Director: William Gelner Year Released: 2007 Type: Advertisement
I learn a lot about myself and about human nature from watching commercials. No matter how you feel about the advertising and marketing industry, you have to admit that the reason the industry even exists at all is because advertisers have an uncanny ability to understand what makes people tick and to move people in some way using that knowledge. The newest Adidas advertising campaign carries the tag-line "Basketball is a Brotherhood."
I'll just say it, these ads are inspiring... and for all the right reasons. Unlike some ads that "inspire" buyers by promising something that can't really be achieved, I think these ads promote legitimate community and, as cheesy as it sounds, brotherhood. (I realize that this ad campaign isn't very gender neutral, and I do see that as a problem, but for the moment I'd like to focus on some other parts of this campaign without slighting that fact that women are totally left out by these ads).
For so long many sporting goods companies promoted their products with images of the solitary hero, that neither wants or needs others. I think there is something "inspiring" about those images, but when I think about it, that is nothing like what my athletic experiences were like. I was always a decent athlete, but never a star by any means. While I dreamt of being that solitary figure, that just wasn't my experience. What it was about athletics that drew me in and meant the most to me was my experiences of community within sport. What was the most rewarding to me, even after all these years, were the memories and abilities I learned working and playing within a community of people who looked out for me both on the field/court/track/etc. and off and who I looked out for as well. That's why I think I like these ads so much, they're true to my experience.
But there's more. I think the community that athletics provides IS what we should be promoting. Ironically, the sport and players featured in these ads (Kevin Garnett (Boston Celtics), Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs), Gilbert Arenas (Washington Wizards), Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic), Chauncey Billups (Detroit Pistons) and Tracy McGrady (Houston Rockets)) are players from the league that, more than almost any other professional sports league, promote individual players over teams. But it isn't just the NBA that is doing that, over the last decade the trend (at least in how sports are marketed) in many professional sports has been away from teams and towards individual stars. Maybe it's because of a more national advertising base where individual stars have more appeal to those who root for a different team than the team the individual star plays for, or maybe it's because fantasy leagues have exploded, but whatever it is might have maxed out, as evidenced by Adidas new advertising campaign.
What else amazes me about Adidas new campaign is how they are going about it. The ads are what first caught my eye, but the TV ads are really just the tip of the iceberg. The scope of the campaign is HUGE! Advertising has become fully integrated into all parts of our lives. The TV spots were clips taken from the 11 episodes filmed over the summer of the six NBA stars working with 12 high school players at a summer basketball camp. You can watch the episodes at adidasbasketball.com. Each episode is available for download in quicktime format or in ipod ready format. Not only is the campaign on your TV, your computer and your ipod, but the TV ads invite viewers to text in and "join the Brotherhood" (more community anyone?). The text messages then result in voicemail messages from the six NBA stars sent to your phone. And of course there's the print ads and point-of-sales ads also. I know that ad campaigns have used these techniques before, but I think this might be the most encompassing, and frankly, best done, as it's not only designed well, but each aspect (the web, video, phone, etc.) are top-notch in each of those areas, as opposed to just one medium being the "main medium."
I'd recommend checking out the two TV ads below and then going to www.adidasbasketball.com to watch all the episodes. It really is pretty amazing how much the NBA players seem to look after and care for the high school players. Maybe this is the beginning of a wonderful shift in how we see community and individualism in America...
Notice also the amount of laughter in these ads... I think that is another wonderful and often overlooked aspect of community in athletics that these ads capture very well.
I learn a lot about myself and about human nature from watching commercials. No matter how you feel about the advertising and marketing industry, you have to admit that the reason the industry even exists at all is because advertisers have an uncanny ability to understand what makes people tick and to move people in some way using that knowledge. The newest Adidas advertising campaign carries the tag-line "Basketball is a Brotherhood."
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