How Nike's AdAge Ad of the Year Could Capture More Attention
Keith O'Brien
AdAge recently announced its 25 ads of the year, with Nike’s Sunshine coming in at number one. Similar to recent Nike ads, it demonstrates how runners persevere through the many challenges they encounter when getting in their daily activities. Scored by a cover of the 1940 song “You Are My Sunshine,” the ad quickly switches from one scene of inclement weather to another.
Key attributes of creative that often lead to high Attention Potential Scores include clear present messaging and minimizing focal points.
The ad’s Attention Potential score is 57/100. The ad performed relatively well, but there are certain scenes that could be enhanced to improve the overall score.
In the first scene, the runners are in the background and hard to decipher, leading to low attention potential. While the elements are a key component of the ad, the initial shot would perform better if there was a close-up of the runner to quickly draw attention and increase engagement.
It's the third scene that performs best, where the camera is focused on a woman’s face as she wipes away rain from her face and continues to run. It is the perfect marriage of making a human connection with the audience while incorporating the environment to demonstrate the challenges she is facing.
To improve the attention potential of this ad, Nike should test versions with more close ups of the runners and test versions where the music is not present throughout the entire ad.
What Marketers Should Do:
- Test every creative pre-launch to see how it performs for Attention
- Identify what scenes performed well and which could use adjustment
- Test the ad through again to ensure Attention Potential is greater