Wednesday 1 May 2013

Nike 'Make it count' (Pre-reading for Friday's lesson)


In 2012, Nike launched a campaign called 'Make it count'. At the heart of the campaign was the idea that we step up, exercise and make every day count fully. Nike's campaign had several parts: viral video, youtube videos, posters, Twitter hashtag and website. Remember that a campaign means it will be across several platforms or there will be more than one product. This is in order to reach a wider audience using a variety of techniques.
 
The viral video, produced by Casey Neistat and Max Joseph, shows the two men travelling around the world in ten days with the Nike Fuelband. With over 8 million views and counting, the video spread quickly and worked on the audience's need to escape from the stresses of daily life and immerse themselves in something exciting (diversion).
 
 
 Alongside the viral video, there are also several black and white posters featuring a number of the UK's top athletes making personal pledges for 2012. It then encourages everyone else to join in on Twitter, by announcing their own goals via the hashtag #makeitcount.

Created by Wieden + Kennedy London and AKQA, the campaign includes a series of posters shot by photographer Adam Hinton, which show the athletes at the most intense (and at times painful-looking) moments during training. Each athlete's pledge is then written on top of the image. These vary from the straightforward – "Don't dream of winning. Train for it." from Mo Farah – to the stark: Paula Radclliffe's poster simply states that "nearly isn't enough". 
 
 
 



 
 


As well as being shown on poster sites and online, Adam Hinton's portraits were displayed in Nike's 1948 store in Shoreditch, London from January 18. "We wanted to show the sheer hard work and determination these athletes put into the sports they love," says Hinton of the images. "To be at the top of their game requires enormous amounts of blood, sweat and tears and they train hard, pushing themselves to the limit to get there."
 
There was also a further in-store component to the campaign at Nike's flagship London stores in Westfield Stratford City and Oxford Street, where shoppers were photographed alongside their own handwritten pledges, with the resulting images displayed around the stores. While no mention of the Olympics is made in the ads (Nike was not an official partner of the Games), the theme of the campaign and the decision to use UK athletes only makes it difficult not to link it to the event.

There is also a series of online films, directed by Joe Roberts, expanding on the theme. Mo Farah and Rio Ferdinand's films are shown below. Think about how you might write a semiotic analysis of these videos for Section A of your exam. We will be watching them on Friday and I will expect your input!
 
 



Source:

Creative review

Questions to consider:

1 Media Forms (12 marks) How is the video constructed to engage the audience?

2 Media Representations (12 marks) How are athletes represented in the advert?

3 Media Institutions (12 marks) What values and ideologies are present in this advert?

4 Media Audiences (12 marks) How does the advert try to convince the audience to use Nike products?


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