23 Sept, 2013
Creating an advertisement that gets the desired impact in a minimum amount of time is an art that finds tremendous value in the market today. Adverts that would grab viewers or readers, and attract them to the products they endorse, is just a gist of what advertising as well as manufacturing companies strive to do to capture the attention and patronage of their prospective consumers. To sell of a product is the major goal of almost every advertisement. There are many creative methods applied, from featuring a notable celebrity to endorse the product or through simple yet powerful imagery. The more creative the advertisement is the more is the chance of the viewer and consumer to buy the product or use the services. What is most important is a product endorsement or an advertisement in any form, be it in print, or in audio visual media, the advertisement must be able to incorporate a feel good factor amongst its viewers about the product. Nike is one such brand company that does this pretty well. The commercial videos they come up with are very versatile. Many of their printed and audio visual commercials include individuals working out fitness regimes and promoting health and sports. Some of their bigger budget and more popular commercial videos include prominent players exhibiting their tremendous skills using Nike products. Their criteria are that people try to immolate their role models. Hence, if a popular player endorses a product the viewer of the commercial will buy it for the purpose of either self-satisfaction or for just knowing that their favorite player uses the same product. The advertisement discussed here is also an endorsement of a Nike product, the Tiempo Legend Shoes. The video went live in August 2006 on the Nike official website as well YouTube, and featured the great soccer player Ronaldinho, exhibiting his tremendous football skills wearing a pair of Tiempo Legend shoes (Nike). The advertisement concept has excellent impact with such a prominent world class football personality like Ronaldinho, as is evident from the comments and discussion that followed the video posted on YouTube (Teammac05). The commercial video is a very simple depiction of how Nike finds a good use for athletes and how athletes include the brand products in their training regimen and is video graphed in a very simple manner. There are no accompanied music sequences in the video which makes it all the more intriguing.
The video begins at a point where a representative from Nike enters a practice session and walks upto Ronaldinho carrying a box with Nike emblazoned on it. This Nike logo print on the golden box creates the initial impact of the brand name. Though at the beginning the brand name seems unclear but as the video develops further the name becomes crystal clear to the viewer. The video is very casual as it seems to be taken from a high resolution phone camera. Ronaldinho appears to be resting, sitting on the ground. The representative shakes hands with Ronaldinho and begins to unpack the box without any delay, a key element for any commercial video clip.
While Ronaldinho puts on the shoes presented to him, he seems very confident and comfortable. The way Ronaldinho stands and begins to play with the ball with full control, his expertise is reflected and how his feet respond so well to his thoughts with the Tiempo Legend shoes on (Nike). He seems to be in complete rhythm creating an image of “made for each other” between Ronaldinho and the shoes. This image also emphasizes on the compatibility factor of Nike products with high class of accuracy and the amount of comfort and ease they provide. The way Ronaldinho stands and walks towards the penalty line and faced the goal posts, it clearly depicts the comfort and confidence level he carried with the Tiempo Legend shoes on. As Ronaldinho dribbles with the ball and shows his controls and maneuvers, it shows how much he enjoys the practice with these new shoes on (Circle Mp3 Engine). This is very important for any product to give it a completely customized look and feel, a product in accordance with its consumers’ choice. Any customer who will prefer to purchase this product will immediately re-call this commercial video clip. It may even be possible that buyer may by the shoes just because of his or her enthusiasm to be like Ronaldinho and to emulate him and his skills.
What follows is a spectacle in itself as Ronaldinho begins to kick and bounce the ball of the goal posts, and the ball bounces and returns to him from the exact spot for further dribbles (Teammac05). When one considers the complete concept of the video clip it appears as if wearing the shoes has enhanced Ronaldinho’s targeting skills to a new level, although it is unclear if that is really what happens in the commercial video. Ronaldinho manages to kick the football in almost the same place of the goal post and returned back to him for further dribbles. He then dribbles it further and sends it back repeatedly to the goal post for more dribbles
After Ronaldinho is done dribbling and shooting the football on to the goal posts he comes back to the representative and has a hand shake with a smile, which clearly shows his level of satisfaction with the shoes (Nike). The natural and informal setting of the video in a training ground makes it seem even more realistic, more natural (Teammac05). However there is a lot of room for modification and enhancement in this advert clip. The video clip needs to have more focus on the product and brand to get better market hits.
There were some elements that could have well been incorporated into the video without disturbing its superb simplicity. One such addition could have been showing Ronaldinho wearing socks with Nike logo on them, which could have enhanced the overall impact of the video. Another element that would grab the attention of the viewer would be more time and focus on Ronaldinho’s dribbling, which would lay focus on both Ronaldinho skill with the ball and the better controls the shoes have to offer, not to forget the close up detail of the shoe itself without making the emphasis obvious. This element would add to the image of better quality of the Tiempo Legend shoes along with comfort and confidence level they provide to their wearer (Teammac05). The video clip has some detailing like football cones, which could have been used for showing different kinds of dribbling and running skills. One more point the remains highly unclear is that whether it is Ronaldinho’s own skills or the Nike product that makes all the difference. The video has a catch in its simplicity however there could be an inclusion of some captions or simple transitions that would further suggest how Ronaldinho was able to strike the same spot of the goal post each time. This would have made the Nike brand name more prominent (Nike).
The method of videography used in this commercial clip is like that of a chronicler, which usually includes an amateur videographer recording a video using a personal video camera or a phone, however there could have been more clarity in the video. The shakes however made the whole experience of watching the video very personal one, as the unsteadiness of the camera accentuated the overall informal impact of the video. The best part is the exclusion of any music with only the real sounds of a training ground as the background effects, which makes the video starkly peaceful in the beginning, setting stage for the kind of spectacle Ronaldinho is about to show. The visual effects are also very good and although such shots are hard attempt just once, the video manages to make people believe that the football has been kicked in that fashion again and again. All in all the commercial video turns out to be a very good experience and a great yet simple method to endorse a product. It does provide the visualization of the purpose of the product, the element relate-ability and the level of comfort that is demanded of such commercials and manages to strike all the key requirements that a commercial video clip must possess to impress its viewers.
Works Cited
Nike. Inspiration and Innovation for every athlete in the world. Nike Inc. 2013
Teammac05. Ronaldinho Nike ad. YouTube.com. 2 Aug, 2006
Circle Mp3 Engine. Freestyle-Football-Skills-On-Training-Ii-Ronaldinho-Neymar-Lucas-Moura-And-Ors. DMCA.2013
