underway, and so is Nike Soccer's newest round of successful ads.

It's interesting: In decades previous, Nike's ran major soccer ad campaigns only once every two years or so, matching the the new campaign with new gear coming out in time for the World Cup and the Euro Cup. This year, though, the Make The Difference campaign is releasing videos--virally as well as through print and video media--as the season progresses.

It's a good campaign.

Start here, with The Pledge:

This ad was released right before the season started, and gave me restless leg syndrome in restless anticipation of the first kickoff.

For the American readers who don't follow international soccer, each of those players' pledges are related to their own personal experience, making each statement sort of like an inside joke. When Andrei Arshavin smilingly pledges, "Five goals, one game," he's referring to his famous four goal game against Liverpool last year.

The ad straddles humor and earnestness, as with the very serious interplay between the two teams--rivals Arsenal and Manchester United. Arsenal's captain Cesc Fabregas says, "It's all about trophies," and United's captain Rio Ferdinand says, "No chance." It's pertinent because Man U's the defending Premier League champ and Arsenal haven't contended for the title in a few years. (There are also vids for each team separately.)

What makes the campaign--designed by Wieden + Kennedy London and Amsterdam offices, whose other work with Nike is online, here--work is that as personal as it is, it isn't about one superstar beating a whole team on his own, scoring some brilliant goal, or doing fancy tricks. It's about individual players and their individual missions. The Make The Difference ads try to get inside the mind of the players.

In the case that they're set in a game like situation, as these two are, the camera stays close to the player, keeping it introspective and personal. But most of the settings are unique, particular, and say something about the player. They take place, respectively, in a tattoo parlor, an empty stadium, a forest, even a bathroom:

In a sort of philosophical sense, the link between the pledge and making the difference isn't so obvious, but the ad works in that subtlety. Like all great ads, this campaign is direct, but it's not obvious. To be great, you have to make the difference. But to make the difference, you have to pledge to train harder, to become better. That's a personal mission.

As one of my coaches liked to say, "What makes a player great is what s/he does when no one is watching."

That's why it works that the ads also feature some non-established superstars. Young players trying to break into the starting lineup get face time in The Pledge, and those on the cusp, like Arsenal's budding striker Nicklas Bendtner, admit as much ("Be first choice," he says).

The campaign reaches out to consumers through that crazy interwebs tool, too, as you might expect. There's a Facebook page on which you can make your own pledge (just like the stars!).

As usual, the Nike Soccer website is a lesson in website design. It's simple and clear, with great rotating photos, links to recent news about players, ads, and, of course, the gear. There are a few viral ads on the site too, including a rather artistic one that's worth seeing about Brazilian underdog Luis Fabiano.

The Make The Difference campaign isn't revolutionary or mind blowing. It's just a really well done campaign with smart ads that portray athletes as humans and uses interesting settings to get us into their individual approaches. If we want to be great like them, we have to make pledges too--and, presumably, we'll need that fresh Nike gear to get it done.

It’s the game with the rackets, nets, and balls

2009-08-27T20:15:00.000-07:00

That would be tennis. Originally known as lawn tennis back before the turn of the century. The game has changed little since then, other than a tie-breaker here and some electronic review technology there. The rules, the courts, the scorekeeping, all pretty much the same.

The thing that’s changed the most—and you’re welcome for pointing out the obvious—is the clothes on the players’ backs. For decades, it was a sport of the upper crust, and the blue bloods showed up at the Club wearing nothing but white. Male and female, boys and girls, it was improper to wear anything but.

They still roll that way at Wimbledon. It’s a nice custom, actually, but it may help explain why you couldn’t name more than five current famous tennis players. Go ahead.

Sharapova, Federer, Nadal, Williams S, Williams V. Who else you got? Ever hear of Dinara Safina? #1 ranked woman in the world.

This is not a good sign. Maybe the folks who wear white should listen to Sharapova, who has wondered out loud why Wimbledon can't “add a spark of fun” by letting players wear something other than white. If not the voice of tennis, she’s definitely the face. And I’ll bet she wouldn’t disagree if I told her this:

Tennis is the most unexciting exciting sport in the world. The action can be amazing. The buzz is almost nonexistent.

Don’t blame the sisters Williams. Whether it’s been a conscious effort or not, they’ve gone above and beyond to give their sport a modern image. They’re a strong African American presence in a mostly white (not just the clothes) sport, they’re outspoken, even controversial...and then there’s the clothes.

You’ve seen them; beautiful, bombastic, colorful, stylish. But always different and interesting, and always bringing with them talk value. And it’s led to a fashion explosion in tennis as other player catch on, making Nike and Adidas work harder, with the Fila’s and Lacoste’s trying to catch up. It’s a marketing bonanza waiting to happen.

Hope tennis can cash in.

PS:
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME.
TODAY MARKS ONE YEAR OF SPORTSCENTRIC!

A few words about Pure Joy

2009-08-11T19:50:00.000-07:00

The main reason for the paucity of my recent blog entries has been the growth of my new business. As many of you probably know, it’s a lot easier to borrow a few minutes from The Man to scratch out a few thoughts on sports and marketing and still have enough time to do the work that makes The Man happy. But now I’m The Man, and it’s extremely time consuming to make The new Man happy. Hence the extremely sporadic entries of late.

However, the most recent two week gap in blog entries came as a result of the week I spent in Cooperstown, New York, and the four days I spent driving to get there (and a special thank you to the sheriff of Monroe County, NY, for the 15 minutes I spent waiting for you to write me a speeding ticket. Asshole.).

Cooperstown is a quaint two-block town, famously known for housing the Baseball Hall of Fame, along with a Main Street filled with souvenir shops, and one kickass restaurant (don’t let the lame website fool you).

I spent most of the time in Cooperstown at Dreams Park watching 12 year olds play baseball, although I still have doubts about the validity of some of the players’ birth certificates, especially some of the “12 year olds” from California and Texas. More on that later.

The eponymous Dreams Park truly was the Dream of founder Lou Presutti. He had a vision for a mini-baseball haven. It included the purchase of a massive piece of land in the middle of gorgeous rolling hills five miles from the Hall of Fame. On it, he built 22 baseball fields, complete with stands and dugouts, bunting and mini-green monsters; bathrooms, concession stands, and of course, gift shops; as well as a village for the players and umps, with row after row of bunk-bed-filled barracks, a dining hall, and an infirmary. It truly is a mini baseball-city where these players, coaches, umpires and officials live together for a week.

It’s nothing short of amazing.

The park is spotless, the staff is fearless. No adult gets in or out without a wristband, which means that players and coaches stay in and parents stay out. Which is just how we liked it.

And then there’s the baseball. 104 teams come every week, all summer long, from all over the country. That’s not a misprint: 104 teams, every week. 1,248 teams per season. They don’t build calculators big enough to count all that cash.

After opening ceremonies on Saturday, the teams play two games on Sunday, two on Monday, and two on Tuesday. Single elimination playoffs begin on Wednesday, with games at 10, 12, 3, 5:30, and 8, and the championship is played Thursday night after closing ceremonies (where the boys get their rings) and fireworks.

The seeding for the playoffs is ingenious; the bottom teams start by playing each other (104 vs 103, etc), and the top teams get several byes. That way the teams that have been losing get a chance to get a W, and the teams at the top get rewarded by getting to rest.

Our team had a terrible/wonderful few days on the ball fields and should be the poster children for what makes the Dreams Park Tournament so great.

In our first game we played the SoCal Lumber Kings and lost 15-0. We managed to get one (bloop) hit. In our second game we played the American Avengers from Houston. They were an All-Star team culled down from a tryout of 1500 kids. Most of their players were bigger than our coaches. Over their first six games, they let up three runs. They went 6-0, earned the #1 seed, and eventually won the championship. They allegedly flew in a new pitcher and catcher for the final game. But we knew none of that yet.

All we knew was that they were leading us 15-0 after the first inning and 22-0 after the second. They mercied us 28-0. We got no hits. It was scary in many ways, biggest of which may have been my son nearly getting decapitated by a line drive from their #2 hitter, who went on to hit two homers in the championship.

The icing on the cake: because it rained all day on Sunday, and they don’t do rainouts at Dreams Park, we played our games at 8:30 and 11 that night and ended at 1:30 AM.

Still, the boys had smiles on their faces, and they were joking as they trudged back to the barracks for the first 2 AM showers of their lives. None of them had ever played baseball under a full moon in the middle of the night. And we all sensed that the team we played was something special. Ultimately, it was nice to know that we had played the very best of the 104 teams that week. At the time, though, we were just tired, beat down, and humbled.

The next three games are a blur. We lost them all. The teams we played were not like the Lumber Kings and Avengers; we could have beaten any of them. But we dropped easy fly balls and threw away throws to first and got picked off. It was bad baseball. The boys were exhausted and while they kept their spirits up and laughed and smiled after every game, those two opening losses were in their subconscious, creating doubts about their abilities. And the rankings didn’t help.

All tournament long, the teams are ranked 1-104 based on win-loss record and run differential. Every hour or two, new results are posted all over the village so you can track your progress.

After our first game, we were ranked 104th out of 104. Same after our second, and third, and fourth, and fifth. #104 out of #104. Dead last.

Going into our sixth and last pre-playoff game, one of the dads on our team overheard a kid on the opposing team say they were playing the worst team in the tournament. Now, we may have been the last place team, but we certainly didn’t think we were the worst. And after that game, we were neither.

We came back from deficits of 5-2 and 6-3, and scored seven runs in the sixth and final inning to win 13-6.

WE WON A GAME.

Our collective exhale could’ve put out a forest fire. Relief, yes, but also jubilation, happiness, congratulations all around.

But it was just the beginning. Because the playoffs started the next day.

We were scheduled to play our first game at 10 AM on Field 22. As the #99 seed (the lowest ranked 1-5 team), we were the home team against the #100 seed, which was one of five winless teams. They looked as beat-down as we had the previous day, and we won easily, 13-5.

We finished around 11:50, and our next game was at noon on the same field. The boys jogged from the third base to the first base dugout and once there, switched their shirts, belts and socks from the Home Reds to the Travel Blues. The coaches moved the equipment over and made out new lineups, and the parents began an afternoon-long series of trips between the concession stand and the dugout. It started with water and Gatorade and continued with chips and granola bars. Eventually, there was nothing but Skittles, gum and Starburst, in an effort to keep the boys standing up. Because, happily, we played a lot longer than many #99 seeds ever had.

Our next game, against a team from New Jersey, was a thrilling defensive and pitching gem. One of our boys went 5.1 innings—routine work for an Avengers pitcher, but the longest any pitcher on our team had ever lasted—and we supported him with two runs. It was all he needed. He gave up a solo homer in the sixth but we closed it out to win 2-1.

While it was the best game we played in the tournament, the best was yet to come.

In a tournament with 104 teams from around the country, where we got to play against boys from the East, West, North and South, our third game, at 3:00, was against a squad from Northbrook, a town literally across the street from us and arguably, our biggest rival. We had already played them twice in our travel season and had split the two games, one by two runs, one by one.

I’m not going to go into too much detail, but suffice to say, it was one of those games that, whoever won, would be remembered as a Great One. A seesaw battle, we went up 3-0, they came back to 3-2 and tied it 3-3. We went up 4-3 in the top of the fifth inning and in the bottom they tied it, then went ahead 6-4 on a home run that sent their team and fans into insane jubilation and made us feel like our crazy ride of destiny was over. We felt like we’d been punched in the gut. Everyone in the park thought it was over and Northbrook had it won. But improbably, we scratched out two runs in the top of the sixth to send it to extra innings, scratched out one run in the eighth, and held them in the bottom to win it 7-6.

Joy.

Pure, Unadulterated, Boundless Joy.

After that win, the next game seemed anticlimactic. The boys sat glassy eyed on the bench while the coaches hastily made out a lineup for a 5:30 game we never thought we’d be playing. No matter how many Skittles and Starbursts they popped, the kids just couldn’t muster the energy. We lost to the #17 seeded Sarasota team 11-0, but in a last stand full of heart and pride that exemplified the day, we held them scoreless in the last two innings, and therefore avoided getting beat by the 12-run mercy rule.

It was 7:30 PM. The boys had been playing on the same field for 9 ½ hours. We had the same umpire crew for all four games and they fell in love with our team, and the parents fell in love with them for loving our boys. The sun was setting but we didn’t need it to warm the back of our necks; we would have felt the glow if the temperature had dropped 20 degrees. Some of the parents had checked out of hotels and their packed cars were still waiting in a much emptier parking lot for departures that were expected to have begun hours ago.

We lined up the team and coaches and umps against the fence and took pictures while the boys could still stand. Even though many of the people snapping photos had hoped to be in Ohio by then, I can guarantee you that there was nowhere else they’d rather have been at that moment.

Dreams Park, indeed.

Not the best an ad can get

2009-07-25T06:19:00.000-07:00

As a marketer, there’s a lot to like about this commercial for Gillette.

An enduring tagline that’s been used for years and works on many levels. “The Best A Man Can get” can refer to the product and the way a person feels when he uses the product, and it also works across several different products at once. And they’ve been using it forever, from back in the days when the gusty jingle singer belted it out in song. (some intrigue there; more on that later).

Their cast is diverse in many ways, from skin color to home country.

The music is ambitious.

And they seem to have a solid strategy: no matter who you are, from superstar to everyman, you have doubts inside you, and you have confidence inside you; these products will make you look and feel good so the confident side can win.

A lot going for this ad. I just wish I could like it.

Gillette has spent years using sports stars in their ads, and to their credit, they’ve used the best of the best, across the globe: Federer, Woods, Jeter, Henry…all champions in their respective sports.

People want to watch them and be like them.

I just wish Gillette would do something more interesting with them.

Ricky Rubio is an interesting new addition to the lineup, but these spots continue to follow a fairly uninspired formula.

They play a little sports, they mug with each other, they hit the sink and shave a little, and they come out looking really well groomed. They get the girls, too. They’re superstars and on the field and in the bathroom. And since they can win, you can win.

It must be working, because it doesn’t seem to be changing. At least the music is a little different; feels like they’re trying to update a bit and get away from the jingle-driven spots of their past.

That’s good stuff.

I couldn’t get this song out of my head for about seven years, it was so prevalent back in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. What I didn’t know was that there was another “non-advertising” version, and there’s some controversy surrounding the question of which version is the original. What do you think?

Either way I think it’s stuck in my head for another seven years…

Wow! No, sham-wow.

2009-07-17T15:05:00.000-07:00

I have never hidden my love for Shamwow’s Vince, and this latest gem makes me want to profess my love for him by doing a little break dancing.

See more funny videos and TBT Videos at Today's Big Thing.

Could this win the next Grand Prix at Cannes?

2009-07-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

Probably not, because it’ll be such old news by next June. But oddly enough, it’s made possible by the little race going on just up the road in France, the Tour de Lance.

For most Americans, it might as well be called that. When he’s in it, we’re interested. When he’s off galavanting with the latest Hollywood Hottie du jour, he’s fun fodder for People magazine, but it doesn’t do a whole lot for Americans turning their attention to guys riding bikes in France.

