Comments on: “Training Day” Steve Nash’s effort for Nike — does it spell doom for ad agencies?

By: Mark G.

Mark G. — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:06:58 +0000

One name that has been left out in all of this is John Perry. His creativity and vision was behind the majority of the shots and the look of the piece.
I understand he and Schnabel fell out once the footage was shot.
The fact his contribution is not acknowledged is a travesty.

By: Darryl M

Darryl M — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:24:23 +0000

So if this ad wins an industry award, I assume the credits will read like this:

Client: Nike
Agency: Steve Nash
Executive Creative Director: Steve Nash
Creative Director: Steve Nash
Art Director: Steve Nash
Copywriter: Steve Nash
Agency Producer: Steve Nash
Account Manager: Guess who?
Director: What? Not Steve Nash

By: girlwithglasses

girlwithglasses — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:15:38 +0000

I’m not going to get all philosophical here. It looks like another gritty depiction of how awesome modern life supposedly is…at least when you are an NBA player in the off-season. I don’t think keeping the company a secret until the very end of the commercial is a new idea either. There’s probably some fancy advertising word for that. For me, it’s a one time thing that looks nice and probably sells products, not just hits on YouTube. Good for them. Moving on…

By: Mikey

Mikey — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:10:50 +0000

Why would these kids idolize Steve Nash anyway? Don’t they know who Juan Cabral is?!

By: True

True — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:50:17 +0000

@Tubbs:
So, you’re really going to claim you know more about being an MVP point guard than Steve Nash? I don’t think anything I said implies Steve Nash could crank out oneshow-winning spots for beer or soda or whatever.

I’m not even saying the spot he did about himself is fabulous. It’s pretty good, but probably owes most of it’s popularity to the fact he did it himself.

All I’m saying is that advertising agencies should be willing to collaborate more. The creatives have mad skills to bring to the table, but so do other people, and we should take advantage of that.

By: dogcatcha

dogcatcha — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:41:44 +0000

OMG Lola Schnabel, the next Sofia Coppola. The thing is, guys, if you step back and stop worshiping at the altar of Nike/W+K, this spot is as generic as it gets. Which doesn’t mean that brands (and agencies) won’t start finding unique ways of getting around the awful bloated absurd ad-making process that currently exists. One way is to just give control to celebs. Diageo did this with Ciroc, handing it over to Diddy, and the results have been pretty disastrous in terms of sales.

By: whatever

whatever — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 05:37:45 +0000

Well, first of all, the spot ain’t all that. Second, it seems unlikely it only cost $30k. Unless Nash asked the director and editor to work for free. The film and transfer alone will eat up a sizeable portion of $30k. It’s not out of the question for athletes to have ideas about sports spots, just as actors will have ideas about movie roles and performances. Would it be possible to report on something current—or within your area of expertise?

By: required_name

required_name — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 05:04:02 +0000

“does it spell doom for ad agencies?”

are you serious? that kind of line should be in the national enquirer.

“water – is it the end of sand?”

By: ondownlow

ondownlow — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:24:38 +0000

Ohdrama:

You might be able to financially do it — but would it be any good?

And you are not factoring in the cost that the agency is going to charge for “the concept” — which is going to be at least five times (if not 10-50x) the entire budget of Nash’s production, correct?

By: ohdrama

ohdrama — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:19:13 +0000

how much did he pay lola schnabel to direct it? how much would an ad agency have to pay if her dad were for sale?

when i build budgets our stuff is so expensive because we have to bill by the man hour. give me a camera and a free director and skeleton crew and i could turn that shit out for 30k, as well.