Nike's Tiger Woods Spot Rated I (for Ick)

Ryan Evans says:

It seems clear that Nike designed their "Did You Learn Anything?" ad with Tiger Woods not to necessarily be watchable on its own, but to provide a platform for video mashups and parodies. If you take a look at the data from Visible Measures, not only is this ad playing well online, but derivative views of the ad are out playing original views by a large factor. corp.visiblemeasures.com/.../Was-Tiger-s-Nike-Ad-Destined-to-be-a-Viral-Video

As viral viewership of brand advertising becomes more and more influential and as the tools for creating digital media become more democratized, organizations need to think about how their creative will live beyond its original form. In what ways can an advertising campaign facilitate the mash up, the cut ups and the parodies that will help propagate awareness?

I'm not sure Tiger knew what he was getting into when he stood still for this ad, but I suspect he'll be smarter next time.

Ryan Evans
Director of Experience Design
Corey McPherson Nash

April 19, 2010 10:40 AM #

Katy Mooney says:

I wrote a blog (http://tinyurl.com/ydjtfld) about this ad last week without reading any commentary or analysis in the media. Based on the varied and many comments posted on my site, this is not a cut/dry issue. Certainly, there is quantifiable data to measure its impact as identified in this article. But numbers don't always tell the whole story. My viewpoint was based on a long career in branding and what I honestly *experienced* during the 30 seconds. While the ad is not perfect, I believe Nike walked a very fine line and, at a minimum, changed the conversation by redirecting our attention. It's going to be a long road in rebuilding Tiger's brand. This was only a baby step and I think Nike knew that.

April 20, 2010 10:50 AM #

Lawrence McGlown says:

This could have been good, but the pursuit of profit got in the way. By adorning Tiger with head and chest swooshes, both Nike and Tiger eliminated any sense of credibility.

Personally, I would have dressed Tiger in a solid red golf shirt, plain black hat, and faded out with the ideal of the ad etched in an optimistically blue sky. People who watch and/or play golf have a few associations burned into their minds.

-Tiger is a professional golfer.
-Tiger is one of the best to ever play professional golf.
-Tiger plays with Nike equipment and apparel.

By eliminating the literal brand stamps (i.e. – Nike swoosh), both Tiger and Nike would have stood a better chance of assuming a new association based on an ideal – “Learn and Grow.”

Imagine the impact such a selfless approach would have for Tiger and Nike.

Cheers,

Lawrence

P.S. — What Do You Think?

April 28, 2010 01:04 PM #