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather watch Manny Ramirez than NOCENTINI Rinaldo. That’s how they roll with the surnames across the pond; last name first IN CAPS, first name last. NOCENTINI wears the yellow jersey right now by virtue of his performance in yesterday’s seventh stage, 224 kilometers through the Pyranees, covered in about 6 hours.

And you thought baseball games took too long.

Anyway.

The Americans who are probably most interested in Lance riding in the Tour are the fine folks in Beaverton, OR with the swooshes on their clothes. They’re also the people who now bring you Chalkbot.

You may have seen it already, but if not, take a look.

Saying it’s simple, smart, and a great way of promoting Nike as the thought leader in sports and causes would be stating the obvious. It also engages real people and pulls them in, gets them involved with very little effort (other than the time and brainwork needed to build the damn machine).

It may or may not win any huge awards next year in the South of France, but at least it'll help motivate more folks in our great land to watttchh mmmore bikknngng...

Oops, woah, fell asleep for a sec there while I was watching the bike race thing. Sorry. Won't happen again. Promise.

Time Out for a laugh

2009-07-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

Despite all kinds of basketball and hockey free agent news, the Cubs playing a pivotal series against the Brewers (please call me if you'd like to give me tickets for Saturday's game), and lots and lots of travel baseball in my world, let's take a breather from sports to enjoy a good guffaw.

This is what makes this country great. Happy fourth of July.

In awe of Lance

2009-07-01T20:21:00.000-07:00

Once again, Nike and Lance Armstrong have found a way to inspire us.

Powerful. Gripping. The images are singular and relentless in their ability to make you feel sympathy for these courageous people; the music grabs your heart and twists and wrenches it, as it climaxes with pounding drumbeats. The ending is surprising and compelling.

It provides a fascinating contrast to a thematically similar commercial done several years earlier, also featuring Lance and with Nike as it’s sponsor.

No music that builds to a climax, no images of anyone battling a terrible disease. Just a very vulnerable, very determined young athlete.

But so powerful. So inspiring.

The twist here, of course, is that he did exactly what he promised, despite cancer in his testicles, abdomen, lungs, and brain. He beat the disease, he rode again as a professional cyclist, and he did pretty well.

More inspiring than the new spot? Who’s to say. They’re both amazing. But I will say this:

In the new spot, the tone in his voice feels different. His attitude towards humanity feels different. He just seems tired.

In each of the spots, Lance is at the center of what inspires us. And he does inspire us.

But in the new spot, his voice seems affected by his years of being chased by paparazzi, accused of doping, and living the life of a true rock-star-dating, tabloid-filling celebrity, who has left cycling behind and transcended the world of sports to become a bigger than life figure, for better or worse.

And it comes off as just slightly less sincere. To me, it doesn’t seem as fresh as this spot, done as part of the same campaign.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am awed by Lance Armstrong and the things he has accomplished since his cancer announcement of October, 1996: he won the Tour de France seven times, and he raised both awareness and enormous sums of money for cancer and cancer research. He ran the New York and Boston Marathons.

And perhaps most incredible, he fathered a son, Max, through natural conception, just under a month ago, even though it was assumed that it could never happen.

This guy is incredible. He is truly special.

But being the sportsguy that I am, the Lance Armstrong I like most is the less famous, pre-Sheryl, more hard-core athlete. The guy who did a This is Sportscenter commercial that’s arguably one of the best ever made.

Not in the same class as the ads above, but for people who create great sports marketing, work this good is pretty damn inspiring.

Thank you, sports

2009-06-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

Sports has the power to make you smile like an idiot.

Bloopers and amazing plays, no-hitters pitched and broken up, diving catches, ridiculous dunks, moves that can’t even be described. Favorite teams winning championships after long draughts (a Cubs fan can dream, can’t he?). Little else can make us grin from ear to ear as consistently. Or as stupidly.

There’s so much crap in the world, and there’s plenty of it in the world of sports. But for the most part, sports saves us.

So I forgive this spot all of its faults and thank EA sports for making me smile.

I forgive the cliched track, and the poorly obscured faces, and some pretty shaky mattes and composites.

Because I love the magic they created. Especially the casting and the wardrobe.

I love the mother and daughter who beat the Williams sisters and I love their Sunday-at-the-public-courts outfits. Ditto with Steve Nash and his hoodie-wearing teammate who couldn’t win a game of HORSE at a nursery school. And the kid skating with unbridled purpose and joy in the Red Wings sweater and blue jeans.

Nobody in the cast would’ve made it anywhere near callbacks for a Gatorade commercial but they’re perfect for a spot that makes us all believe we can play with the big boys and girls.

It all just makes me feel good.

I admit that the music, while cliched, gets the goosebumps going. And there are inspired effects-created moments, like when Ben Roethlisberger rubs his hand on our bearded friend's head.

And the way the product is introduced is smart, especially snuck into the middle of all the feel-great celebrations.

We could all use as much joy as possible these days. I want me as much as possible. Thank you, sports. Thank you, EA.

Just Das It

2009-05-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

When it comes to sports brand icons and their TV commercials, more often than not, I’m impressed by Nike, perplexed by Gatorade, and fascinated by Adidas.

While Nike continues to blast down the road of consistently strategic and surprising work, and Gatorade rambles along a twisty turny highway in search of the Holy Grail of millenial connection, Adidas keeps crossing the street and trying different routes.

They tell the story of Adi Dassler, the founder of Adidas, and the true origins of the company, to stake a claim as an authentic original. And they do it via a 3 minute film. In claymation.

And they make a House Party spot with David Beckham, Missy Elliott, and other funky friends, to celebrate 60 years of Adidas originals.

Adidas does a lot of really interesting, entertaining work. I usually like it quite a bit. Case in point: Two new shoe ads featuring Derrick Rose (he of the phantom SAT test)…

…and Dwight Howard (he of the perhaps-overthrowing King James tonight)…

They look and sound different, which is good (voiced by Chali 2na from Jurassic 5). And they do a pretty clever thing: They talk about the power and efficacy of the clothes and shoes in the context of the power and efficacy of the athlete. I thought this was a smart way to surround the info they so desperately want to convey.

So in terms of breaking through the insanely crowded communications clutter, I’d say they’re successful.

But they’re not as strong as the new Nike work.

For me, the Adidas work doesn’t resonate as much as the new Nike puppets with Kobe and LeBron, for a simple reason: Even the most sports-astute marketers often forget how great it is to just watch amazing athletes do amazing things. It's why I love this spot so much.

You get humor, you get personality, and you get authenticity. While Adidas has cool technique, Nike 180’s that and goes anti-cool; you can’t get much more low tech than felt puppets.

I’m not saying the Adidas work isn’t good. It’s pretty darn cool. It just doesn’t feel as spot-on authentic as the Nike work. Am I wrong? Am I too Old School? Am I on the Nike payroll?

Maybe, probably, and definitely not. But you tell me.

It's a good time for the great ads of McDonald's

2009-05-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

It’s not often that we at Sportscentric step away from sports. And never before have we left the fields of play to enter a fast food emporium. But two wonderful new films from McDonald’s have forced us into their waiting arms.

Did somebody say McDonald’s?

Sorry.

But yes, it’s McDonald’s with two new pieces of human communication that tickle your fancy and just plain made you smile and feel good. Isn’t that what McDonald’s is supposed to do?

Waitasec. On second thought, we can talk about McDonald’s and sports. They joined together in one of the most famous TV commercials in history.

First of all, MICHAEL: WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?!?!

Sorry. Lost myself for a second there in the dizzying array of colors in MJ's shortpantsuit.

It’s classic McD's advertising. Just kind of makes you smile and feel a warm fuzziness for the brand. Kind of like this new interactive billboard in London's Picadilly Square.

It’s whimsical, surprising, and engaging. I watched it a couple of times. I could've watched it more. I'm sure many people will.

And while the London billboard is the future of marketing, there’s always room for a good ole TV commercial. Especially silly ones that just make you giggle.

This work is good for people from 5 to 50. I first saw the fish spot over my son’s shoulder on his computer. It does what great McDonald’s advertising—and in this day and age, what any great advertising should do:

Connect people of any race creed shape age or gender to their product. When it comes to the work McD’s is doing, they’re hitting nothing but net.

And PS, I'll pay 100 bucks for MJ's shortpantsuit.

A meandering continuum

2009-05-16T07:13:00.000-07:00

Of Kobe, LeBron, Willie Tyler and Lester, $20 Chinese food, and the great Circle of Life in sports and marketing.

Let’s start in the present.

Apparently, Nike is assuming that the Laker and the Cavs are going to meet in the NBA finals. At least that was their best guess when they made this spot, which had to have been produced before the playoffs began (and before the Rockets took LA to tomorrow’s Game 7).

I am highly amused by this premise: LeBron and Kobe are roommates. Kobe is the Rat Pack-like elder statesman, wearing shades and sweater right out of Ocean’s 11 (the original). LeBron is the kid playing video games with the hip hop styling. Love the puppet representations, love the apartment in which they live. This all makes sense, because Kobe has won three titles over a long career and LeBron is still looking for his first.

Fun stuff.

I also love the voices. It was amazing to see how many people beefed about not getting the real voices, including Darren Rovell’s SportsBiz blog. I say it’s much funnier with the actors who do the VO—I’m sure the scripts were great but you can hear the improvisation. Plus, puppet mouths don’t match real words, so they can say just about anything they want. Rumor has it David Allan Grier and Kenan Thompson were Kobe and LeBron, but that’s not confirmed.

But I digress.

Watching this ad, I was immediately reminded of the great Lil Penny ads Nike did at the height of Anfernee (Penny) Hardaway’s fame in the mid-‘90’s.

Yes, that’s Chris Rock as Lil Penny. And yes, he is very very funny. Too bad Big Penny’s knees crapped out on him. He could’ve been one of the greats. His ads were great and part of it was due to his understated comedic performance. Not easy being straight man to a puppet.

Unless you’re Willie Tyler and you’ve got Lester on your lap.

But again, I digress.

Penny Hardaway was a terrific basketball player. All-Star games, NBA Finals alongside Shaq for the Magic, Olympic Gold Medal…if he could have avoided injury, he could’ve been a legend…much like, say, LeBron.

Too much of a stretch? Maybe. But at a time when Michael was playing baseball and just returning to basketball, Penny filled a superstar void.

In addition to his basketball skills, he was good in front of the camera, as evidenced by the Lil Penny ads. Who knows how high his star could have risen? In fact, he could’ve been making commercials like this.

One of my favorite spots of the past several years. The music, the magic, the hero and the real people, all coming together. LeBron’s signature, iconic move. It’ll go down as an all-time Nike classic. It’s already spawned dozens of Youtube parodies. And enabled Nike to parody itself.

Ah, so we’re full circle on our meandering continuum. I like this spot even better than the “Three Rings” spot above (although it did seem like it could have been a :30 or at most a :45). What the hell does “$20 Chinese food!” mean? I don’t know, but it’s funny.

So there you have it. Proof that everything that goes around comes around. And if nothing else, you found out that Willie Tyler and Lester are still ventriloquizing, online! Who knew?

The best sports campaign. Possibly ever.

2009-05-08T19:01:00.000-07:00

Anybody feel like laughing? Go here. Check the continuous playback button, and enjoy.

Thank goodness for This is Sportcenter. Arguably the best, longest running campaign on TV.

Thank you for mascots in the bathroom, gymnasts cartwheeling through cubicles, and 7’7” basketball players trying to dance to hip hop.

Thank you for getting to the heart of what a brand should do: connect to their target in a memorable, ownable way.

Thank you for getting to the essence of great advertising: finding an insight and bringing it to life in an unexpected way.

Thank you for selling us your product in a way that we can’t help but love it. The product, of course, being the anchors, who portray themselves as funny and human and silly and just gosh darn likeable. People who we’d want in our living rooms every night.

After fifteen years and hundreds of spots, the campaign is still not stale. In fact, it's fresher than ever. I felt compelled to write about the campaign when I saw this spot on TV.

And thank you for this one, from 1997. One of my favorites:

As long as there’s sports, there’s fodder. And with annoying sports news like Manny getting busted, Brett dangling his arm in front of the NFL, and LeBron sauntering to his official coronation, I’ll say it again:

Thank goodness there’s This is Sportscenter.

I find it especially useful in October when the Cubs do their thing, and I really need something to laugh at.

One wild and crazy brand!

2009-05-03T21:31:00.000-07:00

I have to admire this commercial, for no better reason than I get to say “nipple tassles” and “Australian Open Champion” in the same sentence.

But let’s back up.

Novak Djokovic is the #3 ranked men’s player in the world. He climbed his way up to the pinnacle playing with Wilson rackets. And for some reason, once there, he decided to switch to a Head racket.

In his first tournament with the Head frame, Novak lost in the first round to Latvian Ernests Gulbis. Now, I may not follow tennis as closely as Bud Collins does, but I’ve never heard of Mr. Gulbis, and I’m a little suspicious of someone who feels like he needs to turn his first name into a plural noun.

So now Novak is losing matches, and he’s getting questioned about his racket switch by other players. You would think he might say, “Ooops. Maybe switching rackets wasn’t such a good idea. My bad.” And he would go back to Wilson, begging to get the same guys making him rackets as when he ruled. That would've been smart, right?

But no. He goes the exact opposite way, and decides to try to get Head tennis a little more recognition by appearing in a commercial. It’s a commercial made by people who like telling a really long joke with odd twists and turns along the way that's enjoyable for a while, and then seems to climax, but then snakes and curves a bit more and eventually ends with a punchline that makes you wish you’d tweezed your eyebrows instead.

The commercial, while long, is odd and surprising and for that, I give credit to Head. They got 2008 Australian Open Champion Novak Djokovic to wear nipple tassles and twirl them around to impress a girl.

Good for you, Novak, to have some fun and make people laugh. Tennis needs that, especially men's tennis. I still think you should reconsider your switch. But if you insist on staying with Head, tell them to make you a racket that not only helps you get the girl, but win some matches, too.

Old School goes New School

2009-04-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

I am not what they call an early adopter, but I like to think I embrace new stuff quicker than the average suburban dude in his 40’s. That said, I can’t help being Old School in many ways. I still hate the DH, I think the skirts (aka shorts) basketball players wear on their bottom halves belong on a Jean Paul Gaultier runway, and it annoys me that the size of some people’s drivers are bigger than Art Donovan’s head.

I like things that have been around for a while and are still really good. James Bond and Sloppy Joes and Iambic Pentameter and wine.

And great product demos, when they’re done well. Not Shamwow well. Tastefully well.

From Tide in the late 80’s to the iphone today, there’s nothing like the power of turning on the camera and showing what a great product can do. A demonstration that convinces you this product does something you really need. Or you really want.

But how do you do great product demos in the exploding world of new media? Here’s one answer.

Thank you, Puma, for focusing on one compelling reason to believe we should buy your shoes, and demonstrating that RTB in a fun, captivating way. It’s very smart. Great use of Usain Bolt (although not as good as Gatorade’s use of him in their Quest spot), and hey, I guess I never really thought a sea urchin would be that heavy. Or that Puma had such cool, light shoes.

You learn something new every day.

Why the Cavs should thank Heineken

2009-04-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about YouTube is its ability to anoint certain pieces of video as immediate classics. Word spreads faster than the meanest of all pig viruses, people watch, and buzz explodes. In many cases, spoofs are created. That’s how you know you’ve really made it.

