John Madeira: Risk Everything Campaign

This summer was huge for the world of soccer. The World Cup was in Brazil. Not only did nations battle it out but so did the sponsors. Nike and Adidas both came out with new cleats and ad campaigns followed. I have chosen to analyze the Nike campaign. It had a simple name with a huge meaning, Risk Everything. For this campaign they were showing off the new model of Legends, Vapors, Hypervenoms and the cream of the crop the Magista. Like previous World Cup ads this one told a story, had some of the best players and was actually quite long for an advertisement, it ran for 5 minutes and 29 seconds. The cast for this ad was legendary, Cristiano Ronaldo (Portuguese), Wayne Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Franck Ribery, Tim Howard, David Luiz, Neymar, Andres Iniesta, Ronaldo (the Brazilian) and even a little cameo from Lebron James. This ad was released on June 9, 2014 and I first saw it on twitter but all throughout the World Cup segments of it would air all over television. Two segment ads were made after this ad almost like sequels.

One technique used in this ad is famous-person testimonial. The characters in this ad are known worldwide and they are constantly under the microscope. When people see their favorite super stars wearing Nike they instantly want that Nike swoosh on their feet and because of that this ad also uses the Bandwagon technique.

This ad definitely tells a story, there are villains and good guys, there is a climax in the story and a happy ending. We see the players go from superstars to being just average Joes because the clones came in and played the game completely perfect but then we learn we don't play the game to be perfect, we play the game to express ourselves and to try new things.

World Cup ads usually have the same general idea behind it; show off the new cleats and have super stars of past and present (see adidas +10 ad of 2006 link below). This ad had a target market of soccer fanatics specifically between the ages of 13-27. That age group was their target market for for two reasons; players older than that generation are used to a different style of soccer cleat, usually black, no fancy high tops of bright colors and players younger than that group are to young to care what players are wearing what cleats, they just want a pair that fits them. This ad did have a new factor to it, animation. This ad really really made you feel like you were watching a movie; constantly being entertained and constantly wondering what will happen next. Unlike previous ads though, this one made fun of the superstars. I would not call it offensive but more like having a laugh with the characters. When the players were pushed out of the game because of the clones they took up day jobs that ranged from hair dressers to fishermen, each characters job was chosen because of their personality.

As great as this campaign is with all the intriguing story lines, superstars and displaying its products it definitely has its flaws. All but one of the players that took part in the campaign actually played terrible in the tournament or didn't even qualify. The one player who had a good tournament was none other than America's very own Tim Howard. Cristiano Ronaldo's, Wayne Rooney's and Andres Iniesta's teams did not make it out of their groups even though they were all heavy favorites to move on. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Fanck Ribery didn't even play in the tournament. The Brazilian boys had decent tournaments until they were completely destroyed by eventual champions Germany (Germany 7 Brazil 1) leaving a terrible taste in everyones mouth. To add insult to injury the two teams in the final were sponsored by Adidas and three of the four players that received an individual award was sponsored by Adidas. The one shining moment was that the winning goal in the final was scored by Mario Goetze who wears the Magistas. According to adage.com Nike's two campaigns were the most viewed throughout the whole tournament. Adage also said that companies are now focusing on the quality of the campaign and making the campaigns tell stories. World Cup ads had 30% more online views than the ads during the Super Bowl but that comes down to the fact that the World Cup is a month long and is also a sport that is watched worldwide.

Ever since seeing this campaign all I have wanted is a pair of Magistas. My brother and I drool over them when we see other players stepping onto the field with them. Those cleats are all that players are talking about. My brother actually purchased a pair of Hypervenoms and says that he loves them. I will always tell people to buy Nike cleats if possible.

The fact that Nike was able to put out two world class campaigns for this tournament just shows how dedicated they are to ruling the sports world. The other ad is called winner stays and just like this ad has a storyline along with the best players in the world. I like the Risk Everything campaign more though because of the animation and the story. Not only Nike have these ads online but they also made futsal tournaments around the world all tied to this campaign. My brother actually made the futsal field in Portland Oregon that was in the middle of the Willamette River. Nike knew that since they were not a sponsor of the World Cup they would have to get their products in a different way and they certainly succeeded.

Before researching this campaign I had no idea that the futsal tournaments were played worldwide, I only thought it was in Portland. I also had no idea how many more views World Cup ads get compared to Super Bowl ads

The Magistas were worn by Mario Gotze who scored the winning goal in the final