Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Tiger redux

Earl brings Tiger back




Before Tiger, there was Earl, Tiger's father.

Earl was the originator, motivator, tee-er-upper, and driver.

Earl was the man who pulled the driver out of the bag and Tiger was the ball that flew down the fairway.

Now Earl is back, Tiger looks at us, and listens -- as we listen -- to thoughts from Earl, delivered with a questioning sincerity.

It's Nike advertising, of course.

But if this is Earl's real voice, or even just Earl's thoughts, it's powerful enough.

If any marketer had to re-think and rebuild, it's Tiger.

If any marketer had to personally participate in the rebuilding, it's Tiger.

He had to open private memories for this renewal to happen and make a very big emotional contribution.

Nike stepped to the edge. Tiger went with them. And Nike's creative team said, just look at the camera for us, Tiger. So he looked. The camera rolled. And Earl spoke.

How else would you re-enter the candidate? Could there be a better way? Would you have a better idea?

Tiger did more than could be expected.

Nike did well.