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The initial goal of every piece of advertising should be to get noticed. It’s simple: your message can’t be delivered if nobody sees it. One road to getting noticed is to embrace outstanding creative: thought-provoking, intriguing, and engaging concepts that bring your message to life. Another road is to slap your reader/viewer with something shocking to get their attention.
In our opinion, that’s what Nike did last week with its new Tiger’s Woods spot. Released just days before Tiger’s return to golf in The Masters, it capitalized on the golfer’s scandalous headlines with a haunting (and what many thought inappropriate) voiceover from Tiger’s late father. But beyond the ethical question, or even the production controversy, do you think this was a wise branding move for Nike?
Getting such attention might have served a less-known brand better, but as the industry leader, we wonder why Nike would walk away from its brand promise. For a brand that is known for outstanding, inspirational ads, we felt this was not only out of character but a branding mistake. When presented with this concept, Nike marketing should have responded with “just don’t do it.”
Tags: tiger woods / nike / dad / branding / clutter