Simplicity is often the father of genius.
The new Nike SB television commercial (SB being an acronym for Skateboarding for those of you who don’t get time to shred) ‘Today was a good day’ is a brilliant example of simple genius.
The spot has began to pick up an awful amount of industry heat and a couple of hundred thousand views on YouTube in under just two days, no mean feat for a campaign that doesn’t really cover the most common-or-garden of pursuits.
In fact this is made more impressive by the fact that Nike SB’s history has been anything but a smooth ride
In 1997 Nike launched a skate line, accompanied by a glitzy ad campaign from Goodby Silverstien and Partners which was lauded by the ad community but was wholesale laughed at by skaters worldwide.
The anti-establishment, DIY nature that embodied the skate scene was the first hurdle. Skaters were abhorred by a big multi-national muscling in on their patch, not only that but the cheesy nature of the executions just weren’t going to cut it with the street savvy riders.
After alienating the skate community, Nike had to go back to the drawing board.
Nike's reeducation began in 2000, when Sandy Bodecker, (now the head of Nike Skateboarding) became interested in relaunching the brand as part Nike’s push into action sports. Bodecker determined not to make the same mistakes as before, conceded his lack of knowledge and reached out to the skate community for help.
A knowledgeable hand came in the form of Robbie Jeffers, the hugely well connected manager of the Stussy skate team in California. At first skeptical, Jeffers was eventaully convinced that Nike was in it for the long-haul and he and Nike began to lay down the foundation of the new SB business model.
Nike and Jeffers agreed on three essential points: Nike needed to commit for 5 years, include skaters in the design processes and reissue the mythical Dunk shoe (now a classic iconic shoe for Nike).
In 2006 Nike SB launched a simpler low key execution, this time talking directly to the skate community and featured a world class skater they respected (P-Rod) as the focus. The spot was released to a much more positive response… It looked like the research was beginning to pay off.
Fast forward 11 or so years, three websites and 420 models of skate shoe later and a hugely succesful image for Nike SB has been built on the hard lessons learned by their initial faliure.
Harvest Films Santa Monica and directorial team The Hoffman Brothers, have delivered the newest instalment of the SB saga and can be happy with the fact that they have created a bit of a classic.
Skaters will love the purist street riding as well as a cameo from Lance Mountain, Hip Hop fans will whoop at the inclusion of westcoast superstar Ice Cube and for all others who havent got a clue who any of those cult stars actually are, the narrative played out is interesting enough for even your great Auntie Mabel to like.
So it covers all bases and tickles a multitude of different peoples tastes - which, for what is ostensibly a hardcore skate brand, is pretty impressive.
What lessons can the ad industry peeps take from this tale you ask?
If you want to get your message just right…
…keep it simple.
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