Posts tagged basketball
“Big air, big moves, and even bigger ideas. Red Bull gives you wings.”
Awesome job by my friends at Red Bull who work everyday to push the envelops of life and energy to change the world as we know.
Here is an interesting sports tradition,”The Silent Night Game,” fans of Taylor University sit in silence until the tenth point is scored. It makes for an awkward first quarter. You can stop watching after 1:12
By now many of you sports and marketing enthusiasts have experienced Nike and LeBron James’ new commercial, ‘Rise.’ As the commercial hits the air waves it has created quite the buzz and as a result AdAge’s Brian Sheehan, has lost all faith in Nike marketing and brand:
Nike, for the second time in less than a year, has completely missed the mark to the point of angering some of its most ardent supporters. The problem: Nike has stopped using its incredible stable of athletes to inspire people. Instead, it has started the cynical practice of trying to resuscitate fallen athletes’ images when they have been tarnished. Nike has done this in a big, high-profile manner. Its less-than-inspirational goal is thinly transparent: repackage these athletes fast to avoid losing the millions already poured into their images.
Perhaps even more cynically, Nike sees its athletes’ poor behavior as a marketing opportunity to take advantage of a moral relativism that Nike clearly perceives (and is trying to promote) to turn notoriety into positive salience. Unfortunately for Nike, the strategy has been to embrace the bad — and in some cases shocking — behavior of some the custodians of their brand.
Exhibit: LeBron James trying to prove he is not an arrogant jerk — by being an even more arrogant jerk. Nike’s latest foray into image salvation is the LeBron “What Should I Do?” video. Here again we see Nike embracing a perceived business opportunity over the feelings of its average consumers — and common sense. LeBron clearly made a mistake, and ticked off a lot of sports fans, when he turned his announcement of moving to Miami into a media circus. In a situation like this, the best strategy is to let it blow over with time. Unlike Tiger, LeBron did not do anything reprehensible. It’s no big deal. Yet, Nike saw this as an opportunity to make it a big deal and to idolize LeBron for his overblown ego. Nike’s newest ad celebrates LeBron’s selfishness to the point of apotheosis. This ad too has gone over with the common man like the Hinderburg.
While I understand the many points that the writer makes I still support these commercials as they embrace and deliver on the Nike promise of, “Just Do It”, even when others are rooting against you— the very foundation of Nike’s carefully created and managed brand.
In ‘Rise,’ we amplify LeBron’s voice,” said Davide Grasso, Vice President of Nike Global Brand Marketing. “We’re celebrating his courage to forge his own journey even when others may have disagreed with his decisions. It’s this Just Do It spirit that defines LeBron and Nike as we strive to inspire all young athletes.”
Additionally the ‘Rise’ commercial focuses on the core consumer, the decisions makers in the sport whom most of have already have a strong opinion of LeBron whether it be FOR or AGAINST. If anything these commercials are engaging, enthusiastic, interesting and create controversial conversation; people are talking and isn’t that the point? The ultimate test will be to see how the sales of his shoes do. (Note: LeBron is #2 in NBA jersey sales).
Sources:
-Ad Age: Good Thing Brett Farve isn’t a Nike Endorser