Such is the case with what may be the latest classic, the Heineken “Walk-in Fridge” commercial. If you haven’t seen it, we hope you’ve been enjoying your time in your cave. Here you go:

What a great spot. So so simple, so on strategy, such wonderfully over the top performances. A joy to watch, and your next Gold Lion. If you’re not jealous, you're pulseless.

So what happens next? Of course, regular people like to get involved:

And competitors:

And as always, a little too late and not nearly as good as the first one, the originators need to strike while the fridge is cold:

But clear and away, my favorite is this long form version for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

I love that they weren’t afraid to retell the story a bit, that they made it into more of an intriguing mini-movie, and that they got all the players involved. The fact that all the players did it, and had fun doing it, shows them as a tight knit group who are here to have fun and play ball, not necessarily in that order. No tightness there. Doesn’t bode well for the Celts, Magic, or Lakers.

I see a future video with the same format and a different ending: Cavs players in their locker room, going nuts again, this time pouring Heineken on each other and hoisting a very large trophy.

Kobe, it's not too late to grab your video camera and give it a shot...

Be Like Nike (Cont)

2009-04-18T07:24:00.000-07:00

At this rate, Gatorade can soon start putting G’s and bolts on hi-tops and compression shorts. They continue to successfully blur the lines between themselves and Nike with this ad featuring John Wooden and great college basketball stars of the past. It ran the night before the NCAA basketball championship.

It’s a terrific ad; John Wooden is an inspired choice. You’d be hard pressed to find a more credible and respected spokesperson. Out of a very small handful of coaching legends, he stands alone, having won 10 championships in 12 years (and seven in a row) at UCLA in the 60’s and ‘70’s.

He is the Yoda of basketball and coaching, having taught countless players and coaches, not just about basketball, but about life.

Which explains why he makes so much sense to be doing this ad.

And his delivery of the poem is breathtaking, especially considering that he’ll be turning 99 in a few months (that means he was only 17 years old when Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs). Coming out of the mouth of an eighth grader the poem might have sounded juvenile, but it seems like just another homespun lesson from the great coach when it comes from John Wooden.

The archival footage of Walton and Jordan mixed with more current film of Dwade and Candace Parker dunking shows great respect to the game and even more credibility to the brand.

And the music immediately made me think of Heritage, one of the original great Nike spots, with a solitary man running against the musical backdrop of a simple poignant piano track.

Add in those great Nike athletes like MJ and Kevin Durant and D Wade, and you have another fantastic Nike ad.

Except that it’s for Gatorade. It’s tied up by a G bottle and “Then. Now. Forever.” Which is a very cool sentiment and makes a ton of sense for the brand. Smart to put a stamp on their heritage and authenticity and try to ensure they stay current.

It’s the latest installment in Gatorade’s continued efforts to sell a brand, not a product. It's building buzz. Lots of people are talking about it, and liking it. It’s a valid way to go for brands that aspire to sell themselves as a lifestyle. Nike has done it, Adidas is working on it. Gatorade is dreaming of it.

They are clearly, consciously walking away from making hydration the reason to buy this product, which is the reason why people have aligned themselves with the brand in the past. They’re making a big bet that you’re going to want to join them because they’re cool. Are you?

Is that a shark Gatorade just jumped over?

2009-04-11T07:53:00.000-07:00

I’m trying to find the right words here.

This new Nike spot—I mean, Gatorade spot—is one of those that makes you scratch your head so hard you find dried blood under your fingernails.

You can see the other spots in the campaign here.

The folks at Nike— sorry, I mean Gatorade, I got confused by all of the Nike logos and Nike imagery—have created a fun spot. I'm just not sure who it’s for. Or what it's selling. It’s about “dehydration for concentration.” So when and where am I supposed to use it? And what’s it called again?

To be sure, it’s a buzzworthy spot, and it’s received buzz. With cool celebrity voiceovers including Samuel L. Jackson, and an original track created by Funkmaster Bootsy Collins. And Tiger Woods, for heaven’s sake, animated or not. Plus, it arrives just in time for his hopeful recoronation at the Masters.

People will like it. They already do, especially 13-24 year olds. It has its detractors, too. So it's being talked about.

The question is, will a commercial that borrows from Pulp Fiction, the Jungle Book, classic Nike advertising, and the Keebler Elves help Gatorade sell an already confusing product and promote the overall brand?

Chiat Day has done a terrific job of making people sit up and take notice of a powerful brand that always could have been bigger and shinier in the public eye. Thing is, the business was always big and shiny.

Hopefully little Eldrick Woods will put on another green jacket this year and help the business be as shiny as the advertising.

The silver lining is, I learned something.

2009-04-06T17:55:00.000-07:00

Hmmm...

A man is running. He seems to know where he’s going…but he seems lost. He’s disoriented. Confused. But wait.! Hark! What’s that he sees? There, above those 18-wheelers! It’s a metaphor!

Yes, it’s a place he might like, a place far above...making your way in the world these days, takes everything you got…taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot! Wouldn’t you like to get away…

Well of course, the guys who went to Cheers used beer as their getaway, and it makes sense that runners use…well…running. It feels like you escape to another world. A white, fluffy, goopy world where you run on marshmallows. Duh!

OK, I admit, I’m not a runner, and I don’t get running. I’ll run up and down a basketball court til my hammies almost rip, but as soon as I hit 8:00 on the treadmill, my shin splints freak out and remind me what it feels like to get strafed by machine gun fire.

So as a non-runner, I apologize to Asics when I say, you nailed the metaphor, but I fear that your runner may not be as lost as the brand that made the ad. Interesting to look at, yes, and I got the metaphor, but I just wasn’t sure how you got to “Sound mind, sound body.”

But then I Googled your tagline and I actually learned something!

The first letters from your tagline, “Anima Sana in Corpore Sana,” come together to form the word “Asics,” which of course, in Latin, stands for...you guessed it…”Sound mind, sound body.”

So if you’ve ever wondered what Asics means—and I really did, being a human being and possessing the curiosity that goes with it—you now know. They can hang with Nike (victory), Reebok (antelope), and Adidas (Mr. Adi Das).

Hey Saucony, you got some ‘splainin to do…

Two Reasons Why I Hate This Ad

2009-04-04T06:39:00.000-07:00

One: it’s silly. You’d have to be Usain Bolt on the greatest steroids on earth to be able to steal two bases on one pitch. Maybe “Dash” from The Incredibles was the stand-in. Whoever it was, I clocked him at about 63 MPH.

Two: Even though it’s one of the most authentically inaccurate ads I’ve seen in a long time, it will still work. It follows the Under Armour formula: dark, grainy, super slo-mo film, ominous music, tough-as-nails athlete, which combined make for the heart pounding intensity of which UA devotees can’t get enough.

There’s nothing wrong with a formula. For Under Armour, there’s everything right about a formula. They don’t have the cash that Big Boys like Nike have for marketing, so the more consistent their communications looks, the better their branding and brand meaning.

And make no mistake, they’re up against the Big Boys. They’re selling shoes here. Nike’s turf. It’s a huge step for them and if they’re going to kick Nike’s butts the way they did with clothes, they may need to stretch themselves beyond their formula. The same UA just may not be enough.

Imitation is the sincerest form of copying

2009-03-31T12:15:00.000-07:00

Last year’s Adidas House Party film turned a lot of heads, including those of us at Sportscentric. We thought it was pretty smart. And very cool. So did lots of lots of hipsters.

The folks at Sky One in London did as well. So much so that they almost frame-by-frame (respectfuly) ripped it off. The original:

The homage:

You can also go to Adidas Originals’ page on Facebook and check out the comparisons. It’s a nice simple page and 1.5 million fans agree (PS, about 150,000 more fans than Nike).

It makes sense that one of the most original shows in the history of television, which got that way by hilariously lampooning just about every film, music and tv genre known to man, would faithfully copy an instantly classic film that touts originality. There’s a hornets nest of logic there, but it all makes sense because the Simpsons is at the heart of it.

And the biggest beneficiary is Adidas, whose coolness level gets a boost without spending a dime.

That is, until Nike makes “Bart Knows.”

Rock the boat, just don’t capsize

2009-03-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

“There are over 400,000 NCAA athletes. And just about all of us will be going pro in something other than sports.”

How many years have ads for the NCAA been using these words in their ads? The same words, mind you, but always with different stories wrapping themselves around that interesting thought.

In contrast to the many many brands that come up with a smart idea and move away from it way too soon because a fiesty young creative gets bored with it, the NCAA is sticking to this very smart platform and keeps coming up with interesting ways to craft stories around it. Like this.

This new work is some of the most surprising they’ve done, a tribute to whoever’s the guardian of the brand at the NCAA, and to Y&R in San Francisco, who produced these ads. Same copy they’ve been using for years, and in this case, a strikingly arresting (and different) visual story.

Stick with it, all of you guys doing these ads. You’re proving that you can keep your hand on the tiller, not make any sharp turns, and still stay in uncharted waters that deliver surprising adventures. Well done.

The Blue States Prevail Again

2009-03-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

Red or blue, if you’re a sports fan, you’ve gotta love the Prez. Especially if you’re a basketball fan. Not only is he still hooping at the age of 46, he picked tall advisers and a cabinet full of tall guys so he can have a game nearby whenever he gets a little downtime.

And he appeared on ESPN last week to do his Barack-etology, filling out his brackets for the NCAA tourney. He gives some expert commentary while staying diplomatic, picks a few minor upsets, and mostly goes with the favorites. He shows off his basketball knowledge in general by calling out certain players like DeJuan Blair and Ty Lawson. And he injects a little sports guy humor into it as well, warning Carolina “Not to embarrass me again” since he picked them last year too. No surprise there. It's a blue state.

Nothing against W, but I'm not sure he could remember any school except for the Aggies of Texas and the Missouri Sooners.

A follow-up

2009-03-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

For those of you woho couldn't access the Puma L.I.F.T spot from this posting, here it is:

You had me at "Pavement"

2009-03-18T18:34:00.000-07:00

Sometimes things that are awesome in small doses don’t translate so well to the longer format. Just ask The Ladies man, Stuart Smalley, Pat, and the guys at the Roxbury.

In that same vein, this new Nike spot is proof that a great print ad doesn’t automatically turn into a great TV ad just by turning on a moving film camera.

As much as I love language, and stand and cheer for smart, inspiring, compelling headlines, I wince when people try to turn a great headline into more than what it is. The headline “The road to State is paved with Pavement” is genius. When you have words that so beautifully nail a strategy, it’s tempting to want to build a campaign around them. To the very talented people at Nike and Weiden, I’d suggest more self-discipline and less self-love.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T? No, it's Tush for AVP.

2009-03-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

Have you ever watched Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor play volleyball?

OK, yes, they look hot. They’re tall and muscular and wear thin pieces of fabric some would call clothes, others would call illegal in 12 states. Little boys in California stash volleyball magazines under their beds in anticipation of some pre-bedtime alone time.

But c’mon. That’s not what makes Kerri and Misty spectacular.

I mean, have you seen them play volleyball?

These women aren’t just incredibly talented athletes. They’re incredibly competitive talented athletes. If they were up 20-0 in a match they wouldn’t let up, and if they gave you and your really tall friend Karch a 19-0 lead they would still find a way to crush you. I never saw them play a match where I wasn’t sure they were going to win.

So I can’t imagine they’re happy to see the AVP’s new campaign, which Darren Rovell mentions in his Sports Biz blog. As a sports fan, and a supporter of equal rights for women-—especially in sports--I have to wince, too. This sets women back a few decades.

Somewhere, Kerri Walsh is wincing. And Bobby Riggs is chuckling.

Puma sticks to its knitting, wins

2009-03-13T07:17:00.000-07:00

Why do I like this commercial? Well, it’s not a new theme.

We’ve seen many many iterations of the passage of time told through the eyes of a sexy young couple. Often, it’s for a fashion related product. This classic for Levi’s, for example. Directed by an up and coming young director (at the time) named Michael Bay.

And a different way in, and surprise, again, for Levi’s.

So it’s been done before. Benjamin Button kind of does it in reverse (and three hours and forty five minutes) and was, oddly enough, directed by another former commercial wunderkind in David Fincher.

So here, Puma gives it a shot. And I like it. Extremely fresh telling of the story. Everything is just so different. In a good way.

A story told through modern dance, done by two dancers who aren’t the archetypical gorgeous, model bodied Broadway hoofers. He’s skinny and lanky, she’s muscular and sexy.

A wonderfully odd music track with the lyrics “A pretty girl/boy in his/her underwear...”

The mix of post effects and real staging to create many different fantasy worlds that combine with the dancers’ movements to tell the story.

And a great ending with the tag “light injected airness” and the product featured in an understated way that one-ups Nike, by showing the trademark jumping Puma as well as a pretty cool looking shoe.

And that’s what they’re selling, right? Coolness. Cool track, story, movements, backdrop. Not performance. Not show features. Have you ever worn Pumas? They're not real big on support. I think “light injected airness” is a cooler way of saying “Fashion over function.” A smarter way.

Puma isn’t trying to be anything but exactly who they are: a fashion brand for hipsters. Sell the shoe to them and the rest of the world will follow, from the time you meet til the day you die. Or at least until you need better arch support.

Puma vs. Nike, Pt 1

2009-03-11T20:00:00.001-07:00

Sports and marketing never slows down, even as blog writers get busy. I've been a bit overwhelmed to write lately, but here's something worth watching. They're not trying to be Nike. Nor is their brand. Well done, Puma.

Do you think it'll sell shoes (assuming light injected footwear actually is shoes)? I do. I'll tell you why tomorrow.

Be Like Nike?

2009-03-05T14:48:00.000-08:00

As hard as it must be to be Nike because of the demands for them to be excellent every time they make something, it’s harder to not be Nike. Trust me. We felt it on Gatorade.

But Gatorade is a functional beverage. And while we had opportunities to major in emotion and minor in function, we mostly had to find ways to give people the functional reasons why they should drink it, and still make it cool (thank you, Keith Jackson).

On TV, Nike basically just does pure brand advertising. They sell coolness and authenticity. Anyone who tried to go down that route has to live up to their standards. And they quickly find out how hard that is.

So here comes Dick’s with a need to sell a shoe that helps you perform.

They don’t talk a whole lot about the shoe or the properties that help you perform. They just make a point that this shoe may feel good, but it performs like a champ. And that baseball’s not about feeling good, it’s about performance.

Huh?

OK. Strange logic gap aside, I give them credit for not making another oversaturated high speed film about shoes that help you terrorize the ball and dramatically slide into third with a triple every time you come up to bat.

It’s a funny spot. But it falls short when it comes to the coolness and authenticity that Nike chasers crave.

They use Jimmy Rollins, which is a nice surprise. Especially since he has nice comedic timing. He makes the spot good. And do you know how I knew it was Jimmy Rollins? Because one of the guys says, loudly and clearly, “JIMMY ROLLINS!!”

YES IT IS. AND THERE ARE FOUR GIANT DICK’S SIGNS AND A NIKE SWOOSH IN THE BACKGROUND TOO. And there are a lot of Nike shoes, too. And today is Thursday.

