Nike Hyperdunk Commercial

Ian Gulbransen
Blog #2

The advertisement I chose to dissect is for a basketball shoe made by Nike, the Hyperdunk. It starts off by introducing us to Terry (The victim) and we learn that he is at a “Hyperdunk Recovery Center.” He is asked to tell the story of why he is at the center and as he does the commercial begins to flash back and forth from the story being told to the actual event taking place. We are then introduced to Leroy Sharpstein, a young man who Terry had picked on and knew well. Leroy wanted to challenge Terry at a game of street basketball and Terry had no problem with that because he felt Leroy would put up no real fight and that the game was his to win. Minutes into the match however he took notice to the shoes (Nike Hyperdunks) that Leroy was wearing and that the game wasn’t going quite as easy as he had expected. He begun to get distracted by his hunger and fatigue and it happened, Terry got posterized (Dunked on) by Leroy. The most degrading thing that can happen to you on a basketball court took place and Leroy had gotten his revenge on the bully. The Hyperdunks were the difference maker and now Terry is being treated at the center for the humiliation.

This television ad plays to a target market who would understand the humor they use and the reasons they use it. Basketball players understand what it means to be dunked on and anyone who can relate to a guy standing up to a bully and getting his redemption can take away something from this ad as well. The Hyperdunks are front and center for maybe three seconds, but it doesn’t matter because this ad is showing you what these shoes can do for you. The message being that when wearing the Nike Hyperdunks you too can stand up to the bully and win or play basketball on another level than you’re accustomed to. The results are clear, but the strategy Nike is using makes this ad campaign unique.

Nike’s target consumer for the Hyperdunk is basketball players who purchase basketball apparel and footwear. They compete in that market with a number of companies like Adidas and they always stand out because they not only use superstar athletes, but they also tell stories and create a brand experience that basketball junkies get excited about. Nike’s Hyperdunk shoe is the lightest basketball shoe ever made and the R&D that went into it is really amazing, but instead of focusing on these points they decided to concentrate on just giving the consumer a reason why. They delivered on this front and by creating a creative story that infused humor and their product they were able to speak directly with the target market for their shoe. Nike created a campaign around the Hyperdunk that involved many mediums. They used Kobe Bryant in viral videos, created magazine and billboard ads showing the Hyperdunk flying by someone’s shoulders and TV commercials of “real” people using the product. The result of this advertising effort being that they were able to create an overall brand character centered on this shoe and all of the consumer benefits of buying it. This is something that their competitors can rarely duplicate and is what propels Nike’s business.

Nike advertises the brand over the product and the style in which they do so is usually both entertaining and original. This TV spot was no different, plus having it banned from TV didn’t hurt the buzz either.