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The top five ads of the World Cup

By Mark Melling

June 20, 2014 | 4 min read

This summer has seen the creation of a raft of adverts celebrating sport and the World Cup. Mark Melling, AOL's director of video in Europe, takes a look at the top five ads, based on shareability, audience retention, storytelling and production values.

The ads were evaluated by Be On, AOL's premium branded entertainment platform.

Nike - The Last Game (Wieden + Kennedy)

Nike wins big with this third installment in its #riskeverything campaign that launched just three days before the games began. Running five-minutes long, this epic animated feature ,in the style of Pixar films, stars the retired Brazilian football legend Ronaldo as the guardian angel of risk-taking and creative footballers who have been replaced by a new breed of “perfect” football clones. See how Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan, Wayne Rooney and Neymar Jr’s animated selves take on the clones of an evil mastermind and witness Nike raising the bar with a creative concept that is not only fluid in its execution, but also tells a universal story that will make you smile, share and like.

Samsung - #Galaxy 11: The Training (Cheil Worldwide)

Samsung already kicked off a football themed campaign titled Galaxy 11 last November. The different videos have since recounted the story of the ultimate fantasy football team, featuring the likes of Messi, Ronaldo, and Casillas, who attempt to save the world from evil aliens. Produced in the highest quality, all the parts of the video campaign have so far gained significant viewership, the most popular being “Training” with over 54 million views on the counter. Samsung has even made its own World Cup anthem placed in this alternate reality.After over half a year of building an audience, Samsung’s campaign culminates in the fully animated two-part “Final Match” in which we see if Samsung’s team can save the world.

Beats by Dre - The Game Before The Game (R/GA)

Also released a few days ahead of the first whistle of the World Cup, the new ad from Beats by Dre brilliantly captures pre-game rituals of fans and players. Brazil’s Neymar Jr. is the main character of the story, which starts with him getting a motivational pep talk from his father. As they finish, the music kicks off, taking us on a journey around the world showing fans and players making their pre-game preparations.Well-cut scenes and the skillfully selected music do the trick and make the five minutes fly by leaving the viewer in a deep, almost spiritual, World Cup mood. There is Nike-ad feel to this video and even though this takes a similar aesthetic, Beats delivered something the former probably wouldn’t mind signing their name under.

Adidas - The Dream: All or Nothing (TBWA/Chiat/Day)

Adidas takes on a different approach from the brands on this chart and bets on real football moments in its World Cup ad series. The video features two of Adidas’ biggest names: footballer Lionel Messi and musician and recently signed Adidas shoe designer Kanye West. The union of the two works well. There are many traditional action-packed shots of players like Messi, Dani Alves and Bastian Schweinsteiger, but it is the unreleased song “God Level” from West, that really makes this video stand apart. Director Fernando Meirelles of City of God fame alternates between scenes of players’ dreams and matches. It gives the game a more serious tone and the viewers a choice: all or nothing. Pushing boundaries is the only way to play with the whole world watching, and so far Adidas is playing its own game.

McDonald's - Gol! (DDB)

With not a single burger in sight, this video from McDonald’s shows us five ordinary people with extraordinary football skills. This fresh and vibrant ad from one of the official sponsors of the World Cup takes place in the streets of Rio de Janeiro and features funny stunts and spectacular trick shots. Characters range from an elderly man jumping out of his wheelchair to balance a ball while standing on his hands, to a youngster making the church bells ring with precision shots high up into the bell towers.Along with the video, McDonald’s has also rolled out a new augmented reality app, called Gol! in which anyone can try to do these tricks by bouncing a digital football on the screen.

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