Listen. If you’re a baseball fan, you know that’s Jimmy Rollins. If you don’t know it, you’ll find out. Too bad Weiden & Kennedy, the agency that’s done so much great Nike work, often featuring athletes who you don’t know (yet), couldn’t convince Dick’s to stop taking their obvious pills. They felt the need to make sure everyone knew who this potentially anonymous looking baseball player is, since they were paying the former MVP a lot of money to stand in their store and get hit by baseballs.

Wait… are those really baseballs? Could’t be, right? They wouldn’t really do that. But the way I saw it, they looked fake. If I’m wrong, tell me. But they look like foamy rubber balls bouncing off his chest, and Nike would’ve found a way to make sure they didn’t look fake.

Hey Dicks, are you sure you want to Be Like Nike?

Larceny X 2

2009-03-03T05:29:00.000-08:00

Sportscentric isn’t the only marketing entity to appreciate the genius behind the Miller delivery guy. The good folks at Alpo dog food and Fallon liked the Miller campaign so much, they pretty much ripped it off sideways.

I like the piece. It’s a clever little film. It should be. It’s a dog version of the Miller guy, just slightly in reverse. The Miller guy takes away the beer from a bunch of corporate wonks at a skybox and says “I need to smell me a hot dog to know I’m alive.” The Alpo hander-outers visit doggy spas and says “These dogs have lost their dogness.” They run around promising “ Meat!”

The Miller guy gives real beer to real folks who appreciate the real high life. The Alpo hander-outers give out Alpo to real dogs who need some real meat.

Problem is, the product doesn’t deliver. It’s barely meat. It’s mostly made from tons of fillers that are bad for dogs. It even makes their poops up to 60% bigger.

So an ad promising Real Meat is pissing people off. Click on the link to Youtube and read some of the comments, which range from “Very stupid and misleading advertising” to “I can't believe they didn't disable comments, like they think people don't know that Alpo is shit.”

Youtubers aren’t the only ones to take Alpo and Fallon to task, as evidenced by this article from sfgate.

And as if ripping off a great campaign to sell a crappy product wasn’t enough, for good measure, they ripped off Chipotle’s font as well.

Maybe they could have Tom Bodett do some radio spots and make it a perfectly larcenous 3 for 3 .

Tiger returns. Golf happy. Golfers sad.

2009-02-25T19:00:00.000-08:00

You could argue that when Michael Jordan retired (each time he retired), he opened up a world of possibilities for other NBA players. But MJ did have Scottie, and there were even times when he needed the spot up jump shooters like Bobby Hansen and John Paxson to win a game.

But Tiger Woods IS golf. Golf fanatics will watch the sport regardless of who’s playing. For the rest of the world, he’s what makes golf interesting. He’s what makes it popular.

And now he’s back, after almost a year away from the game rehabbing his injured knee.

I would argue that Tiger Woods is the single most dominant athlete in the history of a sport almost completely waged by individual competitors. There’s probably never been a sport whose fans and managers missed one of its own so much, and there’s probably never been a sport where the competitors were so glad to see one of its own go missing.

This ad from Nike captures that feeling perfectly.

Sometimes, the assignments you think are going to be easiest can be excruciatingly difficult. I don’t know if that was the case for this ad, but the pressure of having the greatest athlete in the world raises the bar quite a bit. It’s a nice, fairly understated TV spot, with quality performances from the other golfers, and most important…

…they remembered one of the most important tenets of a successful ad: end strong. The first 50 seconds are nice to watch, but the ending is laugh out loud funny.

Toger is such a huge asset for sports marketing. It’s nice to see such a great property used so well.

Welcome back, Tiger. The other golfers may not be so glad, but Nike sure is.

30 x :01 > $3 million

2009-02-24T20:48:00.000-08:00

I love the recent news about Miller High Life’s sales going up as a result of their 1 second ads.

It’s proof that while good ole’ traditional tv advertising may not be dead, smart, inventive tv advertising is alive and well. The big ad agencies can create all of the consumer validated packaged goods crap they want; I don’t think tv advertising will ever go away, primarily because of terrific thinking like this.

You’ve probably seen the Miller High Life 1-second ads, but if not, you should. They’re just plain fun. And extremely successful.

They didn’t get there by luck. They wouldn’t exist if not for the well-established, clever campaign starring the Miller High Life delivery guy that’s been running for a while. This is one of my favorites. It’s a wonderful, insightful commentary on sports and the corporate world, and it sells the product.

That’s a hard working ad.

So now they take those ads to the next level. The idea of 1 second ads is absurd, but the truth is, it’s more about the buzz vs. the ads themselves. Especially when the campaign is touted as a better way to spend money than the $3 million they would have had to spend to get national presence on the Super Bowl. It’s the publicity they were after, and publicity they got. Before and after the Super Bowl.

Oh, that and a whole lot of sales.

You can talk drinkability, and you can talk frost brewing and cold mountains, and I’m sure consumers told Bud and Coors that they want to hear about that stuff.

But it’s fresh, unexpected Ideas that connect people to brands and convince them to form relationships with brands. It’s hard for a consumer to articulate that. Luckily, it’s real easy to watch 1 second ads.

Adidas: Close, but not really

2009-02-20T05:53:00.000-08:00

Adidas.tv is here.

In their decades long attempt to catch up to Nike, Adidas is launching an online TV channel. According to Advertising Age online, “The player is designed to encourage Hulu-style sharing and can be embedded in blogs and other social-networking sites via an Adidas-branded video-player module.”

For now, it just feels like they’re selling stuff.

Sure, they need to get it up and running, so they’ve loaded it up with some slick videos starring Dwight Howard and Gilbert Arenas and featuring Adidas products, with the hope that soon, others will join in and post their own videos.

But for now, it just feels like they’re selling stuff.

The secret to Nike’s success over the years was that they made marketing materials, especially TV commercials, that connected you to the Nike name vs any one certain thing.

They sold coolness. They got you to want to be on their team. That’s what sports is all about, right? Be on the best team. Or at least be a part of it. Who wouldn’t want to be with these guys?

They grew their brand by creating emotional bonds with consumers. And grow their brand, they did.

When I worked on Gatorade, we wanted the same ending, but we couldn’t do it the same way. Gatorade is a functional product that we not only needed to sell, but we also had to explain why you should use it. It’s obvious that you need shoes to play sports. You can’t go barefoot. But you could drink anything.

So even when we made almost purely emotional spots, we still needed to make sure the functional message came through. Hence, colored sweat, even if it’s just for one second. Like in this spot.

As much as we tried on Gatorade, we could never be like Nike, because we had a story to tell, and it made sense for us to tell that story, because people wanted to know why they should drink Gatorade over something else.

So while Gatorade had “Be Like Mike,” “I like Nike” was good enough for the guys out in Beaverton.

Adidas has never fully appreciated the fact that in their category, you’re not selling products, you’re selling a brand. They've made some very nice ads over the years, and clearly have forward thinking ideas. But they haven't been consistent enough.

They should stick to capturing people’s hearts, and letting their brains follow.

The saga of Chuck continues

2009-02-17T05:59:00.000-08:00

More on Chuck. If Ronald Reagan was the Teflon President, Charles Barkley is the Titanium Celebrity Endorser.

Hey T-mobile, lighten up!

2009-02-16T20:09:00.000-08:00

I like funny ads that have a point. And I like when superstar athletes are used well in marketing. And I love the combination of the two.

Usually, it’s a result of digging deep into an athlete’s psyche and uncovering the insight that makes him or her special, then turning that insight into something surprising and fun.

Sometimes, it’s purely using what you’ve got on the surface. A dude who’s an athlete that you like purely because you like him as an athlete. And when he gets together with his athlete friends, you just let the funny happen.

So I've really enjoyed the T-mobile campaign that has featured Charles Barkley and D-Wade. It’s well written, well shot, and well edited. The performances seem genuine and I laugh at just about every one.

I was annnoyed when T-Mobile pulled the ads after Sir Charles’ latest DUI. I thought they should have just kept plugging away. DUI’s are part of his charm!

But let’s hear it for the passage of time. It makes all ickiness in the world of sports go away. Just ask Marv Albert. T-Mobile has brought Chuck back, this time with Dwight Howard too.

It’s funny! Not crystal-ball-in-the-nuts funny, but smart, real, fresh dialogue funny. Good for those guys. I love everything T-Mobile’s doing with these guys, except for the part where they pulled the ads for a while.

C’mon, T-mobile. We knew you were going to put Chuck back on at some point. Next time, put away the pretense and just let the boys play.

No laughing matter, MJ

2009-02-14T14:18:00.000-08:00

Brand Jordan is a funny brand.

Funny, like, it makes me laugh? No, more like, it ‘s funny how it has so much potential but is still struggling to find it’s way.

There's a group of athletes that represent Brand Jordan. The athletes they’ve chosen for Team Jordan are an interesting lot. In the NBA, they have big stars like Ray Allen and Carmelo Anthony, but also aging players like Michael Finley. Most of the athletes are basketball players, with a couple of football (Ahman Green and Marvin Harrison) and baseball (Andruw Jones) players thrown in.

They have one female athlete: April Holmes, a paralympian sprinter.

The website makes clear that each of the athletes is valued for not just sports achievements, but for being active in community and charitable causes as well.

But it still seems like a fairly random collection to me. Even Nike always seemed to have a method to the way they picked athletes. Usually, it was the best and only best athletes at their jobs.

For what it's worth, Andruw Jones is still trying to find a job.

Then there’s the advertising. Some very good work, but not consistently great. Again, hard to figure out what ties it all together. Where’s the vision? What would the manifesto say?

I think above all else, it’s about inspiration. At least, I think that’s what it should be. It makes sense to me. If MJ isn’t on the court anymore, he can’t lead by example, so he’s trying to lead by metaphysical example. His spirit was always one of leadership and determination, and that’s what comes through in a lot of the BJ ads. Like this one.

The players are right. The message is right. What does it say about the brand overall? How does it connect to the rest of the brand communication? I’m just not sure. MJ, please help.

Roger Goodell shouldn't need Viagra

2009-02-11T09:33:00.000-08:00

If you have kids, and you’ve watched pro football with them, then you probably have something in common with President Obama.

In his book The Audacity of Hope, he wrote, “…I wasn’t too happy with ads for erectile-dysfunction drugs popping up every 15 minutes whenever I watched a football game with my daughters in the room.”

That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

I have parental controls on my cable TV that filter out adult-rated movies and shows. When I watch the NFL with my kids, I wish I had the same controls for the ads. Ironically enough, Fox is the biggest offender, with previews for shows like House, 24, Dollhouse and Prison Break, mixing soft core porn and hard core violence in short yet offensive bursts.

If you think I’m overly sensitive, ask Common Sense Media. In their recently released study on the content of ads shown during NFL broadcasts, they concluded that "it was impossible to watch a single game without coming up against sex, violence, or Viagra." One in six of the ads shown during the broadcasts features content that's wildly inappropriate for kids. That's every other commercial break.

Common Sense Media's report found that 40% of the games included ads for erectile-dysfunction drugs and 44.7% of the violent or sexual advertisements were promotions by the networks for their own programs. And over 10% of the ads overall involved significant levels of sexuality, including scenes about prostitution and strippers.

The amazing thing is that professional leagues go to great lengths to project a squeaky clean, family friendly appearance. The NFL is especially good at protecting their image; the league office does everything they can to be America’s League (especially since they can’t stop their players from literally shooting themselves in the foot), policing their sidelines, their sponsors, and their affiliations.

They should do a better job of policing their airwaves.

Two bongs don't make a right

2009-02-08T20:28:00.000-08:00

In this America, in this millenium, with the amount of celebrity stupidity that fills the news, is it really such huge news that a 23 year old had his picture taken with a cell phone camera while taking a bong hit?

The really important news was around which marketers decided to stick with him and which would throw him out quicker than stale bong water. Kellogg’s dumped him, Subway kept him. More to come. Personally, I think he’s the stiffest, most ineffective eight-time gold medal winner in history, and I never would’ve signed him to any contract in the first place with the amount of cash brands were paying him. I would rather have put my money on this guy.

Now that’s an endorser worth every penny.

Hot dogs, apple pie, Chevrolet, and bankruptcy

2009-02-05T15:24:00.001-08:00

Citi Field is in danger of being called something different. Not surprisingly, the financial giant is being questioned for doling out $400 million for naming rights to the Mets’ new field, even though the deal was struck in 2006, years before the financial crisis hit.

The government granted Citi $45 billion (yes, with a “b”) as part of the bailout, and many good, hard working people of America are pissed that their tax dollars are paying for a formerly bloated and irresponsible financial institution to sponsor a bunch of boys playing ball. And rightly so.

I say, let the deal go through.

What better way for the government to spend our money? Baseball is the American game. The national pastime. What’s more red, white, and blue than green grass and clear skies on a hot summer day? Uncle Sam’s bailed out so many of our prized institutions already; cars, planes, New York City. It’s the American way.

Besides, who’s going to pick up the slack? The entities that normally go for this sort of thing don’t make much sense. Financial Organizations? Ha. Airlines? Travel ain’t happening. Automotive? Worst year for new car sales for 50 years.

Fast food isn’t hurting too much, and being a big fan of the #4 with light mayo (Turkey Tom), I cast one vote for calling it Jimmy John’s Field. With their penchant for Freaky Fastness, maybe they can help make the games a little quicker. If nothing else, you wouldn’t have to wait as long for the vendors to come around.

Let's hear it for the Nobodies

2009-02-03T15:44:00.000-08:00

I have one thing and one thing only to say about the Super Bowl advertising because I’ve heard and talked and read enough about it.

Bravo to the nobodies from nowhere, the unemployed Herbert brothers from Batesville, Ohio, who bested the behemoths of advertising to capture the coveted top prize in the USA Today Ad Meter. Bob Lachky may jokingly say that he wants a recount, but with Bud’s streak being broken at 10, you know he’s not a happy guy. Same with the bosses at Pepsi who expected to come out on top and be showered with all of the bonus PR.

And their agencies aren't feeling too hot either.

For good measure, let’s watch again, and enjoy the never-gets-old comedic power of a crystal ball in the nuts. Watch and learn, ad guys. Watch and learn.

Puma is a Lose-a

2009-01-30T10:32:00.000-08:00

By Sportscentric contributor Ben Schuman-Stoler

Note: this is also posted at The Building JJ Collective.

Puma has a history of audacious projects that, for one reason or another, always end up falling short of expectations. Remember those ridiculous one-piece soccer kits they proposed? (Look right.)

Their most recent collaboration with fashion icon Alexander McQueen is another project that seems destined to fall woefully short of their goals.

Dig the "movie"--to call such a project an "ad" would be positively beneath them, ha--above.

Directed by the sooo-hot-right-now Saam Farhamand, this, erm, collection of moving pictures is supposed to impress us with Puma's artistic vision? Their sophisticated attempts at unifying athletic wear with cosmopolitan notions of style and dance?

I can't speak for others, but the lasting sentiment I get from the piece is not inspiration; it's more in the realm of the weird and off-putting. The music is cool, I'll give them that. I would love to partake in an epic, rainy duel with that music in the background. But that's about all this has going for it.

