Ad Track: Adidas ad takes a different path — and it works

By Michael McCarthy, USA TODAY

If you're a TV watcher these days, you've probably noticed that the commercials are looking more like music videos — even as music videos are getting to be like commercials.

Gone in large part are the dialogue-heavy TV ads of the past, with actors emoting hackneyed lines of dialogue. Instead, we see hard-driving commercials featuring pop music, sleek product images and copy lines.

Some spots have no actors whatsoever, which doesn't make ad agencies popular with the Screen Actors Guild.

Many ads have no dialogue — not even a voiceover — just popular music tracks laid down over images of the product.

Examples of the Madison Avenue goes MTV trend:

•Apple Computer's iPod commercials from TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles quickly are becoming iconic. They feature the music of bands such as U2 along with images of young consumers dancing in black silhouette against bold-colored backgrounds to tunes from the familiar white iPod and headphones.

•A new Nike spot by Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, Ore., pays homage to the 1981 film Chariots of Fire. The spot shows barefoot runners training on the beach to the Oscar-winning film's well-known musical score.

•Mitsubishi and ad agency BBDO, New York use performance artists banging drums to herald the 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse.

Adidas also chose the long and winding musical road to launch the Adidas 1, a computerized running sneaker that it touts as the "world's first intelligent shoe." The athletic giant teamed with TBWA/Chiat/Day, San Francisco and Being John Malkovich director Spike Jonze to create a special effects-filled spot that's part dream, part fantasy.

From the beginning, Adidas knew music would be key in TV commercials attempting to sell the high-end $250 shoe. The athletic company's target market is consumers 14 to 22 years old. Adidas had to create music that was "as unique and disruptive" for the iPod generation as the bionic shoe, says Uli Becker, global communications chief for Adidas.

To make that happen, TBWA/Chiat/Day bypassed the usual candidates who compose advertising tunes and jingles, says Chuck McBride, North American creative director for the agency. Instead, McBride hired composer Squeak E. Clean and alternative rocker Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Jonze's brother and girlfriend, respectively) to create and perform a song called Hello Tomorrow.

The song also was released at Apple's iTunes digital music store. It sold so well, it nearly cracked the top 10, along with songs by Gwen Stefani, Will Smith and Rob Thomas. "There's an old saying: 50% of the emotion in film comes through music," McBride says.

Consumers seem to be grooving to the musical approach, according to the results of Ad Track, USA TODAY's weekly consumer poll.

Of those familiar with the spot, 25% like it "a lot," higher than the Ad Track average of 21%.

Men like it more than women do: 28% vs. 23%. And a healthy 27% of consumers think the spot is "very effective," higher than the Ad Track survey average of 21%.

Best of all for Adidas: The spot scores highest with 18-to-24-year-old consumers: An eye-popping 44% say the spot is "very effective."

Becker notes that these technology-savvy young consumers have grown up with the Internet, cell phones, PCs and fax machines. "They're very receptive to everything that hits the market, whether it's games or cell phones," he says.

"This is not a commercial for older people," McBride says. "It's a spot for young people who are moving into the future — but they're not sure what the future holds yet."