Hasta La Creative!

Last night, Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers brought home the first professional championship to Cleveland since the 1964 Cleveland Browns shut out the Baltimore Colts in that year’s NFL championship game. To celebrate the event (and Nike athlete James bringing Cleveland the championship he promised upon arrival in 2014), W+K Portland and Nike launched a spot denoting the accomplishment as “Worth the Wait.”

The spot depicts Cavs fans young and old, as well as stars James, Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith and Kevin Love reacting to the victory. It’s not exactly new territory for a major brand in the wake of an important championship, but Cleveland’s long wait adds emotional weight to the formula.

Reactions of the older, lifelong fans of the team are particularly convincing, illustrating the tagline well, as does a moment when a young boy asks his speechless father “What happened daddy?” before the ad quickly cuts to another stunned fan. The pacing and production of “Worth the Wait” are spot on as well, so while this theme has been rehashed many times before in similar spots, the execution fires on all cylinders. It’s sure to stoke the emotions of exuberant Cavs fans everywhere (and perhaps lead to sales for James’ branded Nike gear, of course).

LeBron James can go home again. And again. And again.

The NBA star’s return to Cleveland from Miami was always going to be fodder for numerous ad campaigns. And indeed, we’ve already seen spots from Beats by Dre and Sprite this week. Now it’s Nike’s turn to get epic—timed to Thursday night’s Cavaliers home-opener against the New York Knicks.

It’s suitably goosebump-inducing, as LeBron leads not just his teammates but all of Cleveland in a massive pre-game huddle—the ultimate come-to-Jesus moment for the city’s once-and-again favorite son.

Nike Basketball partnered with Wieden + Kennedy for the spot, which was directed by the Malloy Brothers. LeBron’s mom, Gloria Marie James, makes a cameo, as do Coach Dru Joyce and teammates Kyrie Irving, Dion Waters, Anderson Varejao, Shawn Marion, Tristan Thompson, Matthew Dellavedova and Joe Harris.

Nike is also introducing the LeBron 12 Hrt of a Lion shoe today, and is currently working on the nine-hour process of unveiling a 10-story, 25,000-square-foot banner on Ontario Street welcoming James back to Cleveland.

David&Goliath teamed up with NBA superstar LeBron James in its latest effort for Kia, which recently extended its contract as “official automotive partner of the NBA.”

In the spot, James emerges from the Kia’s new K900 luxury sedan at some type of glitzy red carpet event. The star struck valet stumbles over his words as LeBron tosses him the keys and says “Keep it close,” followed by the taglne “Fit for a King.” Entitled “Valet,” the ad is perfectly timed, breaking today on the opening day of the NBA season. It arrives as James rides a wave of publicity for his much-discusses return to Cleveland, which was celebrated in a recent Beats campaign. At any rate, the spot aims for a stylish simplicity, letting the ride — and LeBron’s endorsement of it — mostly speak for itself. (more…)

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Global design firm AKQA and ubiquitous shoe manufacturer Nike have collaborated on a full-size LED basketball court for Nike Rise, a program designed to train Chinese youth based on the techniques and practice drills of Kobe Bryant.

Called House of Mamba (a reference to Kobe’s Black Mamba nickname), the LED court guides and reacts to the players’ movements with an impressive range of visual displays, to the point where you wonder how the athletes aren’t distracted by it. 

Nike Rise centered on a reality show where 30 Chinese teens trained with Kobe and LeBron James, and three of them will go on to the Nike World Basketball Festival next month.

Via DesignBoom.

With the World Cup a week away, the barrage of World Cup-themed ads isn’t showing any sign of slowing down, and this 5 minute spot R/GA put together for Beats might be the biggest one yet. Indeed, as Adweek writes, the spot seems to “Out-Nike Nike.”

