Nike’s Write the Future ad was a huge hit on the internet, with the three-minute spot breaking 7.8 million views in just one week. However, the star-studded piece of advertising had a fatal flaw in that all of the stars involved had poor performances and none reached the semi-finals.
Indeed, studies show that Adidas achieved more buzz with their Star Wars Cantina ad mash up and the official Jabulani ball. While Nike still sponsors the Netherlands and may ultimately claim some sort of victory in the end, it’s still a cautionary tale for marketers.
What the campaign is more indicative of is that American advertisers still don’t fully understand the nature of the World Cup. The agency that produced the spot, Oregon-based Wieden + Kennedy, has found plenty of success in hyping up the likes of Rooney and Ronaldo, but the World Cup is a far different brand of beast than your typical bout of idol worship, writes Douglas Haddow. If this year’s tournament has proved anything, it’s that the efforts of the most publicized players are futile when they come up against a team that can play with a bit of cohesion. By producing an advert that focused solely on the actions of a few celebs, Nike tempted fate and is being accordingly punished.
Rather than a storybook ending for any one of Nike’s heroes, what we have here is a case study of what happens when hype goes terribly awry. It’s a cautionary tale for anyone who wants to capitalize on star power during the World Cup, proving that Adidas was correct to pick Snoop Dogg and Han Solo for spokesmen, as they have absolutely no chance of mucking it up and disappointing prospective cleat consumers, concludes Haddow.
Source: Slate