Two words keep coming to mind when I watch this: impersonal and farfetched. Like the "Until Then" ads (below), this piece is impossible to relate to and therefore unattached to my own experience. I am not impressed with the choppy images we get of what might well be impressive human movements.

This does not make we want to buy Puma gear.

We know that Puma is not Nike, or Adidas. They should be saluted for thinking outside the box in their attempts to gain entry into the sportswear circle of gods. And maybe the concept of McQueen's "ManCat" as a "creative reference" (whatever that means) will bring a cadre of fashionistas to Puma. But this piece is, literally, too narrow to grab and incorporate potential customers--it does more to turn them away.

This is Bigger than the Super Bowl

2009-01-29T19:25:00.000-08:00

The Super Bowl pre-game adverganza is in full swing. I’m fairly unimpressed with this set of ads (although both the dude in the speedo picking his nails and “I’m good” made me laugh), not to mention just a bit bored with all of the early hype. It all acts as a bit of a buzzkill for Sunday and makes me less interested in joining the horde writing about them.

I'm going to write about the world's biggest Slurpee instead.

In my mind, the Slurpee is one of the great American icons. I would put it up there with Super Rope and Smarties and Razzles and all of the great candy and munchies with fun names that have been around forever. Things that aren’t exactly food but are incredibly satisfying.

Thinking of Slurpees conjures up images of riding bikes to 7-11 on hot days after baseball games. Kids have been doing it for decades and still are. What’s better than a Coke Slurpee on a 90˚ day with the hopes of getting a brain freeze?

Slurpee has always done interesting ads—crazy, even—so it’s no surprise to see them doing something fun and different. What is surprising is to see it in Australia. They love it down there. They should. It's brilliant marketing because people are talking about it around the world and it's impossible not to know who it's for. Those Aussies do Slurpees proud. A lot more buzz than what most of the Super Bowl ads will get, and a lot less expensive than $3 million.

Hail Slurpee.

The hype before the hype

2009-01-28T17:08:00.000-08:00

The Super Bowl advertising hype is ramping up. Not only will brands be duking it out for the best ads on the game telecast, they’re going head to head before the game even starts to get the early buzz. It’s kind of like the red carpet on steroids.

My favorite clash of the titans is between Pepsi and Coke. As always, they’re looking for an edge vs the other, and the delicious irony is that without knowing it, they’ve spent the past several months developing new campaigns that are mirror images of each other, featuring relentless optimism and unbridled happiness. It almost feels like there are sliding doors between the two agencies and the same creatives are going back and forth doing all the work.

Both sides are claiming they were first, but I’d file this one in the there-are-only-seven-original-ideas-in-the-whole-world department, especially in this year of Hope.

There are the usual differences; like last year’s Charlie Brown spot, Coke goes the way of warm and “ohh…nice…”

And like Pepsi Max’s bobbing heads spot from the past, they go the slapstick route again.

Both fun, with many more memorable ads to come. This one won’t be among them.

I know it's for PETA, but it might be a way to get a whole generation of boys to eat their vegetables...

Move over, Shamwow!

2009-01-26T13:54:00.000-08:00

The HAYAE Hall of Fame is going to have to build another wing soon.

Just last week, Shamwow took it's rightful place in the hallowed halls of the HAYAE (Heinously Annoying Yet Amazingly Effective) advertising HOF, heroically hauled there on the back of Vince the Bilingual Pitchman, amid promises of holding 20 times it’s weight in liquid.

Shamwow stands proudly beside Head On and Saved by Zero, and they’re all now joined by the newest awesome member:

Snuggie! The blanket that has sleeves!

It’s not often that a product seemingly inspired by Franciscan Monks sells more than four million units in three months, but it’s not often that you can work on your laptop or play backgammon in the dead of winter without getting cold. How many times have I had to warm my hands over the fire when I roasted marshmallows? Not any more!!

It’s a wonderfully weird product with a wonderfully ridiculous ad to match. And it’s a perfect use for Direct Response TV. Say what you will about DRTV, but with the right product and message, it works, big time.

So I salute you, Snuggie, and feel bad for the people at Slanket, who have much better colors but didn’t have the foresight to make such an obnoxiously terrific ad.

When does LeBron play basketball?

2009-01-24T19:44:00.000-08:00

Nike, NBA, State Farm, Vitaminwater, Bubblicious., Tampax…what’s this guy not pitching these days? It’s hard to turn on the TV without seeing him in an ad. He was the top non-golf endorser a year ago and he’s only turned it up since then.

The problem isn’t in the way it’s affected his performance on the court. The Cavs are a game behind the Celtics in the East, and Lebron is second in scoring in the league behind D-Wade. So he must be getting some practice in somewhere.

The problem isn’t in sponsors’ ability to do very good ads with the King. You’ve seen the NBA ads. You’ve seen the Nike ads. And you’ve probably seen this new State Farm ad.

Fun. Some terrific moments (I especially like him rejecting the field goal). But I’m not so sure about the wrap-up and how it works for State Farm. What exactly are they selling? The NFL? State farm? Sundays?

Therein lies the problem: I’m not sure he’s figured out how to develop and nurture his value for each specific brand he endorses.

Or his ability to effectively deliver a message that helps to sell and promote each specific brand.

Sounds too marketing-ese and over-analytical? Should we just watch an ad and if we enjoy it be happy with it?

Not so fast. I’d argue that you swapped out the Nike logo for the State Farm logo for the NBA logo in those ads above, the ads would still work. None of those brands has developed an insight about Lebron and connected it to the brand to make it completely ownable. I’m not the only one who thinks so.

So maybe it’s not that he’s being overused; it’s in the way he’s being used. Wonderful ads, to be sure, but better insights would create better value.

Quick.

2009-01-22T19:31:00.000-08:00

I would be remiss if I had anything more to say about Miller’s new campaign than this:

Brilliant.

Another one for the HAYAE

2009-01-20T15:29:00.000-08:00

Another candidate for the HAYAE (Heinously Annoying Yet Amazingly Effective) advertising Hall of Fame.

First there was The Clapper, then there was Head On. Saved By Zero carried the torch for a bit, but I’m not sure any of them can hold a candle to our friend Vince and his Shamwow!!!!

You follow me, camera guy? You bet I do! And I don’t even have a camera! I love this spot. I could watch it over and over. It’s cheap, it’s human. Vince is the three-card-Monty guy and Monte Hall charmingly rolled into one. But that’s not even the best part.

Vince knows Spanish! (Warning: This one’s longer)

I don’t know if they sang Saved by Zero en Espanol, but this dude’s the real deal, slinging the lingo as if he were born south of the border.

And of course, you know it’s entered popular culture when people start making parodies. (WARNING: expletives galore)

Well done, Shamwow. I dare anyone out there to tell me it’s not a horribly brilliant ad.

Why is this athlete smiling?

2009-01-19T20:24:00.001-08:00

Sometimes you can use sports to sell stuff that has nothing to do with sports. Best example is probably the Super Bowl, but here's another. A wonderful campaign from Kuala Lumpur for a fabric softener.

No words, but do you get it? Of course you do. Tough guys unable to prevent themselves from hugging someone they should be pummeling because the should-be foe's uniform was washed in Softlan Eltra.

Another ad in the campaign is just as fun. Well done, Y&R Kuala Lumpur. Could you come over here and teach the GoDaddy and Sales Genie folks a few things?

LeBron, you funny!

2009-01-17T09:17:00.000-08:00

Ha!

Who woulda thunk it? Beast on the court, humorous soft touch off it. That really is amazing.

On the surface, I’m with a lot of fans who love this spot. It shows a side of LeBron that we don’t normally get to see. It’s surprising. And funny.

So on it’s own, it scores. But it’s a continuation of the NBA’s “Amazing Happens” campaign, and needs to be evaluated in that context as well. Here’s one of the spots from last year:

Very different. Very, wonderfully amazing. Makes me interested in the NBA. Makes me want to watch more NBA action.

And more than anything else, it makes me feel that NBA players are uniquely interesting and pretty spectacular and just kind of cooler than those other somewhat inferior professional athletes.

I’m drawn to their personalities in an unexpected way. That’s a pretty hard-working ad.

So when LeBron sings Time After Time, I’m loving it and I like him a whole lot.

But it doesn’t make the NBA feel all that amazing.

The first "Year Of..." of 2009

2009-01-15T20:55:00.000-08:00

So far, 2009 is the year of the teaser ad in sports. First, G. Now, this:

The rumors are flying: LeBron is leaving to play basketball; Lebron is going to the Knicks/Lakers/Maccabi Tel Aviv Electra; LeBron is co-starring with Hugh Hefner in a reality show called "The Girls Next Door to Lebron..."

I like it. It gives me just enough information to care and wonder, and not enough to give anything away. Hail Nike.

It is Nike, isn't it...?

One for the futballers

2009-01-14T20:52:00.000-08:00

Even though I played soccer from 1st through 10th grades, I’ve never been a rabid fan of the Beautiful Game. But I appreciate a lot about it: the stamina, the athleticism, the amazing goals…and maybe most of all, the fans.

One of the best sporting events I ever attended was at Highbury a few years ago to see Arsenal play. The energy in that stadium rivaled the old Chicago Stadium during the playoffs…and this was an early, regular season game. The drum beats made my heart pound, and the chanting made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, even though I couldn’t understand what they hell they were saying.

But what I could understand was the passion, the commitment, the involvement of those fans with their team. I may not concede that soccer is the best sport in the world, but it’s hard to argue that the fans rule.

Nike has taken advantage of that incomparable fan passion to create a soccer spot that I not only understand, but love. It features lovers and haters of futbol phenom Ronaldo.

Could they have done this with any single American athlete? Doubtful. To engender a massive amount of heartfelt passion, you need to start with something that a lot of people are very passionate about, and I’m not sure any American athlete would qualify. Except maybe David Beckham.

Waitasec. He’s not…ah, never mind.

To pull or not to pull?

2009-01-13T19:17:00.000-08:00

What happens when your morning mug of coffee is accompanied by a mug shot of the celebrity endorser in whom you’ve invested millions of dollars? There's not enough cream ‘n sugar in the world to make that particular cuppa joe taste better.

But is it bitter enough to pull the ads featuring your bad boy? For T-Mobile, yes.

They did some nice work recently featuring Dr. J, Magic Johnson, DWade and Charles Barkley, but Chuck did his own work on the Scottsdale roadways earlier this year, ushering in the New Year behind the wheel with a blood-alcohol level of .149 percent , nearly twice the legal limit of .08 percent in Arizona.

T-Mobile has pulled the ads. Charles has also lost his NBA studio gig on TNT. Oops.

Wicked, wicked alcohol. It’ll get you in trouble and lose you lots of good things, like jobs and endorsements. And the things that go with them, like really colorful suits and the freedom to gamble away $10 million over a few years. Plus, people will enjoy making fun of you (although it’ll also put you in some pretty prestigious company). Oops.

For now, all the interested parties have done what’s expected of them. Charles has apologized and T-Mobile has scrapped the ads, but like Marv Albert, Steve Howe, Bill Clinton, and probably even Pacman Jones, they’ll be back.

It’s not the illegal part that makes me crazy. It’s the stupid part. It’s watching golden eggs fly away when all you have to do is sit on them. Sad truth is, for the uber talented, there are always more golden eggs.

NHL ad scores. No acting necessary.

2009-01-11T11:07:00.000-08:00

Of all of the reasons my children make me feel blessed, one of the best is the fact that none of them play hockey. I like to watch the game, but I haven’t played since 5th grade, when Phil Humbert nailed me with a slapshot above my right eye in his frozen backyard (six stitches). So nobody in our family is much of a skater.

Hockey is smelly, injury-prone, and expensive, and if your child is on a travel team, you TRAVEL. For basketball or baseball, the farthest you go is maybe the next county. For hockey, you cross time zones.

For all of those reasons, Honda loves hockey. Hockey families need lots of equipment and log lots of miles so they need big roomy cars…like, say, Honda Passports and Pilots. So it’s a natural for them to sponsor the NHL. But it doesn’t mean they have to do such smart ads, like this.

I really like this spot. I may not be a hockey parent, but I’m a sports parent who can relate to the rituals involved in kids’ sports. The packing and unpacking, the early morning games and practices, the special moments watching them play. And the fact that our kids rely on us to make it all happen.

Honda takes this insight and connects it to their products: “As reliable as the people who drive them.” Smart. What’s even smarter is how they tie in their NHL sponsorship, without showing a single NHL player or highlight:

“Official vehicle of the NHL. And hockey parents everywhere.”

Knowing that hockey players are better at checking than acting, another wise move.

Is any press better than none at all?

2009-01-10T09:42:00.000-08:00

If so, then so far, so good for G. The reviews are pouring in, the chatter's at full force, and the reception is most definitely mixed.

In these times of fragmented media and distracted eyeballs, there's a very valid argument to be made for the value of making a splash, regardless of how favorable the reactions are.

The media buzz has been mostly negative, which is to be expected from branding experts. Much of the online reaction has been positive and intrigued. Then again, the initial splash from the TV spots isn't translating into youtube success, according to the above article.

So we still need to wait and see. The current spots are just teasers; the proof will be when the campaign rolls out in earnest. I've heard rumors about some wackiness to come on the upcoming Big Game.

I'm sure the work will be fun to watch. I'm not sure the brand will survive it.

Unpredictable service, good ads

2009-01-07T16:55:00.000-08:00

I’m a big fan of Verizon Wireless. My loyalty to them (and my contempt for AT&T) is why I got a Storm vs iphone. So I know very little about T-Mobile, other than the fact that their ads with current and former pro basketball players crack me up.

I’ve been paying attention to their ads for a while, mainly because I think Catherine Zeta-Jones is, how you say, shmokin’ hot. CZJ, you were rooked by Zellweger for the Oscar nod. I’d do a number with you any day. But I can’t do it alone…

Since Catherine’s been gone, D-Wade and Charles Barkley have picked up the torch, and they’ve done a great job. The spots are funny and strategic, crafted around T-Mobile’s selling idea of their Fave Five calling plan. They even ran a Super Bowl ad last year, which ranked in the middle of the USA Today Ad Meter, but as high as any ad in the online user poll.

Getting celebrity athletes to act well is so hard. Most of them would rather be on the court than on a set (or on the golf course). And in a spot with a lot of dialogue, the desired nuances in performance that dictate the need to do take after take…it’s just not what athletes want to be doing (Michael Jordan used to start saying “That was perfect. What was wrong with the one?!” after the second take).

There are so many factors involved; obviously, having an athlete with a scoche of acting ability is nice, but it’s rare. So sometimes you have to write around it, and sometimes you can take advantage of it, like in the ending of this commercial:

All challenges considered, the new T-Mobile commercial is wonderfully pleasing. Nice performances, good writing, surprising appearances from Magic Johnson and Dr. J. I’m surprised they didn’t hold this one for the Super Bowl. Seems to have all the ingredients.

If you want to laugh out loud, watch the Heineken spot in my blog from a couple of days ago (you must), but if you want a nice chuckle, and a great example of how to use athletes well, you could do a lot worse than the work from T-Mobile.

Shouldn't they shower first?

