M. Jordan's back

Now that the world cup is over, sports fan from around the world have some free time to dedicate to other favorites. It might be a coincidence, but this week was a big one for Michael Jordan in the North American advertising landscape.

Starting with his own company, Air Jordan, we've seen the legend of basketball participate in a great celebration of the Yankees' veteran Derek Jeter.



This great tribute and demonstration of RE2PECT to a legend of baseball rally us all behind the great story of a loyal athlete, an example on and off the field for a generation of players to come. And why not help a bit with the Jordan brand?

On the other hand, we've seen MJ goof around in Hanes newest summer commercial. Celebrating his 25th anniversary as the brand's spokesperson, it's the first time since 2010 that we see the retired player in one of their TV spots. It surely contrasts with the Jeter ad, but it's quite effective in its humourous appeal.



Seeing Michael Jordan in the spotlight sure brings us back in time, but it's hard to contest his efficiency in either of these spots. Even though advertising and marketing is all about innovativeness and freshness, why change a winning formula ?

Tell us what you think when you see "old" celebrities brought back to life to support brand and campaigns

Lucky You Brazil, Lucky You

We know this blog is becoming inundated with World Cup related content, and we also know that this campaign is a bit of a blast from the past, but with the German’s taking it all home yesterday, lets go back to where these games started, marketing-wise.

Embratur, Brazil’s tourism department, worked with the Sao Paolo based Neogama/BBH to bring to life the “Lucky You” campaign just over a year ago. This campaign, which was aired during the schedule announcement for each of the World Cup games, aimed to bring Brazil to the world in a facet beyond just soccer, and in the timeliest fashion.  

Armed with pre-prepared content, marketers took over a Neogama boardroom the for the duration of the announcements. Every time a match was announced, this pre-ready content would be mix and matched together to create a relevant ad in real-time, that was released within the day.

For example, when England was announced to play in Manaus, Neogama/BBH was quickly able to put together this ad, which features a British gentleman living in Brazil who describes the wonder of the area from his perspective. 

Aimed at reaching the consumer as they worked to book trips to see the Cup, these ads helped to broaden the tourism appeal of the country beyond just the soccer matches. The real time release, and in-depth preparation of the campaign are impressive features that separate this effort from the usual.

In an industry striving toward real time interaction, Neogama/BBH hit a home run. This year's World Cup achieved attendance records, something that was undoubtedly spurred by this campaign.