Entitled “The Game Before The Game,” the ad tackles the pre-game rituals of stars such as Brazil’s star Neymar Da Silva Santos, Jr. His pre-game ritual involves talking with his father, whose inspiring pep talk is the heart of the ad. Also featured in “The Game Before The Game” are Spain’s Cesc Fabregas, who kisses the ring he received from his girlfriend precisely four times; Mexico’s prayerful Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez; and Uruguay’s Luis Suarez, who kisses a tattoo on his wrist of his children’s names. Elsewhere stars such as Bacaray Sagna, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Blaise Matudi, Daniel Sturridge, Jozy Altidore, Mario Gotze and Robin Van Persie can be seen slipping on their Beats headphones and doing their thing. Tthe spot is set to “Jungle” by Jamie N Commons & The X Ambassadors and st times takes on the feel of a music video, which makes a lot of sense given the brand. Interspersed with the players’ preparations are fans performing their own pre-game rituals. This includes a slew of celebrity cameos, such as Lil Wayne, Lebron James, Serena Williams, Stuart Scott, and Nikki Minaj. Check out the spot for yourself above, and stick around after the jump for partial credits. continued…

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NBA stars are a festive bunch, with great timing to boot. They need both in the league's holiday campaigns. Last year, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Russell Westbrook and Joe Johnson impressively played the popular Christmas song "Carol of the Bells" just by bouncing basketballs (in a spot that soared to more than 8 million views). Now, here's the sequel—also from GS&P.

It stars Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, James Harden, Steve Nash and Stephen Curry shooting three-pointers at nets outfitted with Christmas bells—producing an even more impressive musical performance, this time of "Jingle Bells." LeBron James punctuates the song with a dunk at the end, then asks, "Please tell me the camera was on." It's a perfect spot.

Like last year's spot, this one promotes special-edition uniforms, available for sale, that 10 teams will wear on their Christmas Day games this year.

See a making-of video, plus credits, below.

CREDITS
Client: NBA
Spot: "Jingle Hoops"

Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Executive Creative Director: Jeff Goodby
Creative Directors: Nick Klinkert, Adam Reeves
Associate Creative Director, Copywriter: Rus Chao
Associate Creative Director, Art Director: Kevin Koller
Producer: Benton Roman
Executive Producer: Tod Puckett
Director of Broadcast Production: Cindy Fluitt
Account Directors: Jason Bedecarre, Janice McManemy
Account Manager: Heather Morba
Senior Business Affairs Manager: Julie Petruzzo

Production Company: O Positive
Director: Jonathan Klein
Executive Producer: Ralph Laucella
Line Producer: Angie Revell
Director of Photography: Eric Steelberg

Editing: Final Cut
Editor: Matt Murphy
Assistant Editors: Tara Wall, Nate Connella
Producer: Suzy Ramirez
Executive Producer: Saima Awan

Visual Effects: Moving Picture Company
Visual Effects Supervisor, 2-D Lead: Jake Montgomery
Nuke: Brendan Smith, Will Voss
Shoot Supervisor: Eric Pascarelli
Design, Animation: Casey McIntyre
Senior Producer: Juliet Tierney
Executive Producer: Asher Edwards

Title Graphics: eLevel
Creative Director: Brady Baltezore
2-D Artist: Chris Carmichael

Sound Design: Barking Owl
Creative Director: Kelly Bayett
Sound Designer: Michael Anastasi
Producer: Whitney Fromholtz

Mix: Barking Owl
Audio Engineer: Brock Babcock

And here is last year's spot:

We are now in the season of LeBron James commercials. He’s like Victor Cruz, only taller, better, richer, and not a Time Warner Cable lackey. If you happened to watch the opening night of the NBA season, you saw three different LeBron endorsements, including a new two-minute Samsung spot (:60 version with just the family after the jump) that gives viewers a glimpse into the family life of the best basketball player in the world.

If you care about such things, you may remember last year’s Samsung/LBJ launch, which also premiered on opening night as the Miami Heat were getting their first set of rings. That 2012 spot was more about LeBron and his friends ruling Miami in barber shops and ice cream trucks. This year’s version is all about LeBron and his family: his sons hanging out in the pool or on a driveway basketball court as his wife films from a Samsung Galaxy. ”The Next Big Thing is Here” flashes on the screen as LeBron’s son celebrates after swishing a jump shot. We get it, but it’s still fairly interesting to let two little boys take some of the spotlight away from the real star.

