We work within what is normally described as the advertising industry.

That means we are very used to hearing things like…

- It’s on strategy!

- …but generation Y lives online!

- We have to think out the box.

- Something, something, anything, digital…

- But this is what the client wants.

And so on and so forth! Now the problem with all those statements is that too many times, none of them are based in what the people we’re trying to sell to, actually want or are genuinely interested in. Instead what is delivered to the target audience is over thought, over tested and over rated.

We have been presented an unique opportunity by NIKE to see just how getting “it” right and wrong looks.

So the problem any b-ball heavy Nike brand has at the moment, be it sub brand Nike Basketball or subsidiary Jordan, is of course the lockout (crash course here). There are no games, no Nike shoes on display, no media coverage, no Nike/Jordan athletes doing amazing things on courts.. in short there is no content from a source that normally never runs dry.

On top of that there is the reality of the fans vs. the NBA vs. the players in a neatly packaged threesome of negative media coverage.

So how do you as a brand keep you number 1 asset (the players/stars) active, without pissing the fans off, and without coming of as if you’re closing in on a state of panic.

Jordan first…

The mix of the ironic “yeah we know there are no league games, but we gotta do something” and the right players, combined with the massive social insights on display, makes this a home run. And that’s before you add maybe the most important factor.. timing! Nike and the players know very well that the strike is reaching a breaking point. The fans are fed up with stingy owners/greedy players. The players aren’t getting paid and aren’t playing, so the ones with sponsorships are potentially loosing value. And the NBA and club owners can’t keep the content stream closed for too long.

It takes balls to put all this in one single ad, but that is the reason it works so well. It’s real in all the right places.

Next is Nike Basketball.

All the things Jordan got right, Nike Basketball gets wrong.

All the poor overpaid players (and notice all the highest paid ones are present) are so desperate to stay in the spotlight, that they try to find it anywhere. The irony used by Jordan, made the use of players seem ok, because they were in on the joke. Whereas this is just a puff piece, displaying the cash cows so you don’t forget them, while that dreadfull lockout is still in effect. It lacks finesse, and even worse insight into the mindset of the average NBA fan. He don’t give a shit about a flash piece like this, he just wants the league and the players to agree, so he can get back to watching the game. Because for him the game HAS stopped.

Sure you could try to convince him that it hasn’t by attempting to lure him towards college ball, as Nike have also tried as part of this “Basketball Never Stops” campaign..

But why then use NBA players in your ad? For the money sure… But if the argument is that basketball never stops, then you’re forgetting that the majority of basketball fans see their games on a screen of some sort, and that screen isn’t showing any of your stars.
The move with balls in it, when you can’t do a good enough Jordan copy, would have been to shift focus, for a short while, to NCAA where nothing has stopped.

Instead Nike Basketball blinked… and Jordan didn’t.

Streetbeat