Nike's New Ad: Tiger as a Toddler

Have you seen the new Nike golf ad on TV? I am referring to the computer animation version that portrays a toddler Tiger Woods winning the British Open golf championship. It's pure entertainment. The computer-graphic wizardry that created this spot is spectacular. To top it off, the commercial is loaded with emotion and nostalgia. The ad is a branding spot for Nike--pure soft-sell impressions of the brand name and swoosh icon. I'm not sure how much Nike Golf merchandise the spot will move due to its softness, but it certainly cements the psychological transferrence between Tiger Woods and the Nike brand.

Some times it's fun to take off the marketing guru hat and simply let oneself be entertained by a world-class production like this one. I loved this TV spot for a variety of reasons.

One thing that is interesting is that even though Tiger Woods is only 29 years old, in so many ways he is the hero of Baby-Boomer men in America today. For this generational cohort group, golf is an important part of the psychographic makeup. In the late 1990's the mercurial Mr. Woods came along and reinvented the game of golf, eclipsing everyone in his path. So instead of rooting for their contemporaries such as Watson, Faldo, Couples, Kite or Love, the Boomer men have accepted and adopted Tiger as their icon, by and large. To underscore this connection, the folks at Nike have cleverly used a musical track from the 1970's to accompany the amazing visuals.

I wish that
I knew what I know now,
when I was younger.
(Song: "Ooh La La" by The Faces)

One last thing--the timing of this ad was brilliant! Nike took a chance, producing this ad around the 2005 British Open ... and timing its release to coincide with the actual event. There was no way for Nike to know that Tiger would win. I suppose that even if Tiger had played poorly, the TV commercial would still be remarkable. But alas, Tiger captured the Claret Jug once again, making the folks at Nike ... and their ad agency ... look like marketing geniuses! Wow!