Nike Football Campaign Research part 3 of 12:
'Airport'
Agency: Wieden+Kennedy (Amsterdam)
Date: 1998
Creative: Glenn Cole (Copywriter) John Boiler (Art Director)
Director: John Woo
The Airport television campaign was one of
Nike’s most iconic and identifiable campaigns of the decade that solidified
Wieden & Kennedy as the agency for the future Nike football adverts. It was the
establishing platform for the future of what becomes Nike Football as a brand
and was the first mainstream advert to establish Nike as a major player in the
Football markets. ‘Airport’
was the final major campaign Nike would run without integrating the rapidly
flourishing new media of the Internet.
The
contemporary success would later be brought to question, as controversy
appeared in the aftermath of Brazil’s defeat in the World Cup final. However,
this was predominately contained within the industry and does not detract from
the success and effectiveness the advert gained with the market whilst running
the campaign.
Brazil
is historically the most successful international team in the world and in 1998
had already won the FIFA World Cup a staggering four times. They had the best
players led by the world’s best player Ronaldo, the new icon of a modern
generation celebrating the skills, flicks and tricks he brought to the game.
Nike were well aware of this and “In 1996 Nike signed a £100m
contract with the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) making it both the
supplier of sports kit and co-sponsor of the Brazilian team - the largest deal
ever involving a national side. (Bellos 2001) It was a step on from single contemporary
players of excellence and moved onto gaining the association of Brazil’s
glorious past and essentially their philosophy of the game. It was a successful
attempt to create a history to rival that of the competitors.
The association it could now carry into the
Airport campaign was the archetype of the values of Brazilian football. The
samba flair that was internationally associated with Brazil and Rio alongside
the world famous skills and trickery of their players. It created the perfect
platform for a fun narrative underpinned by their products. The simplicity of
the fun narrative meant the consumer was excited and engaged in the action
whilst simultaneously presenting Nike as the gateway
to the experience. This was paramount to the success of the campaign. This was
one of the first adverts Nike had used in this manor to sell an idealistic
lifestyle.
The
creative team of John Boiler and, again, Glenn Cole continued the previous
concept of telling a story, or in this case relying on a flowing narrative to
deliver the communication. In contrast to Cole’s previous campaign of ‘Good vs.
Evil’ in 1996 they move further toward fun and comedy. A new director for the
advert was also commissioned to work this jaunty new concept. John Woo who was
renowned for chaotic action scenes enlisted the help of Terry Gilliam, director
of Monty Python to collaborate on the chaotic comedy that would ensue within
the airport.
The
cast of stars was staggering and allowed for the campaign to be used
universally on an international platform. Meet Ronaldo, Romario, Lucio, Cafu,
Carlos, Denilson, and Leonardo. Ronaldo had won world player of the year the
previous two years, Romario just a year before that whilst Carlos had come
runner-up. Denilson had became the most expensive player in the world for a
relatively astronomical £22m transfer fee that summer. To add to this a brief
cameo from Cantona meant again that football fans fantasies were exploited. In
addition it was a base Nike would come use in many future campaigns, the music
that would become synonymous with Brazilian football and Nike. For the first
time the consumer can instantly identify the product and campaign without the
visual.
This
was a technique that Nike was able to truly utilize; music and branding. The
second strength secretly here is that forever in the future people will
reminisce about the campaign, something overlooked in the previous Wieden &
Kennedy campaigns.
“Mas que nada” by Sergio Mendes would carry on as a hit mainstream single. It
carries the same association today as the classic samba tune that quickly
identifies Brazil and the samba magic of their footballing culture. Wieden
& Kennedy created a distinct combination of stars and music allowing a progression
from being engaged to creating a potential reality the consumer could live out.
This is the basis of creating the lifestyle entices the consumer to use or wear
Nike products to achieve this aspiration. The fantasy of the fan is a mere
stepping-stone away.
The advert
begins with a pan around a hot busy airport with the use of yellow, blue and
green on planes as a signifier of a Brazilian location. People are sat idle
wearing T-shirts of blue and yellow representing the colours of the home and
away strips with tracksuit bottoms in a medium shot. There are a few medium
close ups of well-known players looking tired. The denotation coming from
facial expressions and actions, leading to the football fans to connotations
that they are ready for the World Cup in France. Then a close up of the board
flipping up the sign saying delayed and Nike’s pin up boy, Ronaldo, reaches a
ball out of his bag containing his kit and signature boots.
