Nike's Phil Knight On How He Became A Believer in Advertising

This as an awesome, candid interview with Nike Founder and Chairman Emeritus Phil Knight. Touching on all things from the origins of the famed shoe brand, into dealing with athlete controversy (re: Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong), Knight gives a really interesting perspective on his personal and professional relationship with Dan Wieden, and the ad business in general.

Nike Ad: 'Basketball Never Stops'

Nike has told the NBA lockout to suck it, via an awesome ad they've put together combining hoop heroes at both the professional and collegiate level [Ed's note: no money was paid to any college athletes.  Just covering my ass here].  Just because the millionaires aren't getting their Maserati insurance covered right now, the game doesn't stop:

Nike Soccer Commercial's Are Like Michael Bay Movies

Slow motion camera work, bumping bass, Wayne Rooney voice over.  Wow.  Production value is high.

Kobe Bryant is, "The Black Mamba" - Directed by Robert Rodriguez

What an amazing find by Luaggz of Advertise Me...

Kobe and Robert Rodriguez team up the make "The Black Mamba."  Hilarious!  http://www.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikebasketball/en_US/

Google Chrome Capturing 10% of The Market

My love for Google Chrome is not hidden or shaded by any means.  I love it.  I love it like I love my Macbook Pro, my iPhone, and my '97 Nike AirMax's in all brown.  And you know what?  Everyone else is starting to love it too....

At the expense of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Google’s Chrome has secured a 10% market share for the first time ever, according to Web metrics company Net Applications. What’s more, Google’s Web browser more than doubled its share over the past year, beating its own expectations for market penetration. In 2009, Google hoped that Chrome would have 5% of the market by September 2010, and 10% for September 2011. “Unless Chrome stalls, Google’s browser should own a 16% share by September,” writes PCWorld. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer lost 1.4% points of usage share in December, the largest one-month decline in more than two years. According to Net Applications. IE’s total share fell to 57.1%, another record low for Microsoft’s browser. Overall, IE has lost 5.6% points in the last 12 months, and 10.7 points since IE8 was introduced in March 2009. Also of note, Apple’s Safari share of the market rose to 5.9% of the market at the end of the year, while Firefox and Opera Software’s Opera both gained small amounts of share last month to finish the year at 22.8% and 2.2%, respectively.

Let's face it, no one is competing right now with Chrome's open source app development environment and they are driving the way designers and developers approach the web. I'll drink a beer to open source right now!

AdAge's Viral Video Chart of The Week Revives Lebron and Nike

"Rise" by Nike was hands down one of th best creative spots I've seen in the past year or so. Wieden Kennedy continues to outwit and out-create their competition. I especially have a soft spot this week because two nights ago, I finally watched "More Than A Game." For those out of the loop, MTAG is a documentary filmed during Lebron James' senior year of high school, and tells the story of how he and his three best friends culminated a decade of playing together at the high school basketball national championships. While that description might paint a sports story, what you get is much much more. It's a story of boys to men, of race and city divisions, of father and son, and of the long pursuit of glory.

Anyhoo...Lebron is back on top of AdAge's Viral Video Chart. So check it out:

Nike's GreenXchange A Market For Sustainability Models

Why is that shoe so special? Well, it is the fact that they are constructed from 100% recyclable materials, including white leather, along with synthetic leathers, rubber from Nike Grind recycle material, polyester, and used EVA.

The need no introduction company Nike has partnered with a variety of companies to create an open forum for sharing IP on sustainable business models and techniques to build more conscious functionality. Nike has partnered with nine organizations, including Yahoo, Best Buy, Creative Commons, IDEO, Mountain Equipment Co-Op, nGenera, Outdoor Industry Association, salesforce.com, and 2degrees to form the GreenXchange, a Web-based marketplace that Nike claims will allow "companies [to] collaborate and share intellectual property (IP) which can lead to new sustainability business models and innovation." In other words, it's a giant think tank for corporate sustainability.

According to the Sustainable Responsibility section on Nike's corporate site, "Nike sees Sustainable Business and Innovation as an integral part of how we can use the power of our brand, the energy and passion of our people, and the scale of our business to create meaningful change."

Powerful words and moves from one of the leaders in environmentally friendly business. Hopefully this continues to shake off the sweat shop horrors the brand once faced.

Lace Up Save Lives; Fight AIDS in Africa

The folks at Nike Soccer have teamed up with some of the biggest footballers in the world (and Kobe Bryant and Maria Sharapova) to start pressing the Lace Up Save Lives campaign to raise awareness and money towards fighting AIDS in Africa....

There are thousands of ways to wear the laces and even more things to do with them, but there's only one way to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa, and that is why the laces exist.

Crossing both borders and sports, a group of some of the finest athletes in the world have come together to raise awareness about Africa's AIDS pandemic.

How it works

1. You purchase (NIKE)RED laces.

2. Nike is contributing 100% of its profits from the sale to the Global Fund and to soccer-based programs that help fight AIDS in Africa.

