adidas presents Impossible is Nothing Olympics campaign

 

Jesse Owens, Nadia Comaneci and Haile Gebrselassie star in second wave of

'Impossible is Nothing Olympics' by 180\TBWA

 

Amsterdam, July 2004 - To celebrate the Athens 2004 Olympic Games this summer, adidas will launch part two of its global advertising campaign 'Impossible Is Nothing'. The Olympics campaign, created by adidas' global advertising agency 180\TBWA, the alliance between independent 180 Amsterdam and TBWA Worldwide, will run globally in over 50 markets as of July. Three new 30sec spots, entitled "Haile", "Nadia" and "Jesse" specifically target the 2004 Athens Olympics.

 

180 Amsterdam's Creative Director and Copywriter Richard Bullock explains: 'What else could better exemplify the notion of 'Impossible is Nothing' than the achievements of Olympians. This second burst of the campaign is a tribute to all those people who turn up every four years and refuse to accept the limits set by others.'

 

For this reason the three commercials focus on Nadia Comaneci, Haile Gebrselassie and Jesse Owens. There's the familiar theme of past and present in these spots, just as there was with the first three 'Impossible is Nothing' ads. For example the current world 100m champion Kim Collins encounters 1936 four time Olympic Gold medal winner Jesse Owens on the track, while 13 yr old gymnast Nastia Liukin literally follows in the path of the legendary Nadia Comaneci, the first gymnast ever to score a perfect "10". And the greatest runner of all time, Haile Gebrselassie takes on the seemingly impossible challenge of beating himself.

 

The outdoor component of the campaign, conceived and produced by 180\TBWA alliance partner TBWA\Chiat\Day San Francisco, features a rich stable of past and present adidas athletes, such as Justine Henin-Hardenne, Ian Thorpe, Kim Collins, Maurice Greene, Haile Gebrselassie, Tim Duncan, Muhammad Ali, Jesse Owens, Pyrros Dimas (Greek Weightlifter), Katerina Thanou (Greek Sprinter). The focus of the outdoor campaign is still 'Impossible Is Nothing', however, additional 'one liners' will be posted around the Olympic Stadium in Athens, like "Impossible is a dare", "Impossible is an Opinion".

 

The campaign is also featured online on adidas.com. 20 adidas elite athletes tell their personal 'Impossible is Nothing' story. In addition teenagers from all over the world who participated in the online contest "Impossible is Nothing Challenge" over the last two month are presented on the websites. The 14 regional winners, chosen by the online community, tell their inspiring stories and how they overcame the impossible.

 

For Erich Stamminger, member of the Executive Board of adidas-Salomon AG responsible for Global Marketing, 'Impossible is Nothing' captures in one short thought the essence of adidas as a brand: "'Impossible is nothing' is much more than a communication concept. This is what we think at adidas. It is what we feel - and what our athletes feel. The great success of the campaign proofs that this thought is also shared by our consumers."

 

The 3 spots "Haile", "Nadia" and "Jesse" were, conceived by the same creative team, 180 Amsterdam's - Richard Bullock and Dean Maryon - and shot at the same time as the first series of brand commercials and meanwhile Cannes Lion Gold Film winners "Laila", "Long Run" & "Stacy". Once again, these commercials were massively technical challenges. Old and new film is seamlessly merged into one.

 

All six films were directed by acclaimed New York based Park Pictures commercial director Lance Acord, famous for his DOP (Director of Photography) work on feature films like 'Adaptation', 'Lost in Translation' and 'Being John Malkovitch', music video's including Fat Boy Slim's 'Weapon of Choice'. Acord has also built a solid reputation as a commercial director.  

 

 

 

For more information please contact:

 

adidas Global Public Relations:

Bernd Feldmann                       T:         +49 9132 843 545

                                                E:         Bernd.Feldmann@adidas.de

 

180 Amsterdam Public Relations:

Suzanna Koppedraayer                       T:         +31 20 4222 180

                                                E:         SuzannaK@180amsterdam.com

 

TBWA Worldwide Public Relations:

Jeremy Miller                            T:         +1 212 804 1162

E:         jeremy.miller@tbwaworld.com

 


180\TBWA

‘IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING’ OLYMPICS

Creative Credits

 

Client:                                                 adidas International

                                                            Uli Becker, Head of Global Communications

 

TV & Cinema Credits:

 

Agency:                                               180 Amsterdam (180\TBWA)

Executive Creative Directors:               Peter McHugh (180 Amsterdam)

Lee Clow (TBWA Worldwide)

 

CD/Copywriter                                     Richard Bullock

ACD/Art Director:                                 Dean Maryon

 

