Nike, I'm taking your bait

Reactions are running the gamut from love to hate to confusion. I can't decide my reaction because I can't decide what Nike's goal was. Help me figure it out?

• Setting the stage to move forward. "We're not going to ignore the Tiger issue. We can yank his ads or we can run them like nothing happened...or we can do something awesome."
  
• Generate some BUZZ! "Dude, let's do something controversial about Tiger Woods. The bloggers will love it!"
• Branding. "Everybody fucks up, even the most successful athletes in the world. Face your shit, own up to it, get past it, and just do it. It's totally on brand. Let's get a writer on this."

I hope it's the third one but I'm not sure. What do you think? Is it succeeding?

Love the Brand Not the Product

Ninety percent of the time I purchase products because they perform well and I enjoy the brand. I'm usually open to trying new products and brands, but when I find something that fits it's hard for me to even think about purchasing or using anything else. But lately I've noticed a disconnect in a few brands that I find favorable but do not use or like the product.

Dentyne
I absolutely love the Make Face Time campaign. It makes me smile. I do, however, have to say skip it to the product. No matter how much I like the Dentyne brand, I will always purchase Orbit because I like the product better even though I couldn't tell you much of anything about the Orbit brand. I recommend the strawberry mint. Weird, I know.

Nike
I haven't purchased a pair of Nike kicks since The Great Blister of 2001. I didn't think I even owned anything with a Swoosh on it until I busted out my Twins t-shirt last week and found a small logo. But that doesn't stop me from loving the idea of Nike. I will probably never go out of my way to purchase anything Nike, but I can't help but like the idea of sport that Nike embodies.

Coke
I can't drink Coke, hurts my teeth. But even that "bad" product experience hasn't deterred me from getting a bit excited when I see a Coke Side of Life commercial or see some fizzy bubbles. Coke delivers on brand every time. I will always say I like Coke more than Pepsi. But I'll have a Sprite (with vodka), please.

A few others:

• Sony Bravia. Bouncy balls and rabbits bunnies. Enough said. But getting me to buy? Not unless it comes with the bunnies.

• PBR. The whole art thing is awesome. It's classic. But it still tastes like shit. Maybe even worse than Keystone?

Anyone else have this experience?

If this doesn't inspire you, you're dead to me.

Image is Liu Xiang. Copy:

Love competition.
Love risking your pride.
Love winning it back.
Love giving it everything you've got.
Love the glory. Love the pain.
Love sport even when it breaks your heart.



And I. Love. Advertising.

(from PSFK)

Branding Beijing

With the Summer Olympics almost upon us (6 days woo! hoo!), I thought I would take this moment to reflect on the good, bad and ugly branding efforts centered around Beijing. I invite all other Yaybia-ers and readers to add efforts that they notice in the upcoming days.

1. adidas
For the last three years adidas has been working hard to build a relationship with China. So it's a natural fit that their three-striped logo will be draped over all the Olympic athletes during the games. An official Olympic sponsorship comes with a $100 million dollar price tag, but viewers often have a hard time remembering if Nike or adidas sponsored the games. In fact, in a survey conducted by Forbes magazine found that most consumers could not name the official sponsor of the Olympics and often named the brand they thought was "best" within that category. 40% believed that Nike was the official sponsor of the games.

adidas's Olympic TV spot is pretty spectacular in my opinion. It embodies everything an Olympic ad should be: communal, aspirational and inspiring.




2. Lenovo
This tech company is jumping on the bandwagon by producing limitied edition laptops and USB drives shaped as USB drives. The notebooks will be autographed by Olympic athletes and sold in charity auctions. Reminds me of the HP "livestrong" laptops of a few years back.

3. Gucci
This luxury retailer is introducing 8 exclusive accessories to pay homage to the luckiest number in Chinese culture. The gear includes a I-Gucci watch, a leather duffel, a soft leather messenger bag and this bizarre Gucci bicycle. (yes, a Gucci bike!)



4. Elasun
Okay, okay I couldn't resist with this one. A Chinese condom producer is getting in on the action (bad pun!). These viral ads are turning a lot of heads in Beijing.


Go Michael Phelps!!!!!