3. Funds are received by programs like Grassroots Soccer, which uses football as a framework to teach youths how to avoid contracting HIV/AIDS.

4. Funds are also contributed to The Global Fund to fund HIV/AIDS programs that support the purchase of lifesaving Antiretroviral (ARV) medication, training of medical staff, HIV testing and treatment to help prevent the transmission of the virus from pregnant mothers to their babies.

5. Life-saving knowledge is received by the next generation in Africa.


Only education holds a longterm answer for halting the spread of AIDS, and by wearing NIKE(RED) laces on their feet (or hands, heads, arms, waist…) Didier Drogba, Andrei Arshavin, Clint Dempsey, Denilson, Marco Materazzi, Javier Mascherano, Fabio Cannavaro, along with Maria Sharapova and Kobe Bryant want to encourage fans globally to "Lace Up Save Lives."

Learn more about Lace Up Save Lives and join the must-win fight against AIDS in Africa.

Since its inception, (RED)™ partners and events have generated over $135 million to the Global Fund and the number keeps growing.

Friday Sneaker Picks...

Two Nike classics and an adidas exclusive....


adidas Y-3 Honja Low

My favorite nike's of all time AirMax '97s....shown here silver on white.

Super hot pair of Nike Blazer Hi's. Red sole, suede front, and an awesome print.

The Nike ID iPhone App

Only a matter of time until fresh sneakers came out o the iPhone....

Sportswear giant Nike has a nifty application in the App Store that allows you to create custom sneakers and order them straight away, with just a couple of taps. The app is in fact a mobile extension of NIKEiD, a program that allows customer to order personalized Nike shoes straight from the manufacturer. And an excellent extension it is.

The free app (iTunes link) has been available on the App Store since the beginning of this month, but surprisingly there hasn’t been a lot of coverage about it. Even despite this excellent video about it (embedded below).

The software program allows you to select flashy looking sneakers that were custom designed by others and purchase them straight away, but there’s a lot more to it than that. For instance, you can dive into your photo library and select any image, after which the NIKEiD iPhone app will automatically detect which colors are in them and let you choose two for your own custom shoe. Or you can just use the Color Picker to select two colors you like.

Evidently, you can filter the results even more based on your specific needs (e.g. only shoes for men, unisex basketball clothing, etc.). Using the My Locker feature you can also save your favorite designs and access those you’ve customized on the NIKEiD website. Once you’ve selected a custom design you like, you can shake your iPhone to shuffle the colors, but you also get some options to genuinely personalize sneakers with your name, a custom logo or whatever you like.

Did I mention you can buy designs straight from the app?

Theo Walcott and Wieden+Kennedy = More Nike Magic

Ed Note: If the video doesn't want to show, click here (http://creativity-online.com/work/nike-walcott/17141)...

Paul Rodriguez, Ice Cube, and Nike Skateboards

Awesome commercial with P-Rod and Ice Cube repping Nike SB...great find from Luaggz.

A Day Late: The Ronaldo Presentation

A picture gallery for the introduction of Real Madrid's new number 9....


And an interesting video interview in as many languages as we can keep track of...

Why Sports Are Better In Other Countries

Check out Barcaona's celebration after they won the Champions League to complete the treble (European Cup, DOmestic League Champs, Domestic Cup Champs)...

Never Play HORSE With Lebron

Spike Lee’s Kobe Bryant Documentary Three Exclusive Previews

Premiering May 16th on ESPN, "Kobe Doin' Work."

Usain Bolt Making Cristiano Ronaldo Faster?

If what The Sun is reporting is in fact true, tthen there isn't a defender in the world who has a chance to defend Ronaldo, as if they had one to begin with.

CRISTIANO RONALDO has signed up the fastest man on Earth to help boost his deadly pace.
Olympic 100m champ Usain Bolt asked the Manchester United star for a signed shirt and Ron sent a message back saying he wanted a favour in return.

So footy-fan Bolt - who set a world record 9.69 seconds winning his Beijing gold last year - is planning a trip to Manchester for a training session with Ronaldo.

The Jamaican’s agent Ricky Simms said: “It’s definitely going to happen.

“We’ll sort something out when Usain comes to Europe to compete this summer.”

Gatorade Through The Ages

A great retrospective of Gatorade's ad campaigns through the last couple decades over at Oldest Living.

Just To Mark Tiger's Return To Glory

Kobe Bryant Is Selling Ankle Insurance

As a die hard Laker fan, I could talk for hours about the love- hate relationship I've had with Kobe Bryant over the last decade. I could also go on about how I think he has put out some of the uglier shoes over his career, dating back to his horrid adidas sneakers in his early career.

But today, I want to praise him for fully stepping into his role as the most marketable basketball player of the modern era (enter Lebron James argument, which I could make too but for the sake of this post I needed to take a side). 

Nike has always been the king of viral vids starring their greatest athletes, and NotMyBrokenAnkles.com is just the latest installment of their creativity.

For a walk down memory lane, check out Kobe leaping over an Aston Martin an then a snake filled pool.