Lydia Sedy
Dr. Sonia Begert
English 101
8 December 2014
When we think of
advertisements, we usually think of companies trying to sell us stuff. A close
look at how athletic companies strategize to build a brand and present that to
the world reveals how they have done it differently. Most of these
companies use a tactic that focuses on the customer instead of the product
being sold. How can commercials that never even mention the product be
effective?
Nike produced a
commercial with this strategy called “What’s your motivation?” It starts with a
view of an alarm clock, turning to 3:00 am, and a few shots of people soundly
sleeping. A young man narrates, “At this time, I’m the only one working.” He
ties his shoes. “I was told to quit.” Next he’s running down a dark, empty
street. He relates to the viewers how his coaches never noticed him. His
resolute voice then states, “That was just my motivation.”
The ad continues,
showing different shots of him working hard. All the while he quietly tells his
story. “What makes me is not in the game, but rather when no one is around.”
His face drips with sweat. He finishes by saying, “So just remember, when
you’re sleeping, I’m out here working everyday to be one step ahead of everyone
else.”
During the events
of the commercial, anything having to do with Nike is very subliminal. The boy
wears gray sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt, suggesting that what he wears
doesn't even matter. His shoes are plain black, and the Nike symbol is hardly
noticeable.
Nike has put more
focus on the boy and his story than their product. This is an emotional
branding strategy. People relate to the boy and his feeling of not being enough
for his coaches. When they see him working hard to overcome that, it inspires
them. The ad itself makes them feel good. At the very end of the commercial,
the screen goes totally black and the Nike symbol and words, "What's your
motivation?" appear. This transitions those feelings to the viewer and perhaps
makes them reflect on their own story.
The way Nike has
done this, the viewer associates positive feelings like success and
accomplishment with something as small as the "Nike swoosh"
symbol.
Another example
can be seen in a commercial called "Find your strong" by Saucony, a
sports shoe and apparel brand. It starts with intense music, the first beat of
the drums perhaps reflecting a heart beat. We see runners and other sports
players amid their tough workouts, breathing hard and sweating. A man narrates,
and asks the question, “What is strong? Is it muscle? Or something more?”
As he talks about what strong might be, or how it’s measured, the music slows
down. We are brought not to the athletes’ incredible bodies but to their faces,
where their utter determination and perseverance shine through.
The narration
continues, his voice slightly echoing at pauses to increase emphasis: “Maybe
strong is just what you have left, when you’ve used up all your weak.” There’s
a moment of quiet after the last sentence, perhaps to let it sink in. Then the
music and drums come back full force. Like a gun shot, a sprinter shoots off
the starting blocks, and runners bound up a rugged trail. The rest of the
commercial is filled with amazing scenes of athletes overcoming themselves and
conquering their elements. In each shot, the light comes from an angle,
catching and accenting the contours of powerful muscles. The music builds
and the words, ‘Find Your Strong’ appear across the screen at the end.
The general intensity
of the music, imagery, and words in the commercial command your attention.
Saucony uses a strategy similar to Nike's, focusing on the athelete's
determination and grit. A runner with long hair and a characteristic mustache
perhaps reminds of us Steve Prefontaine, a legendary runner in the 1970s. He
was an aggressive front runner, meaning he usually ran the entire race in the
lead. His character alone exudes perseverance and willpower. Combined with
impressive shots of other athletes, the viewers come away with a sense of power
and motivation.
Again, a similar
strategy can be seen in an Under Armour commercial. It is called “Protect this
house. I will.” Featuring the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time,
Michael Phelps. It also starts with intense music, and shows Phelps warming up.
A quiet voice is yelling in the background, “Michael, you got one last chance!
Your competition is one hundredth of a second away. They’re coming for you.”
No one else is present through the entire commercial; the voice is
Michael’s conscious. He continues to motivate and push himself, the voice
yelling things like, “C’mon! Stay on top of it.” He does pull-ups, pushes
weights, and climbs a wall. The music almost stops. He struggles to do another
pull-up. He slips on the wall. You hear the voice again, “You gotta work hard
to maintain success.”
Suddenly he jumps
back into action, the music getting louder to match his movements. You hear
another voice, this time in the music, saying “I will. I will.” The rest of the
shots show him working out. The dim fluorescent light of the basement-like gym
highlight his muscles. The cameras also focus on his face, catching his look of
determination and the resolve etched there. At the very end his mind asks the
question, “Are you gonna protect this house?” We see Michael standing in the
gym and we hear the only “spoken” words throughout the commercial: “I will.”
The phrase
"protect this house" usually refers to when a sports team plays in
their 'home' stadium, field or court. This doesn't quite fit Michael Phelps’
sport; he almost never competes in the same places he practices. The expression
is transitioned to somewhere else: the top of the podium. The way Under Armour
has been flexible with the phrase makes us wonder which house we are “gonna
protect.” It makes it personal.
Most people think
of Phelps as some sort of perfect super-human. The way the ad shows him working
out, failing, and then overcoming himself makes him seem more real and like us.
The experience of failure connects us to the commercial. As we see Phelps
overcome this and keep moving forward, it again fills us with inspiration to
succeed.
The connection
between the three ads is easily recognized. Each of the commercials has little
to almost no emphasis on the products they sell, but instead have placed a
focus on the consumer. The purpose of each is to pair positive feelings like
personal triumph and accomplishment with the brand. A market research
executive, Mark Sneider said, “The brands that succeed on a long-term basis are
able to form strong, differentiating emotional bonds with consumers. Without
this bond, a brand's relevance and "connectiveness" with a consumer
is not sustainable.” Displaying successful, motivating stories of strong
athletes, each of the commercials has succeeded in doing just that.
Works Cited
"Emotional Response
Remains Key to Advertising." Business Forms, Labels & Systems 42.7
(2004): 14,14,18. ProQuest. Web. 7 Dec. 2014.
