Final Fantasy... Finally

So other than the Superbowl, the NFL has probably no greater event in its arsenal that attracts and excites its fanbase more than the NFL draft. The NFL's marketing department understands this and that is why starting this year the NFL has extended the length of its NFL draft. What used to be a weekend event that only die hard fans might spin the entire day watching, the NFL has shifted the event into prime time with the hopes of racking in Advertising dollars and increasing its relevance to casual fans.

So I was like umm... watching the playoffs and what do you know, I see their latest commercials (to see the other one click here) involving a repetition of words with a constant beat bouncing in the background of the video and I have to wonder whether the people who developed this commercial campaign weren't spending the vast majority of their time on failblog and youtube (which if they're a part of my generation, I'm sure they were.) But how about you decide...



Notice any similarities? You see, this is how I imagine the situation went down. We have our creative team (which consists of our copywriter and art director that make the ad) and they have a deadline that they have to meet. It's late, the coffee has run out, no more redbull in the mini-fridge, and the last five hour energy was consumed like.. five hours ago (wow... how doped up on energy were these two?). So our team is tired and they can't think of an idea and one says to another, "dude, let's like totally look at failblog to keep us up" and the other says back, "Good idea Jay, hey you remember that freakin sweet Ellis Lanksder video from a few months back? Was hilarious." and finally Jay says, "who?" So they both watch the video. And go back to their work and then WHAM! it hits Jay, "dude what if we like, had NBA players saying the same thing and stuff, no one would know the difference!" and his buddy exclaims, "Brilliant!"

You see, they didn't expect me to get to the bottom of this, but I did. And I'm bringing YOU, my oh so faithful blog readers, the scoop! Because that's how we roll. But anyways, moving on, be on the lookout for more posts than usual for this week. Not only do we have the NBA playoffs to occupy our minds, but someone (besides the millions of sports analysts throughout the world) HAS to bring you their opinion of the NFL draft. I'm sure you guys appreciated my flawless undercover reporting and are anticipating my playoff and draft breakdowns, but my final fantasy has passed... until next time.

When you're balling, biking, training, etc. just remember that you heard the secret here first! Launching a covert operation into the Nike facility I used my Jedi mind tricks to have that top Nike Executive reveal these secrets... seriously... well basically... okay, well I may have embellished the story a tiny bit.

But how about the ad, Nike continues to impress and add viral videos that serve two important functions 1.) the most important function for consumers, it entertains them and 2.) the second most important function for a company (the first being that the product sells obviously), it provides a unique selling proposition for Nike Air Sneakers. Just as Jordans aren't simply shoes that you wear when playing basketball, but rather shoes you wear when you "Want to be like Mike"; or like BMW isn't just a car but the "Ultimate Driving Machine"; or as I'm sure my lady blog readers will attest to Louboutins aren't just heels, the signature red soles scream "sexy" (and it better for someone crazy enough to spend $1000 for a pair.)

With this video Nike is telling us that "Nike Air" isn't simply some technology that makes you feel more comfortable when balling, training, biking etc. but that it has a greater value. Nike (as the video demonstrates) is taking the mystique (or "air") of its athletes and inserting it into its shoes. And the result is that you, me, and most everyone else will be more likely to buy their products to gain that "air" just like we were with "Air" Jordans... and that's my final fantasy... until next time.