Account Management Partner:                        Guy Hayward

Account Handling:                                Nathan Plowman, Melina Polly

Planning:                                             Josh Mandel

Executive Producer:                             Peter Cline

Agency Producer:                                 Cedric Gairard

Business Affairs Manager:                   Chris Barrand

 

Director:                                             Lance Acord

Production Company:             Park Pictures, New York

Executive Producer:                             Jackie Kelman Bisbee

Line Producer:                                     Deannie O’Neil

DP:                                                       Lance Acord

 

Editing House:                                    SpotWelders, Venice, CA

Editor:                                                  Eric Zumbrunnen

Editing Producer                                  Heather Kojima

 

Special Effects:                                   Digital Domain, Venice, CA

Special Effects Supervisor:                   Fred Raimondi

Special Effects Producer:                     Stephanie Gilgar

 

Sound Design:                                    Mit Out Sound , Sausalito, CA

Sound Designer:                                 Ren Klyce

 

Original music composed by: Ren Klyce @ Mit Out Sound, Sauslalito, CA

Nadia:                                                  “Stoic Piano”

Jesse:                                                 “Harmonium”

Haile:                                                   “African Piano”

 

Stock Footage provided by:                          

Image research/clearance:                  Nickerson Research, Los Angeles, CA

Lead researcher:                                 Susan Nickerson

 

Voice-overs provided by:                  

Haile”:                                                            Haile Gebrselassie

“Jesse”:                                               Kim Collins

“Nadia”:                                               Nastia Liukin

 

 

adidas athletes:                                 

“Haile”:                                                            Haile Gebrselassie

“Jesse”                                                            Kim Collins

 

Special guest stars:                            Nadia Comaneci, Jesse Owens, Nastia Liukin

 

Titles of TV commercials:                   “Haile”, “Nadia” and “Jesse”

 

 

 

180\TBWA

‘IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING’ OLYMPICS

Creative Credits

 

Outdoor Credits:

 

Agency:                                               TBWA Chiat\Day San Francisco, (180\TBWA)

Executive Creative Director:                Chuck McBride

Creative Director:                                Joe Kayser                                          

Art Director:                                         Brandon Mugar

Copywriter:                                          Aimee Lehto

 

Account Handling:                                Michael Allen, Mike Zlatoper

Planning:                                             Elena Hale

Print Producer:                                     Justine Enoch

Project Manager:                                 Connie Dorman

Studio Artist:                                        Eszter Balazs, Elisabeth Parker

 

Photographer:                                    Uwe Duettmann

 

US photography Producer:                Kim Comeaux

 

Europe Photography Producer:         Sabine Bolzen

 

IIN Olympic Photographer:               Andy Anderson

 

 

 

All media is handled globally by Carat International and by PHD in the UK
“Impossible is Nothing “

Commercials

 

“Haile”

 

In ‘Haile’, Haile Gebrselassie takes on the seemingly impossible challenge of beating himself. But then again, that’s exactly what he’s been doing for years – beating his own records. Technically the Haile commercial presented the production company with a unique set of problems”, different from the other spots in the campaign. All in all, nine different Haile Gebrselassie’s would be running together in a single 10,000 meter race. Each one would require separate shoes and wardrobe as well as individual performance cues to help differentiate them. The commercial was shot over two consecutive nights at the Long Beach Memorial Stadium.

 

“Nadia”

 

After coming up with the idea for a choreographed routine on the uneven bars the 180 Amsterdam creative team, Richard Bullock and Dean Maryon racked their brains for a suitable gymnast to work with Nadia Comaneci. “Why not just ask Nadia?” One name came straight back from Nadia Comaneci. “You should use Nastia Liukin.” And so, 13 year old Nastia Liukin along with her father, two time gold medalist Valeri Liukin flew in from Texas to spend two days making Nastia’s first television commercial. Valeri’s knowledge and creative choreography was invaluable in devising believable moves around Nadia’s famous perfect ten routine. Nastia was actually born in Russia, and both her parents are former gymnasts at Olympic and world championship level. The highlight of the shoot was a phone call from Nadia Comaneci herself, to wish Nastia all the best for the shoot.

 

Kim & “Jesse”

 

Long Beach memorial stadium served as the backdrop to the recreated 100 meter run that spanned over 60 years. St. Kitts and Nevis world 100m champion Kim Collins playing the role of the latest sprinter who goes out there to attempt the impossible. Jesse Owens wore spikes that were hand-made by Adi Dassler the founder of adidas. Incredible attention was given to recreating the exact period uniform and original running spikes of the adidas athletes from each decade. The commercial took two days to shoot under extremely hot conditions.