He chips
the ball up and the camera rises up to signify an awakening, the other players
stir in various shots as they discover Ronaldo has got a ball out. A unanimous
grin spreads as famed party star Romario opens a security railing as a goal.
The game begins. “The football players didn’t know much about the camera, so
they always appeared to be natural and innocent” (Woo 1998) describes the
characteristics of innocent joy the Brazil team bought the football fan.
The
ball is kicked into the security guards hands but as he catches the
ball the camera begins to pan down, a quick change of shot showing Carlos slide
underneath kicking the ball lets the audience know. The quick change in camera
angles reveal the true narrative and action has begun. This is a shot where the
director’s input is clear, John Woo’s chaotic action with quick change of
camera to create chaos and the cheeky comedy value of nipping the ball away
show Terry Gilliam’s input.
It becomes
a large game of ‘keep ball’ from the guards and offers simple connotations of
fun and joy from the archetype of the Brazilian footballer. Quick changes of
camera angles and an ever moving, surrounding crowd keep the audience engaged
and receiving the simple communication that Nike is endorsing these stars are
playing beating boredom with a kick about in an Airport. The branded products
are the requirement to live this incredible dream.
The ad
continues to show further medium long, cut to medium close up and variations
between these as the players perform tricks and skills in and around the
guards. Simply denoting the supremacy of the Brazilian team and by association
Nike products. This still has fun, quirky moments as Leonardo heads the ball
off a conveyor belt only to be sucked through the flaps after landing.
The ball
eventually travels outside and is passed through a scanning machine and past
security. It falls to Carlos who takes long shot across the airfield where the
consumer can see the Nike football swerve. The ball is then controlled and
volleyed in front of an oncoming plane, it passes in front of the window of
Eric Cantona and he briefly looks bemused continuing to read his paper with a
smile. The connotation derived is the rebel approves.
Via
a series of extravagant passes connected by following a panning
camera the ball is worked back into the terminal and to the feet of
world-beater Ronaldo. He proceeds to dribble the ball through the airport
followed by the excellent directing of Woo to build excitement through the
chaos to reach the final goal Romario constructed earlier. The campaign
finishes under the influence of Gilliam as Ronaldo shoots only to see his shot
hit the post and comedic frustration of everyone else. It plays the joke that
at least everyone is human.
The advert
was effective and campaign was run from March of 1998 and through the World Cup
in France 1998, ending in June. In this sense the advert was effective and
achieved the goals of creating a perfect life style and footballing values that
the consumer could engage and understand. The stage had been set for future
campaigns and Nike was steadily building a positive recognition within the
footballing community.
However
this was rocked in the aftermath of the World Cup final as a superior French
side beat Brazil. The major issue of controversy around this game was not the
result but the manner in which it was played out. The superstar Ronaldo had
suffered a fit a few hours prior to the final and it was later believed that
due the team’s and his own personal sponsorship deals from Nike that they had
forced him to play. His performance was obviously sub-par and he struggled
throughout, a contrast to the dazzling displays earlier in the tournament. “In Brazil, Nike became a scapegoat for the defeat.” (Bellos 2001) but in the actual running time of the
campaign there was no such issue so in a contemporary sense it can be deemed a
success. The controversy did however continue rise again in 2001 with a leak
showing a clause (separate directly to the airport campaign in relation the
Brazilian sponsorship deal) A clause (that) stipulated Nike's right to
organize five international games a year with at least eight first team
regulars” (Bellos 2001) This did cast a negative shadow on Nike
but did not tarnish directly the joy and fun the campaign held in the heart of
the football fan.
Airport
was fantastically original and groundbreaking in the approach to the football
lifestyle in a way never used before and that would continue to be used into
the future. It gave basis to the Nike campaign based on skill and flair that
would become central to campaigns in the early 21st century and cemented the future accounts to Wieden &
Kennedy.
Airport 1998
Bellos, A
[2001] How Nike bought Brazil accessed from
Woo, J. [1998] Director
John Woo and cinematographer Gale Tattersall add visual kick to a spot celebrating Brazil’s national soccer team accessed [November 2012]