2009-01-06T22:01:00.000-08:00

Sports Marketing guru Terry Lefton reports in Sports Business Journal that the winning players in Super Bowl XLIII will be able to drape themselves in the first ever official Super Bowl Bath Towel on the field after the game. It’s a high-quality, nine-pound towel (I’m assuming that means dry).

In Lefton’s article, McArthur Towel and Sports President Gregg McArthur says, “[The towel] has always been a great vehicle in sports...anyone at Gatorade could tell you that. We’re taking the next step by turning them into an authentic championship item.”

Except that the Gatorade towel had a reason for being. Athletes sweat, towels soak up.

That said, I’m all for finding new revenue streams; the exposure at the Super Bowl is just about priceless, and I applaud all parties involved for being innovative and forward thinking.

In fact, more marketers should embrace the potential for getting their brands out there on the biggest and brightest stage in the world.

I’d like to see Burger King sponsor Championship paper crowns instead of the same old baseball hats. They

SPAM could be the official post game snack.

And just once, I’d like to see the game’s MVP, when asked where he’s going now that he’s won the Biggest Game on Earth, say: “Vegas, baby!”

Got any other ideas for official post game celebratory items?

Time out for some joy

2009-01-05T20:21:00.000-08:00

Enough about the Gatorade ads already. Nobody knows who they're for, but they’re cool. Gatorade is gone. It’s now G. It was a sad day for me when they changed Sugar Smacks to Honey Smacks but I got over it and they still taste pretty good. In a couple of years Lil Wayne will be shilling George Foreman grills. We move on.

For now, let’s just be entertained. Here’s a commercial that, kind of like “G,” has nothing to do with sports; it barely has any words, isn’t even in English, but is so clear and to the point and does such a wonderful job of selling the product that it just makes me smile and I want to watch it over and over.

Let’s hear it for pure, unadulterated joy.

Plus, Dutch just sounds cool.

Here it is

2009-01-04T21:30:00.000-08:00

The new Gatorade TV ad.

A lot of the usual Gatorade athletes: D. Wade, Kerri and Misty, Jeter, Candace Parker.

Some interesting, surprising new athletes: Serena, skater Chaz Ortiz, softball player Jessica Mendoza (Usain Bolt is in another of the ads).

Some aging athletes who stand for something significant: the great Muhammed Ali, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, Bill Russell.

And current pop culture icons, like dance troupe Jabbawockeez and Lil Wayne, who narrates the spot. PS, I love his voice.

This ad will appeal to a lot of new people. It already has. Especially among hip hop culture, where it's generating buzz and discussion. If Gatorade wants to branch out to young urban influencers, this is a good thing.

It looks different than most tv spots and does an excellent job of making you sit up and take notice. And it’s clear that Gatorade is happy to turn away from hard core athletes and athletic influencers and turn their attention to cultural trendsetters.

For more proof, check out the youtube channel they’ve created (thank you, commenter Carol). There’s sports in there, but you have to listen for it.

A couple of things seem clear:

Gatorade was a functional beverage. G is a cultural beverage.

Gatorade was about function. G is about funktion.

Stay tuned.

The new Gatorade ads Think Different, but...

2009-01-01T20:28:00.000-08:00

There’s so much to talk about on the Gatorade front. New packaging, new positioning for the products. Go to their website to see how it all breaks out, and I’ll follow up with some thoughts soon. But their new TV advertising is fresh in my head, having seen it on the BCS games today.

When I saw the ads, I thought of this Apple commercial. It’s one of my favorite ads of all time.

First of all, it’s beautifully written. A wonderful manipulation of language within a scant sixty seconds. Excellence and moderation.

The message glows equally bright. A forward thinking company connecting itself to some of the most forward thinking people who ever lived. A creative company trying to appeal to millions of creative thinkers, encouraging them to join other originals who weren’t afraid to think differently. Or Think Different, as Apple’s somewhat grammatically incorrect tagline exhorted us to do.

Talk about building a relationship and cultivating loyalty.

Like Apple, Gatorade is a great American brand that constantly needs to stay current to maintain its iconic status with young cultural trendsetters and influencers in the world of sports. So after years of colored sweat, Gatorade is headed in another direction.

And it is most definitely different.

I can’t find the ads online yet but I’ll post them as soon as I do. If you see them, please pass them along. The ads on today’s games were teasers for a big reveal that’s reportedly airing on the Super Bowl in a month.

I give PepsiCo credit for “Thinking different.“ They’re not afraid to change. They’ve already demonstrated this with their Pepsi marketing, and they’re turning their lust for change to Gatorade.

To quote the Apple ad, “They have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.”

I think these ads are hard to ignore. And along with the new packaging, I do think they’ll change things for Gatorade. My early observation is, it won’t be change for the better. So far, it all seems messy and random. Bold, yes, but confusing.

But I'm a big fan of change when it's change for the better. So let’s see what they show us on February 1.

The packaging? Well, that's a different story...

G is here

2008-12-30T08:17:00.000-08:00

The news is out: Gatorade is busting a move. They're either going to take it to the next level or confuse the hell out of us.

This is big. More to come.

Hey Pepsi: You forgot something

2008-12-30T07:57:00.000-08:00

Yay, Pepsi! They’re full of happy, joy and love! Despite the economic woes, the renewed fighting in the Middle East, and the moon-crater-size potholes springing up across our fair land, Pepsi is debuting their happy-or-bust act in Times Square to bring their new marketing platform of no-holds-barred optimism to the world.

Seems right, right? Obama is coming, and it’s the perfect time to change to the good side. They just forgot one thing:

They forgot the humanity. The part where we’re human beings and we don’t like being TOLD to feel a certain way. Especially being SCREAMED at to embrace the optimistic side of life.

We far prefer to be told a story that makes us feel something. The Coke Macy’s day parade commercial immediately springs to mind.

Not humans, but endless humanity. Makes you feel good.

Yesterday, I went to see a restored 70 MM print of West Side Story at the Music Box Theatre, a slightly run down but still wonderfully gemlike anachronism of a movie palace in the times of 18-theatre megaplexes.

For all of you showtune dissers, I will acknowledge that a bunch of pirouetting, knife wielding gang members is a bit silly, especially in our times of special effects violence. But c’mon, this is West Side Story. Best Picture, 1961. A ridiculous number of smile-inducing showstoppers. How could you not beam for 5 minutes watching this:

With the new print, the sound was massive, and the colors were spectacular. But most important: the movie was huge! It’s over forty years old, so I’ve never seen it in a theatre. On the big screen, the story was so much more powerful. You couldn’t help but feel the love and frustration and grief from these trapped kids. Powerful stuff.

Everyone in the Music Box yesterday felt it.

So when you go on Pepsi’s related site and are told to be happy, you probably just move on. Because you can’t tell someone how to feel. You can tell them a story that might make them feel something. You can appeal to their human being-ness. Pepsi's new campaign is admirably eager to make us feel the happy, but in their eagerness, they forgot to tell us why.

A brilliant holiday message

2008-12-27T19:59:00.000-08:00

You may have seen this already—891,706 people saw it before me on Youtube, and it was in Adage.com, and countless other sites and blogs—but it’s a wonderful piece from an agency called AKQA, a global shop that’s kicking serious ass as we hurtle toward the new age of communication.

If creativity will rule the future of marketing regardless of what media is employed, these guys will be the Kings and Queens. Although I’m hoping next year they go old school and haul out the egg timers for a rousing version “I have a little Dreidel.”

MJ and Nike (cont)

2008-12-25T20:43:00.000-08:00

I’m starting to look back on sports advertising and marketing from 2008, and I have to start at what has been the epicenter of great sports ads for eons: Nike and Michael Jordan.

Early in the year they ran a series of “Become Legendary” ads featuring MJ for the Jumpman brand. A couple of them just had his voiceover, one had a bit of him on camera, one highlight-filled spot didn’t have him at all. This one was my favorite.

They were beautifully filmed and nicely written. But for the most part, they weren’t as surprisingly fresh as the ads they did together when he was playing. And that’s primarily because he just doesn’t provide the same raw material.

He was the lead actor in a spectacular drama, night in and night out, for a decade. Win or lose, he was brilliant, and the fodder he created was so rich and full of possibilities. It enabled Weiden & Kennedy and Nike to make ridiculously great commercials like this:

It’s just not the same now.

His words in the Become Legendary series ring true. They speak to young athletes craving greatness, and he still inspires. I’d bet these spots work hard against those win-at-all-costs hard core competitive athletes. And that may be where the biggest difference may be: he doesn’t have the broad impact he once had over a wider swath of people. That was what made him so valuable in his days of stardom on the court. MJ as an athlete was both a charmer and a winner, which made him universally loved and invaluable as a spokesman.

The next time you see that again will probably be…well…never.

Should Nike continue to use MJ in their ads? Is he still effective? You tell me. I'm happy watching him do his thing for as long as he chooses.

Although I do wish he'd stop doing those Hanes ads. Cuba Gooding was bad enough. Kevin Bacon and Charlie Sheen? Yikes. Who's next, Ashton Kutcher?

Real stories are the best stories

2008-12-23T21:29:00.000-08:00

Get ready for the hype...!!!!

The NFL playoffs start soon. So after weeks and weeks of preparation, and in some cases, last minute scrambles to be ready for the Big Game, all eyes and ears will hone in on the most important event of the year: the Super Bowl commercials.

Sure, they’ll play a game, too. But except in rare instances, the lion’s share of the post-game debates is around the ads.

The regulars will almost all be there, even at a starting price tag of $3 million, the highest ever. FedEx, who consistently ranks in the Top Ten in USA Today’s Admeter and hit #2 last year, is taking a pass. The logic is logical, but it’s too bad. They make great ads.

Speaking of which, this was just about my favorite from last year.

It’s so smart for the Super Bowl. A human story to break through the clutter of beer humor and animal jokes. An ode to friendship and teammates. And it’s all true, which made it even better.

The NFL is hoping lightning will strike twice this year. Their site is split in half, with players stories’ on one side and fans’ stories on the other. Again, real stories, and they hope they turn up another diamond. We get to vote for the best ones, with the winner appearing on the Super Bowl. Fun promo. Check it out.

I'll tell you what: some of those fans are awesome. They should get them into a broader audience, whether it's pre or post game, or at the stadium, or in movie theatres...wherever they can get a lot of people to see it. It's what football fandom is all about.

Ironic, how real people are way more interesting than the professional athletes they idolize.

Nike's lovely luke warm thoughts on the BCS

2008-12-22T21:42:00.000-08:00

A few posts ago, I talked about the importance of topicality in creating ads that stand out. And how Nike is so good at taking advantage of current topics in sports.

Their latest effort has been running quite a bit; I saw it tonight during the Bears’ improbable come-from-behind OT victory. It’s a play on all of the controversy surrounding the BCS system of determining a college football champion.

The fitness of the BCS to be the final say on college football’s best team has been discussed in ways humorous and rancorous (won’t you please buy our bumper stickers and hoodies?). And who isn’t aware of President-elect Obama’s stance on the subject? When it’s a prime topic on 60 Minutes, it’s not just a prime sports topic. It is, in the words of ZZ Top, Nationwide.

So of course, Nike’s going to tackle the subject. And they do it with their usual sense of style, complete mastery of authenticity, and clever juxtaposition of words and images.

In the end, they tell us, hard work is all that matters. So it may be that they were taking a stand by not taking a side, merely expressing the inner thoughts of a true athlete, which is, of course, that the only thing you can do is go all out on every play, in every practice, in every game, and let the pollsters, computer experts, and voters do what they feel is right. State your case on the field. There is no guaranteed equation.

Makes total sense. But for me, something was missing. A fresh point of view, perhaps?

How much Thrilliciousness can we handle?

2008-12-21T20:54:00.000-08:00

Overheard on Madison Avenue sometime in mid to late 2007...

"Hey! What should we do for the new Sobe LifeWater TV commercial? We have time on the Super Bowl. Let's make a big splash!"

"Hmm...what if we got a supermodel who isn't all that super any more and has no dancing ability to dance with some animated lizards with blinged out teeth?"

"Cool! But we'd need a famous piece of music that would be prohibitively expensive for any other ad at any other time, but we could justify buying it for 5 or 10 million because waters are the new sodas and this is Pepsi's big bet."

"Awesome! As long as the commercial has no real strategic foundation whatsoever."

"Wouldn't have it any other way! Let's do it."

And the rest is history.

Regularly chastised, sure. Lacking a strategic backbone, absolutely.

BUT...it was a cultural phenomenon. Over 5 million viewings on Youtube, youbetcha. The most viewed Super Bowl spot of '08. Inspired a series of wonderfully goofy claymated thrilliciousness. Like this.

Times Square video billboard blizzards, plush toys, the list goes on.

I hated the spots. But while I can present a pretty decent argument about Ms. Campbell's lack of talent on the dance floor, I can't argue with the spot's infectiousness.

So what do you do for an encore?

Early reports have NFL players Justin Tuck, Matt Light, and Ray Lewis taking Naomi Campbell's place as the lizards' new dance partners for this year's super bowl. I'm sure it'll be even less strategic and even more expensive. What moves will those krazy lizards pull off this year?

I lay awake just thinking about what funny gag they'll do with their teeth!

G, it should be interesting

2008-12-20T17:32:00.000-08:00

I'm extremely close to the Gatorade brand, having written, produced, and creative directed their advertising from 1991-2006. I am unapologetically, emotionally attached to Gatorade. Not only did I savor every minute I spent helping build the brand, I actually believe it works for athletes on the playing field. Really, I do.

So you can safely assume that I'm a bit biased.

And you won't be surprised that I will have an opinion on the massive rebranding effort Gatorade has embarked upon. But not yet. The packaging re-design has been much debated. The new bottles are ready, and are starting to appear on the shelves. But the website hasn't changed (please lord, help it get better).

And the ads haven't appeared yet. They're being done by TBWA/Chiat Day. They're a smart agency with sports minded folks who've done good work in the past. From what I understand, it's all about "G." Cool idea. I won't be surprised if the work is top notch.

Big question will be, will they mess with the tremendous equity that's been so important in connecting the brand to millions of athletes?

Stay tuned.

Ralphie sells the Bushes

2008-12-17T18:40:00.000-08:00

Up until last week, I was one of 37 people in the United States who hadn’t seen A Christmas Story. Another of those 37 was my son, so we decided to join in the fun and watched it over the weekend. Just in time, too, to really appreciate some fun ads for the Greenville Drive, a minor league team playing in the South Atlantic League.

So many factors go into making a great ad. One is topicality. Nike is very best brand at making ads at the right time. I can’t find the ad I really want to find—the one during the last baseball strike asking the players to come back—but here’s an oldie that took advantage of the news at the time:

They struck while the iron was hot, for sure.

The ads for the Greenville Drive strike while the iron is hot, but in a different way. At a time when every single media outlet in the world is red and green and covered with Christmas, the Drive also goes down that road, but makes their ads stand out by referencing A Christmas Story. So smart. Even the copy is smart. My favorite, of course, is the play on the leg lamp. Love the spikes.

If I lived in South Carolina, I’d buy me some tickets. That and a Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle.

Two Johns unable to save the AFL

2008-12-16T17:24:00.000-08:00

Arena football has been cancelled. Too bad. Ever see a game? It's fun. Pure joy-of-the-game stuff.

