Nike Football Campaign Research part 2 of 12:
'Parklife'
Agency: TBWA Simons Palmer
Date: 1997
Creative: Tony Malcolm (Copywriter) Guy Moore (Art Director)
Director: Jonathan Glazer
The
Parklife television campaign was to be TBWA Simons Palmer’s last campaign for
Nike Football before surrendering in the battle for the Nike accounts to Wieden
& Kennedy in 1998. Never the less, this was a sound creative concept and
well executed demonstrating Nike’s commitment to supporting grass root level
football. It was an excellent bridge that Wieden & Kennedy were able to
learn from when constructing their 1998 campaign ‘Airport’. In it’s own respect
this campaign was able to begin aspects of campaigns we still see today in
regards to interactivity and empathy to engage and involve the consumer. Unlike
the majority of Nike Football’s major television campaigns it was not launched
in context to a major tournament and was able to offer a versatile and
personalized feel to the consumer, rather offering an aspiring lifestyle the
narrative is based from their current lifestyle and supportive of their value
rather presenting new ones.
This
was a new creative direction for Nike that had previously relied on presenting the
most elite players on a pedestal above the common man. (To take nothing away
from previous campaigns that had been successful in their own right.) But this
was new way to engage the consumer and something a little closer to home and a
little more personal. It featured domestic club icons as opposed to the distant
international superstars of the previous campaigns.
Having cult
heroes appearing within the Sunday leagues on Hackney Marshes was a direct
attempt to target consumer’s hearts. “Hackney
Marshes is one of the world's biggest grassroots football venues, with 73
standard-size pitches, where scores of matches are played every Sunday during
the football season” (Dyer 2006) acting
as an outlet of the emotions of football. The uses of this location are of
massive cultural identity and intertwine perfectly with the selection of
players used to promote this campaign.
The iconic location combines with the selection of players accordingly.
These players are all icons for clubs and act as contemporary heroes for the
football faithful as they follow their team on the Saturday afternoons. These
players are David Seaman and the charismatic Ian Wright of Arsenal, the embodied
enthusiasm of Liverpool’s Robbie Fowler and pronounced swagger of Eric Cantona
of Manchester United Premier League Champions and FA cup winners
Manchester United. All far off heroes back to the humble beginnings that every
footballer faces, importantly the humble beginnings the target consumer shares.
This campaign
combined the above and allowed the consumer closer to their idols and feasibly
positioned them into the perceptions of where this could become reality.
Another aspect that was essential to the success of this campaign was when the
advert was actually run. There were no major tournaments but the launch
coincided with the beginning of the football season and hence the hopes and
dreams of that target consumer. The narrative of this advert allowed them to
dream. For the first time they feel like they can, before the impact of
platforms such as social media, really interact with brand by living out these
dreams.
Other
factors around the timing and location of this advert may also have contributed
as the Nation as a whole grew through 1997. The conservative government was
replaced by the hope of the New Labour government. The success and desire generated
by the European Championships the previous summer had created a strong patriotism. People were
proud of their roots and this may have influenced the consumer subconsciously,
especially in areas such as Hackney who could see a new opportunity. This
campaign tapped into this new British pride and culture, effectively installing
pride in the consumers own class and social standing. Dreams were there to be
lived.
This could be reflected somewhat into the soundtrack
to embody the feeling of Hackney Marshes. Blur’s Parklife was a fantastic
encapsulation of the action at grass root football. It also gave a superb flow
for the journey of the advert and was excellently directed around by the
legendary Jonathan Glazer who would go on to direct the Guinness surf advert
just two years later. Here the strength of his work is revealed in slow motion
transitions on the ball to introduce the audience to the next step along the narrative.
The start
of the advert would to be considered contemporarily somewhat controversial and
considered inappropriate within today’s society. The opening shot is an
overhead of a frying pan as an egg cracks open, signifying the beginning of the
day and a Sunday morning the consumer can relate to. As the egg cracks there is
a stereotypical wife or mother’s voiceover complaining ‘football, football,
football, nothing but football morning, noon and night!” in an accent
recognizable as East London’s. There simply followed a rough male voice simply
stating “Shut up.” Which the target audience in this case could relate to and
be unoffended by, it embodies the feeling of many of their target and adds a
little spice of reality.
