Alistair Campbell is the advertising manager for Nike based in Beaverton, Ore. I spoke to him using my cellular phone device about his experience on the set of Nike's newest basketball commercial, titled "The Second Coming." The commercial features 10 of the best professional basketball players in the NBA, including Cleveland's Lebron James, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Steve Nash from Phoenix, playing a pickup game.
Trudeau: What's the creative process like over in Beaverton? Who comes up with the actual ideas for the commercials?Alistair Campbell: We work with an advertising agency, Wieden+Kennedy. They're the ones who come up with a lot of the classic Nike ads. They wrote the line "Just Do It." We develop the creative brief and a strategy and then come to them. A couple weeks later they get back with a couple different ideas.
I couldn't help but notice certain big-time players were featured less than others. Do you have to manage egos on camera too? Absolutely. It's a very tricky balancing act. That's probably the reason why most of our commercials - we don't have 10 different guys. That was a big deal to get our 10 best athletes to appear in the Air Force One campaign. Each guy expects he is going to get more face time than the next. We knew that going in, and I thought we did a pretty good job of making sure each guy got some face time. In a 60-second commercial, there's not much time to go around.
What's the dynamic with the players like during the shoot? Is there any trash talking or messing around? The guys got along great. One of the cool parts of the job was getting to be there and be around those players. It's not often that those group of guys are there together in one place, they definitely got along, joked.
Are the in-game shots staged, or do they get to actually play unscripted ball?There was some stuff where we'd say, "Amare, get on the court," and tell him to go dunk. We just made sure we got individual shots of guys doing stuff, and then at the end of the day we told them to just do go out play.
How'd you make Steve Nash seem so badass?He can just play. When he is just standing there on the set it doesn't really look like it, but once he is out there with a ball in his hand his play speaks for himself. The respect that he has from all the other players is tremendous. They recognize there is a reason he has won two MVPs.
If there were stats for commercial making (unselfishness, screen presence, professionalism, humor) who might have the best line?Not surprisingly, LeBron and Kobe are both amazing individuals. Their games on the court are amazing, and they have the magnetic personalities to go with it. They are just interesting people to be around. They're outgoing, boisterous and a lot of fun.
How do you decide which Nike players to target when you do an ad like this one that features so many different players?The concept called for 10 players. Quite simply, we wanted to pick our best 10 and the 10 that represented the future of the game. We tried to get the best available. We couldn't get Dirk (Nowitzki), Vince Carter and Manu Ginobili.
What was your fondest memory from the shoot?The ad was shot in an airplane hanger, which was convenient because most of the players came by private jet. It was just incredible watching them land, and another amazing NBA star would come out. Then a few minutes later another jet would arrive with another player.
What's up next for Nike commercial ads?Up next in the basketball world will be Kobe. His shoe is called the Zoom Kobe 2. Launches in early April.
You're three hours behind on the West Coast, what's it feel like perpetually living in the past?It's great because you don't have to stay up past midnight to watch the end of Monday Night Football.