Maybe if they had ran some of their old advertising, they could have drummmed up enough suport to get a grass roots campaign going to save it.

Then again, maybe not.

The Winter Classic: marketers love, humans tolerate

2008-12-15T20:29:00.000-08:00

For marketers, the Winter Classic is a dream. For regular joe sports fans, it’s getting more and more annoying.

Yes, the very idea of hockey at Wrigley Field is cool, and the fact that it’s the Red Wings playing the Blackhawks makes it even cooler. So why shouldn’t the Blackhawks and the NHL take advantage of it? They absolutely should.

From Reebok watch and win contests to merchandise and more merchandise, it’s a win-win for anyone trying to make a buck off the game. Unless of course you’re trying to get a ticket. Good luck (Got 40 grand for a pair?). Or, if you’re from Canada. Ooops.

Don’t get me wrong; the Winter Classic is a wonderfully fresh idea, and the league and the Hawks deserve all the fringe benefits they can get. Just makes me wish even more that the advertising wasn’t so barely average. Anyone think this is any good?

If a tree falls...

2008-12-14T13:51:00.000-08:00

I found a relatively interesting marketing platform but I may be the only person who's seen it. Actually, it wasn't that hard to find, since it was profiled on Adfreak a few days ago.

It's called Line of Scrimmage and it follows the Sunshine High School Tigers of Newbern, Alabama. The whole program is sponsored by Toyota. Some of them even air on NFL's Sunday Night football.

If you visit the site, spend some time and watch some of the videos. There's a myspace connection as well, where you can watch more. Great personalities, interesting little films.

Good for Toyota for giving us these wonderful little slices. Not sure it's real strong marketing, or how Toyota's going to benefit from it, but it's a step up from Saved by Zero.

Et tu, Titus?

2008-12-10T19:27:00.000-08:00

Why I like most of the new Titus bike ads:

They’ve created fresh ads out of a relevant insight. It’s a campaign in the truest sense. It has legs (pardon the pun).

I just wished I like the ads more.

I love this one. The simple stripped down cubicle, the gear at his feet, the completely unsexy co-phone sex operator in the cubicle next to him. Say it with me: it’s all about the details.

Which is why I like this one less. How do I know he’s a biker? Where’s the insight? Not as clear here.

And this one, well, I just like looking at. Makes me smile. She’s not super white hot, she’s just cute enough, and her posture doesn’t hurt. Her bike shorts peeking through her Girl Scout Uniform is a nice touch. I’d like a dozen boxes of the Thin Mints, please.

These ads are getting some interesting attention. Good for them.

Although the best Titus ad I’ve seen was in their last round of ads. Subtle, but clear. Great performance, interesting framing. Good production value. And really surprising. I’d trade the Girl Scout for the horse any day.

Not something you hear all the time, but there you have it.

Sports Bra Humor

2008-12-09T16:47:00.000-08:00

You'd have to either be running really fast or have very sharp breasts or some combination of the two. Neither applies to me, so I'm obviously not the target. Do female runners think this is funny? Relevant? Convincing? Can't believe it helped sell a lot of sports bras.

Hopefully, for Running Free, there's a lot of sharp breasted fast runners out there.

Stupid Brilliant

2008-12-08T19:34:00.000-08:00

“Whopper Virgins” is on the air.

Attention getting, yes. Not often do you get to see costumed, toothless citizens of the world in a charmingly confused state, picking apart buns and pickles and greenish beef patties as they try to figure out how to eat an American fast food burger.

Breakthrough? Check.

But it also feels a bit perplexing. Is it serious or funny? They sure seem to want us to take it seriously. Especially when they put a lovely long form film on their website.

But in the ads, they use a the big over the top voiceover and cinematic music that make it feel goofy, and it all just feels kind of schizophrenic. And silly.

Which may be irrelevant if all Burger King is doing is, once again, trying to get noticed in a broiler full of fast food sameness, zeroing in on their irreverence-loving target, and getting more attention than their competitiors.

The campaign may be stupid, but those guys are brilliant.

Opportunity Missed

2008-12-07T12:33:00.000-08:00

Sometimes the best thing that can happen to a really good creative person is to get a ridiculously challenging assignment. It brings out the best in talented people.

Conversely, having too much fodder has the potential to set yourself up for failure. Great expectations can lead to disaster if the finished product isn’t spectacular.

I know this from years of creating ads for Michael Jordan and Gatorade, and directing creative teams to do the same. We did some great work but it was never easy. Having the single greatest sports asset on the planet at our disposal was awesome and amazing but also added a great deal of pressure to create greatness every time.

So I understand the challenge the folks at Y&R had when creating ads for the upcoming Winter Classic at Wrigley Field. The Blackhawks and the Red Wings playing a hockey game outdoor at Wrigley Field; how cool is that? Tremendously, opportunity-filled cool. The mind races with possibilities.

Unfortunately, Y&R’s minds didn’t race very far, choosing to produce what could be the most unremarkable, uninteresting ad of the year, considering the fodder they had.

Sometimes, the first thing you think of is the most obvious, but because it's pure and simple and great, you just say, obvious be damned, it’s great. In this case, they nailed simple, but definitely not great. They should have pushed much harder for something far more surprising.

For example, something like this…

Fresh, surprising, unexpected use of film and music. Not at all what you’d expect.

Sure, I’m biased. But “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” to promote an emerging American sport? Cool and unusual. “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” to promote a hockey game at Wrigley? An uncontested layup. Too bad.

There are other ads in the campaign that I haven’t seen that may take a different tact. If you see them, please pass them on. Hopefully, they take better advantage of the opportunity.

Use what you got

2008-12-06T15:25:00.000-08:00

Nike has the swoosh, Gatorade has colored sweat. Under Armor has its signature logo, Adidas has the three stripes, and Reebok has…um…that thing that looks like an airplane that’s been stabbed by a javelin.

Proprietary icons help give brands meaning and reasons for consumers to interact with them. Where you see the swoosh, you think sports authenticity; when you see colored sweat, you think rehydration. When you see the three stripes, you think…what? I’m not sure.

Adidas is such a perplexing brand. Their Impossible is Nothing campaign is a wonderfully powerful body of work, from its website to its TV and print (many many too numerous to mention, but here's a classic) that screams We Know Sports and We Know Athletes. But much of their other work is all over the place. Not in a bad way, just in an inconsistent way.

Here’s a good example.

Cool spot to celebrate 60 years of Adidas originals. Nice shoes. Star-studded, fun to watch. New school meets old school, all awash with the three stripes. If nothing else, it makes you feel good about the brand. And definitely generating lots of chatter and discussion, around the world.

So sports authenticity aside, good for Adidas, taking advantage of what they own. It’s a powerful tool. Look at President-elect Obama (Hope). And the Cubs (the Curse).

Sometimes, it helps. Sometimes, not so much.

All hail the Virgins!

2008-12-04T13:53:00.000-08:00

More brilliant marketing from Burger King.

What is the purpose of great marketing? To get the people who are most likely to purchase your product to like you.

If you’re trying to win a popularity contest, you can’t piss people off, but Burger King understands that for their purposes, it’s not about getting the whole world to love them. It’s about nailing their target with a relevant message.

Burger King has been exceptionally good at this over the past few years. And now they’ve taken the god ole’ taste test to a whole new level. “Whopper Virgins” hasn’t even been rolled out yet but the teasers are already generating tons of news, lots of chatter, and a good deal of controversy.

Last time I checked, breaking through and getting noticed is another thing great marketing is supposed to do, especially in a category as fiercely competitive as the fast food burger wars.

Once again, the King rules.

Why Nike is like the stock market

2008-12-03T18:10:00.000-08:00

Many joyous ups, some surprisingly horrific downs, but over time, trustworthy.

The new ad featuring the King is wonderfully sublime. Terrific music with an addictive hook. Cool cameos by a cool star (Li'l Wayne). Great faces. Authentic sports. Transcendent superstar. Makes you smile. Classic Nike.

Thanks, W&K, for reminding us that Nike really is the King.

And just for fun, another Nike ad by the same name.

Also a smilemaker. Thanks, Youtube.

HEY! MARKETING WORKS!

2008-12-02T19:40:00.000-08:00

Thank you, John McDonough. You are a smart, creative marketer who makes things happen.

People could have said that you had an easy job running the marketing for the Cubs. It’s the Cubs, after all. How hard is it to put a microphone in someone’s hand and create memories that last

a

lifetime?

But that was just one of his innovative, game changing ideas he had for the Cubs.

He and Head of Business Operations Jay Blunk have brought that fresh thinking to the Blackhawks, turning an entity that for years has been an afterthought for 99% of Chicagoans into a front page team that fans are excited about.

The latest news out of the United center is around the Winter Classic, the January game between the Hawks and Red Wings in Wrigley Field. Blunk and McDonough are trying to get President-elect Obama to the game. 44’s a big Chicago sports fan, and it’ll be a seminal moment in Chicago sports history. Why wouldn't he want to come? Think it might attract a little attention if he does? It’s genius.

People talk about the emergence and importance of non-traditional marketing. These guys have been doing it for years. And it works because it’s so different. It doesn't hurt that they’re their own clients. Streamlines the decision making process quite a bit, wouldn’t you say?

But it all starts with great ideas, of which they have many. Good for them. I hope, for their sake, the Blackhawks tear it up this year.

You get what you pay for

2008-12-01T18:09:00.000-08:00

Buy a cheap watch, it’ll break before what can say “What time is it?” Buy a Honda instead of an Audi, it’ll run just fine, but it won’t purr. That’s what you get for the extra 20 grand. Hire a shoddy plumber, you’ll need a really good plunger.

You absolutely get what you pay for. Truer words were never spoken.

Or maybe not, given a couple of (completely unrelated) recent events.

One: I just returned from a cruise in the Caribbean. They call it a cruise, of course, because you spend most of your time cruising from one buffet line to another. Or to the pizzeria. Or Johnny Rockets. Or Ben and Jerry’s. Or the midnight buffet. All of which were on this one floating city of neverending gastric overload.

Every time I saw another corn-fed sun burnt dude with a cut out tank top showing way too much of his hairy back pile another fried pork cutlet onto his pile of gravy-covered mashed potatoes, I winced and felt a pang of sadness for him and his family. In his case, he was looking to get more than what you pay for. But that’s my opinion; he probably figured, “I paid an arm and a leg for this cruise, and I‘m going to get my money’s worth.” Everything is relative, yes?

Two: Stephon Marbury. He’s getting paid 21.9 million bucks a year to wear the Knicks colors and sit his ass on the bench. When the Knicks signed him in 2004, they thought he was the final piece of the puzzle that created the right mix of veterans and youngsters to make a run at a championship (or two). He helped them into the playoffs that year. But you know the story since then. All bad, with our current unhappy ending.

Truth is, GM’s make their bets based on all kinds of assessments and the rest is a roll of the dice. A-Rod gets 250 million. The Redskins pay Steve Spurrier 25 extremely large. Becks gets his 250 mil to enjoy the LA lifestyle and the sidelines. None of them produced any more than some fun headlines for the pundits.

There will always be busts.

And as hard as it may be to find them, there will always be Sure Things.

Michael, Tiger, Mia, Peyton…world champion athletes and likeable people. Obviously, it costs more to sign them, but in their cases, the adage proves true. I know they were worth every dollar to Gatorade, and I’d bet Nike and Mastercard and Amex and Rolex, etc, would feel similarly. In each case, those brands got far more than what they paid for.

Quality people--loyal, sincere athletes--who are also winners are incredibly few and far between. They are, to borrow from one of Peyton’s commercials:

Priceless.

A look back at Tiger and Buick

2008-11-26T08:43:00.000-08:00

Posted by guest blogger Michael Chase

At first blush, I, as many others in the sports marketing world, was concerned about the news that Buick has chosen to end their relationship with Tiger Woods. Another chilling development with how the sports business world is being impacted by the current economic woes.

However, by most accounts, this is a no brainer for Buick and GM. The PGA will feel the economic downturn more directly than most major sports as the lion share of its sponsors are luxury brands and financial service companies. Tim Finchem is trying to boost confidence by stating the 2009 schedule is still intact, but there is little doubt the Tour will look and feel leaner.

All that said, Tiger has made the PGA what it is today by bringing in significantly more viewers, sponsorships and revenue streams that could have never been realized without him. And he will continue to do so for many years to come, barring any career threatening injuries. So, it is always alarming to see such a long standing sports marketing relationship go away, but this one makes sense.

I would also argue that Buick never realized the full potential of what they had with Tiger. The best thing that came of their relationship was being able to get Tiger to commit to a much larger number of their PGA sponsored events than he would have, helping the profile and profitability of these events. However, Buick failed to crack the code on how best to use Tiger as a pitchman.

Through the 9-year relationship, I thought there were only two advertising efforts that were done well. The first was the on-line campaign called Tiger Trap where Tiger randomly joined groups of golfers, much to their surprise. Tiger is the best golfer of all time. He is not the best actor of all time. In this effort, he was in his element and because he was not trying to force or carry a performance, he came across as very funny and enjoyable.

The other was actually a promotional TV ad where Tiger tackled a guy trying to steal his famous Buick staff bag. The physical comedy was shot well and it was even more impressive when it was revealed that not only did he perform the tackling himself, but it was an unplanned stunt that was hatched the day of production. Kudos.

Even though Tiger is one of the most sought after endorsers in sports, it is important to understand the best way to use him to create effective communication. Nike has done a great job and I would argue that Tiger's marketability has benefited tremendously from his efforts with them. Tiger had been seen as a very intense, unapproachable and somewhat aloof athlete. Thanks to commercials like Hacky Sack, his work with Charles Barkley and more recently seeing him win the British open as a child (see below), he has been taken off his pedestal and seen as likable and relatable. Not to mention, they found ways not to rely on Tiger as an actor.

Something the Buick advertising could only do in rare occasions.

What makes video viral?

2008-11-24T15:58:00.000-08:00

Posted by guest blogger Greg Oreskovich

Do advertisers make a video viral? Or is it the viewer who does that. I think the latter.

"Ball Girl" was one of the most successful viral videos ever (8 million views and counting). Did this really happen? Did she really catch the ball?

The clip was discussed on hundreds of blogs, passed between tens of thousands of friends, talked about in mainstream media, from the Wall Street Journal to Good Morning America, ESPN and Keith Olbermann. It even fooled Ellen DeGeneres, who put out a public request for the Ball Girl to appear on her show.

But the most amazing thing, it was part of an ad campaign for Gatorade. Sure, agency folks can come up with a great idea and execute it flawlessly. But whether or not it catches on is ultimately beyond their control.

kevron5
Ok d bol, spit some sh*t at me cuz dis jank is fereal

Kevron, I couldn't have said it better.

Here we go again...

2008-11-23T14:09:00.001-08:00

Posted by guest blogger Michael Chase

As we wait for the BCS Poll to come out this evening, the debates rage from fans across the country about who should round out the top 5, behind undisputed #1 Alabama. With Oklahoma's demolition of previous #2 Texas Tech, they have a legitimate claim. But, they lost to Texas, who is knocking on the door, as is Florida. Good arguments could be made for all three teams. And more than a few West Coasters are screaming for USC.