The music
embodying this spirit then continues and is coupled by medium close up shots of
action and clear overhead pans of the pitches of Hackney Marsh, this presents a
home from which the consumer can relate. This is quickly followed by a long
shot of a vaguely recognizable player; the consumer is left thinking surely it
couldn’t be? It then switches to pause like a photo zooming to a face
simulating the audience’s double-checking. Surely this idol could not be on
Hackney Marshes engaging on a level parallel with the consumer themselves. Eric
Cantona is in freeze frame before a quick cut back to the action with park
players all around him, (he is playing for a park team) until a flowing shot of
him of him running with the ball is abruptly halted. A park player has
literally grabbed onto the idol, reaching into this dream, something all
opposition fans would be fantasizing about. This engagement was as close to
interaction as this campaign could manage, people literally believed they could
join in.
The same progress to recognition is then used to denote
the next step of the journey, the still zooms across the pitch to Ian Wright
playing on another of the Hackney Marsh pitches. Wright was an excellent choice
for this campaign having come from the Amateur Leagues of London himself, and
was an embodiment of the success that can be spawned from this environment and
a personal link to anyone who plays in the Sunday Leagues. He strikes a
thunderous volley into the corner and again the camera pauses on him and the
follow through clearly showing the Nike branded boots he wears. The advert
continues to follow his celebration and again the use of zooming on freeze
frame continues into the penalty area of another pitch to show the goalkeeper
David Seaman punching the ball clear.
As an
unknown park player is running with the ball a freeze frame follows over his
shoulder and zoom discovers Robbie Fowler. He begins to weave in and out with
the ball before passing it to an unknown player, embodying the desires of the
consumer to score; this simple denotation allows a mass of connotations to be
drawn. The desire of the player, the opportunity and the belief this could
really happen are experienced by the consumer. The quick cuts to Nike boots
whilst using the ball is a simple non-intrusive way to present the product
whilst sticking to the flow of the narrative.
This structure capitulates into a mix of shots showing
the vibrancy and diversity that the simple game of football can bring together
and Nike’s new association to this. It ranges from celebrations in team photos,
shots of different ethnic backgrounds playing to even dogs bolting across the
pitch, everything that gives grass roots football an identity. Ending with the
fantastic strapline, as a team photo zooms into Cantona it cuts to the strap "Whatever league you're in" really connecting with the consumer on a personal level, before the
final identifiable strap of “Just do it.”
The television campaign as a stand-alone was a
resounding success, appropriate for the engagement and communicating directly
with the consumer. It received, during in it’s running time of September, the
second highest industry rating against the other running campaigns (Green 1997)
But other factors of the campaign contributed toward what would come back to
haunt Nike. Although fine whilst running the campaign there were no issues and
following the success Nike decided to release a clothing containing the Hackney
council logo. “Nike, settling out of court,
apologized to the east London borough and agreed to pay £300,000, including
legal costs, after the US company produced a range of clothing bearing the
area's name and an exact replica of the council's logo” (Tran 2006)
This simple error does not detract from the success of the campaign but is a
warning that Nike still need to pay grass root football respect and fortunately
in this case did not receive any ill feeling from the consumer.
In regards
to the campaign this is a shining example to the success that can be achieved
by engaging on a personal level with the consumer. TBWA Simons Palmer was
unfortunate to loose the Nike account despite the strength of their work here.
Aspects of Wieden & Kennedy’s 1998 television campaign can be drawn from
this campaign such as the interjection of recognizable music. In all this was a
very original and successful campaign perfectly positioned for their target
market.
Bibliography
Dyer, C
[2006] Nike scores own goal on Hackney Marshes available from
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/sep/12/media.busin [accessed November 2012]
Green, H
[1997] The people’s Jury available from http://www.prweek.com/uk/
[accessed November 2012]
Tran,
M [2006] Hackney wins logo case against Nike available from
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2006/sep/11/politics.money [accessed
November 2012]
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