The spot is an easy watch, a relaxing tone that rubs off on the viewer. Life is good for LeBron, and even though I typically prefer product-focused ads to lifestyle ads, when the spokesman is one of the most famous people on the planet, customers may take notice. Smiles all around and credits after the jump.

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Translation, which was recently tapped by Coca-Cola to handle marketing for Sprite, has a new spot for the green-bottled lemon-lime soft drink.

Although Sprite has changed agencies and approaches several times in recent years, this ad hits on well-trodden ground for the brand: LeBron James, basketball, and mentioning the word “thirst.” This time around there’s a lot of screaming, though. We open with LeBron James superhumanly blocking a dunk attempt and screaming in celebration. Then we see a marching band drummer “marching to his own beat,” a dude posting a video of some biking tricks, a guy with a lion tattoo, and a woman getting a truly bizarre haircut. All of them scream. Somewhere a silently screaming mime gets thrown in. “If you’re gonna put in the work to show the world who you are, you’re going to get thirsty. Then: drink a Sprite.” proclaims the voiceover, before adding in the tagline “For The Thirsty.” Reasonable enough logic here: lots of screaming will make you thirsty.

Here’s the thing though: soft drinks are actually terrible at quenching thirst. Why would you make that a selling point for your brand? Isn’t that playing to your weakness? Yes, it is a beverage, but it’s a sugary one made to be enjoyed for its taste, not to quench thirst. I get that they’ve gone with athlete endorsements aplenty to sell their product, and I get that this strategy harkens way back to their “Obey Your Thirst” days. But who is really reaching for a Sprite after a workout? Especially with the vast array of flavored bottled water drinks now available. Is marketing towards a function your product doesn’t actually serve really going to help sell your brand? I’ve never understood this. Who knows though, since Sprite is constantly changing their approach, maybe this tactic will die out soon as well.

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At this point, Nike and AOR W+K are just showing off. Their latest spot, “Possibilities,” is a fat, splashy kick-off to the 25th anniversary of its ubiquitous slogan, “Just Do It.” These type of Nike ads have always had a mythical quality, compared to other sports brands – like certain BBDO Foot Locker commercials – that are solid and funny. Nike is serious. W+K Portland is serious. Nike, Inc. is set to earn $25 billion in revenue this year, meaning we must be serious, too, when it comes to our purchases.

Being serious does not preclude Nike from a certain playfulness if you look hard enough. For “Possibilities,” the lightness comes from some Bradley Cooper voiceover that makes the viewer want to just do it, even though said viewer knows he/she can’t do it as well as professional athletes. That’s where stars like footballer Gerard Piqué and basketballer LeBron James come in, cameos that are almost taking the money out of your wallet before you know it.

For LeBron, the unofficial king of the summer, Nike has been creatively pumping out his spots for a few years now. This one may be a joint venture, but he subtly dominates the end with some clever winking done in the form of a fake dunk content. LeBron has never entered the NBA dunk contest. Maybe this is a hint for 2014? Or maybe it’s just smart marketing? Plenty of possibilities to choose from.

Credits after the jump.

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Considering game 7 is tonight, let’s just call this timely. This McDonald’s commercial from Arnold featuring Stephen A. Smith and LeBron James (sort of) isn’t exactly new, but it’s taken on some belated relevance following the headbandless fourth quarter performance from King James in last night’s NBA Finals Game 6. Once you get over the fact that Stephen A. is in a commercial, and the fact that the typical ESPN #embracedebate could be replaced in this case with #embracerecedinghairlines, you’ll see that the “greatest of all time” discussion usually reserved for LeBron vs. Michael Jordan discussions has been morphed, with good spirits, into a battle between chicken nuggets and hamburgers.

In a second local spot, Stephen A. apparently used the hashtag #headbandontootight in relation to LeBron’s fondness for fatty fried chicken and accidentally struck viral marketing gold for Arnold Worldwide. Nevermind that LeBron probably hasn’t had a chicken nugget in 8 years – when the timing is right, the timing is right.

Credits after the jump.

continued…

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