The BCS will apply its fuzzy math and we will know soon enough. But, this makes me want, as I do about this time every year, a better defined and straight forward approach.

A playoff system.

I won’t go into all the reasons why it would be good for college football. Or how it could work. Dan Wetzel did a great job of explaining this and how great it would have been last year. Would have been great in 2004 as well. Even President-elect Obama supports it.

Theories, opinions, politics and logistics aside, I just want to the see the teams and players settle it on the field, end of story.

But, despite stories about how the NCAA may be getting closer to some type of playoff system, it looks like things won’t change that soon. ESPN just shelled out $500 million to secure the rights to broadcast the BCS series from 2011 to 2014. This is huge amount of money for a cable network to pay (although ABC will broadcast some of the BCS bowl games), but they would not have done it had they not seen the potential for big revenue. And they agreed to broadcast in the current BCS system.

Which means, why change what is still so profitable? It most likely won't.

I am sure I will be happy to have the kind of in depth access and ability to experience the games across multiple media platforms. And it will allow advertisers unprecedented opportunities to connect with the male 18-49 demo that ESPN delivers better than anyone.

But, I would give it all up in a heartbeat, if it meant the guys on the field, not a series of equations, could decide who wins it all. In the long run, it's better for everyone.

The not very best ad of the year

2008-11-22T14:34:00.000-08:00

Posted by guest blogger Michael Chase

Last week Danny wrote about Bike Hero, a viral effort for the Guitar Hero World Tour campaign. Indeed, an innovative approach to driving awareness and appeal for Activision's video game franchise that is feeling the pressure from rival product Rock Band. With such a hit (over 1.1 million YouTube hits and counting), it is hard to imagine how the same campaign could yield a TV commercial that is just so bad.

I am referring to the Risky Business spoof featuring sports icons Kobe, A-Rod, Michael Phelps and Tony Hawk.

When I first saw it last month, I found myself physically squirming in awkward discomfort. The same way I felt when I first watched Meet the Parents.

I think it is fair to assume that Bob Seger is not on any of these guys' playlists. The way each of them jumped around in such forced, rhythmically-challenged ways, made me feel bad for them all. While I can appreciate the intent, this is yet another example of how NOT to use athletes in advertising.

Where so many brands go wrong, is failing to find the right intersection between their marketing objectives, their brand's attributes and perceptions, and the attributes and perceptions of the athlete they choose to represent them. Each of these three areas should be well thought out. Not just so a brand can choose the right athlete endorser to sign, but also to have effective criteria to develop, create and judge the resulting communication.

For every diamond (Nike "Fate" Leave Nothing commercial w/ LT & Polamalu)...

there are so many more pieces of coal (Gillette Champions commercial w/ Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Thierry Henry)...

And while I think the Guitar Hero commercial is a piece of coal, they did create an interesting Director's Cut...

Jerry, you had me at Hello

2008-11-21T09:02:00.000-08:00

Jerry Maguire is one of my heroes. I know he’s a fictional character. But George Bailey restores the faith of millions every holiday season, simply because he did the right thing when the time called for it. And for all of those people, he’s about as real as they come.

Jerry stood for the same thing: doing right by people even when others in his same shoes were taking an easier, greedier path. And of course, in Capra-esque fashion, both George and Jerry win in the end. And so do we, for watching their stories.
But I digress.

I love Jerry, and the movie Cameron Crowe wrote about the fragile do-gooder, because Jerry gets It. The “It” being the difference between good and bad. He gets it in the beginning of the film, when his voiceover ticks off the future sports heroes of America:

“See, America sets the tone for the world. In Indiana—Clark Hodd. Thirteen. The best point guard in the country. Seattle, Washington. Dallas Molloy. Went to court to be allowed to box professionally. She’s sixteen.”

These, I’m sure, are based on real life scenarios. Which brings me to Milan Simon Tuttle, today’s media darling and Youtube sensation.

Look at her go. She’s the next Curly Neal! Or maybe the next Jordan McCabe.

Or Marquise Walker.

He’s proof that kids aren’t necessarily being raised as much as marketed.

Why? The almighty dollar, of course.

The massive moolah waiting to be scooped up by athletes is no secret. Talent is important, but marketability is paramount. Anna Kournikova, anyone? Sure. Why not (notice not much tennis in those pics…)

Marketers are willing to throw great gobs of money at potential stars of the future. It’s what spurred Jerry on. And what eventually led him to make a U-turn and become a truly decent man. In his words:

“Now, I’ll be honest with you. I started noticing it a few years ago and didn’t say anything. In the quest for the big dollars, a lot of little things were going wrong.”

He sees the light. So he writes his mission statement.

“…we must crack open the clenched fist and give back a little for the common good…we must simply be the best version of ourselves…that goodness will be unbeatable and the money will follow.”

He distributes it to all of the agents at his firm. Which gets him fired and sends his career spiraling downward. But it eventually brings him love and success. Cool, huh? I love Jerry.

I love sports marketing, too. Not all parts of it, but enough of it to make it a major part of my life. Just because it’s more corporate business than personal pleasure doesn’t mean I can’t embrace it, learn about it, live it, and make a living off it.

More than anything, it reminds me of how lucky we are to be able to partake in our sports culture. Milan Tuttle, Marquise Walker, Frank Cushman, and the great Jerry Maguire; real or fictional, future stars or heartbreaking busts, they all feed our imaginations, demonstrate our potential, and remind us of what’s possible.

Because it’s not just about the money. It’s about the Kwan.

As Thanksgiving approaches, that’s a nice thing to keep in mind. Especially since we get to watch football all day between helpings of Tryptophan.

Hope you all have a great holiday week. I’m out of commission from November 22-29, and some of my extremely talented and Kwan-filled colleagues at Element 79 will be joining the SportsCentric fray. Enjoy.

Great ads in any language

2008-11-20T14:08:00.000-08:00

Taking a cue from the unexpected “Bike Hero” video, let’s take a break from advertising that’s purely about sports, and travel around the globe for some fun stuff you may not have seen.

Starting in Romania, where, apparently, frat guys make ads:

Still, it's kind of funny. By the way, the end title means "Do as much as you can while you're young."

And on to Johannesburg, where a concept that’s arguably been done before surprises you into getting hungry for a burger.

There’s one word understood across the world for wonderfully simple ideas done well:

Cool.

The very best "ad" I've seen this year

2008-11-19T17:50:00.000-08:00

This video should be presented in advertising classes tomorrow across the world as an example of how to make a piece of film that connects, entertains, surprises, and sells. In a sideways kind of way, it reminds me of Honda’s Cannes Lion winning “Cog” spot.

I don't know where it's going to be shown or how they're going to use it, but it'll get enough play from people sharing it that they may never need to buy a dollar of paid media.

Take note, marketing people. Not easy, but not expensive, and super unusual and smart.

Gee! No, G!

2008-11-18T05:24:00.000-08:00

Sometimes a brand has to reinvent itself.

And sometimes a brand thinks it has to reinvent itself only to realize that the old way was working just fine. How do you know the difference?

So hard to know. Almost impossible. Just ask Nike. 10 years ago, they gave it a shot and strayed from “Just Do It.” Remember?

Probably not. And Nike hopes you don’t either. After their red faces regained their color, they quickly scrambled back to their vaunted tagline faster than you can say “Ooopsee!”

One thing that’s certain is that a brand that’s strongly established and firmly established in the consumer’s mind with a likeable, consistent campaign is a beautiful and rare thing and money in the bank, even for brands that depend on coolness and hipness to stay current and contemporary.

And another thing that’s certain is that change is good, especially for brands that depend on coolness and hipness to stay current and contemporary.

Gatorade is about to become the poster child for either change or constancy. They’re going through a massive overall of…well, just about everything, including positioning and advertising. We’re getting our first looks at the packaging, which is a radical departure from the classic bolt (this is just a redesign of the basic logo; extensive packaging do-overs are to come). The new logo is mostly getting raked over the coals. Mindy McCready would probably get a better reception at the Clemens house for Sunday dinner.

I have a particular interest in the saga, having worked on the brand for 15 years, writing some famous ads and having been very emotionally connected. So I promise, more to come on this one, for sure.

If you hear or see anything, please pass it on.

Focus groups' chilling effect on advertising

2008-11-16T07:53:00.000-08:00

Wow, that must be one REALLY cold beer.

That, or what Bud Light has to say about Drinkability is so important, so relevant to my life, so time-stands-still interesting, that people are frozen right there in place, and of course, we’re supposed to stop whatever we’re doing and listen too. Hmm. Might this be a classic case of a brand telling people what the brand wants them to now, rather that what the people might want to know? Research will tell you that consumers want to know why they buy one product over another. Thank you, research, for giving us these wonderfully informative and dull ads.

Oh wait, the monologuers do funny things to the frozen people too, like pour hot sauce in their mouths. OK, that’s better. NOW I’ll pay attention to what they want me to know about the finer points of beer.

Here’s a spot that focus groups would’ve hated because they would’ve said it was too confusing.

It won the biggest advertising award in the world.

Sneaker wars jump to a new level

2008-11-14T15:45:00.000-08:00

What makes you better at what you do? How do you best get up for a challenge?

Do you follow the Bobby Knight bejeezus-scaring school of motivational theory? WARNING: THIS IS EXTREMELY EXTREMELY EXPLETIVE LADEN.

Or are you a joyful follower of the Dick Vermeil school, sponsored by Kleenex®, (where your coach is your friend, mentor, and hugbuddy all wrapped into one)? Either way, there’ll be tears.

Maybe it’s simply good enough to look across the battlefield and stare into the eyes of a fierce opponent.

If you believe that stiffer competition makes you do better work, then there’s good news for Nike, Adidas and Reebok.

Puma has hooked up with Droga 5.

Given their history for creating ideas that make people notice, there’s no doubt they’ll do the same for Puma. It's generating much discussion and healthy debate. Big question is, what kind of a brand Puma will be?

They do sports ads now.

Nothing to write home about. Not even done all that well. Although the shoes seem pretty damn cool.

They also have seemingly endless styles of cool looking shoes in wonderfully crazy colors and designs.

So what do they focus on? Sports? Fashion? Both? Youngsters? Hipsters? Chicks? Dudes? US? Europe? Asia?

My bet is, all of the above. Can’t wait to see it.

Don't pet the messenger

2008-11-13T12:00:00.000-08:00

Bad economy got you down? With marketers struggling to find the right messages to encourage optimistic attitudes at the cash register and beyond, here are some thoughts and suggestions to provide a bit of impetus to get folks motivated again.

The first comes from the last President to broadly inspire Americans to work for change, John F. Kennedy. He borrowed from the Chinese to make his point.

If you work at Procter and Gamble…or are in the do-it-yourself hair dye racket, then the sight of stocks plummeting makes your spirit soar.

And if, perchance, you just can’t get away from the badness out there, and have to face up to some unavoidably unpleasant facts, then you do have a good option: Send a puppy to do your dirty work.

You know what they say: The cuter the messenger, the less likely he’ll get shot.

Just don’t let him in the sausage race at Miller Park

2008-11-11T17:23:00.000-08:00

I love guerilla marketing, and I love the smell of bacon, so it’s no surprise that I love Bacon Salt Boy. He’s the linchpin behind the new campaign from J&D’s Bacon Salt (check out their yummy smelling blog). Beside the fact that it’s calorie and fat free, it’s a great case study in effectively using new media to launch and support a new product.

BSB isn’t a big hit with the official sports entities who paid significant sums of sponsorship cash, but he’s making waves. Any time you can get a strip of bacon in the mayo ring with a giant jar of mayonnaise, you’re bound to get some attention.

I'm getting hungry.

Image of the weekend

2008-11-10T06:24:00.000-08:00

And this was just in the first quarter.

The flying spit screaming session didn’t work, unfortunately. Ron Zook’s Illini suffered a loss to Western Michigan that was much worse than the 23-17 score, mainly because it could wind up costing them a trip to a bowl game.

Coach Zook is a genuinely nice guy, and a good coach, but he has a penchant for winding up in phun photos.

Hope you win your two last games convincingly and get to a bowl game, Coach Zook.

Celebrity endorsing gone horribly wrong, Part 1

2008-11-09T13:45:00.000-08:00

In my rush to praise the awful yet buzzworthy Toyota "Saved by Zero" commercials, I did a terrible disservice to another commercial that is nauseatingly deserving of similar recognition.

Emmitt Smith, Clyde Frazier, and Keith Hernandez. Three athletes who have nothing to do with each other, and seemingly nothing in common, other than the fact that they’re older than young people. That, and/or they’re all terrible card players and they gambled away their pride.

And everything they say rhymes. Even the announcer! How awesome is that?

For what it’s worth, using ex-pro athletes for a men’s lose-the-grey-hair product absolutely makes sense. Might make more sense to use someone who is known for having grey hair, like Brett Favre. Maybe he’s too good a card player.

Hey Nike: Adidas is still on your tail

2008-11-08T14:12:00.000-08:00

As far as I know, there’s no Mr. Nike. No one person in Beaverton, OR who’s given his heart and soul and name to a company, who thought up designs for his products and sketched possibilities and wrote entries in his journal that started with “The parcel of aviation gasoline and albatross feathers arrived today…I’m not certain of whether the winged chariot will fly, but then again, if I knew all the possibilities, there would be no point in trying.”

The guy who wrote that, according to a campaign from Lifelounge in Melbourne, was Adi Dassler, the man who started (with his brother Rudolf) the Adidas company.

“Adidas” has become a retronym for “All Day I Dream About Sports,” and this web campaign combines that retronym with Adi’s passion for design to showcase all kinds of crazy and wonderful possibilities in the world of athletic (ish) footwear.

Nike has kicked serious ass in the world of sports for what seems like forever, but Adidas has been nipping at their heels for years with really smart, fresh tactics like this website, including this extremely cool animated 3:00 ad featuring Adi’s story.

Adidas has something powerful with Mr. Dassler. They’d be wise to keep using him.

Maria Sharapova is about to start stripping

2008-11-07T13:55:00.000-08:00

Maria Sharapova’s legs are so long, if we stood side by side, they would reach my Adam’s Apple. She is gorgeous. I saw her up close and her gamma ray countenance burned my forehead. Did I mention her legs are really long?

And keep in mind, she’s won Wimbledon and the Australian and US Opens. She’s got athletic cred. So it’s no surprise she's a highly sought after endorser.

In addition to Gatorade, she pitches or has pitched Nike, Motorola, Tag Heuer, Canon (“Make every shot a power shot!”), and of course Speedminton: The extreme racket sport that combines the best of tennis, badminton and racquetball!

Thank you, Maria, for promoting the sport of the future.

She’s as terrible an actress as she's always been, so she’s probably most effective in her print work. Her best performances on moving film are when she’s just playing tennis or holding her yappy little dog. Please don’t make her speak any more!

And now, as reported by Darren Rovell in his Sports Biz blog, she’s leaving Gatorade for Enlyten SportStrips, a new rehydration product similar to the way Listerine breath strips work.

Smart or not? We’ll see. She didn’t make a lot of waves pitching Gatorade. Maybe she’ll do better for an upstart. One word of advice to Enlyten: Don’t make her say anything, or at least let her hold her dog.