Welcome to Duke, Cooper Flagg!

LasVegas said:
So the team has to wear everything Nike? They can’t have any other brand on when walking around?
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I don’t see how Nike could (or would want to) dictate what players are wearing when just walking around, or why Duke would have agreed to it. Nike is paying to have the swoosh shown on the uniforms and games shoes when Duke is playing on TV or doing some sort of official appearance. That is where they get a return on their investment. Outside of that there is no real reason for Nike to care what players are wearing, to pay Duke anything to dictate what players are wearing, or for Duke to agree to spend time and resources enforcing compliance with such dress codes.

It seems like a pretty simple thing for Cooper and Duke to comply with the Nike contract while also allowing Cooper to sign a deal with NB.
 
I think we've discovered a whole new cottage industry, so to speak: Monitoring, 24/7, what the multi-NIL source athletes are wearing, and calibrating precise penalties. If, for example, they go rogue with their sleepwear, like maybe Lands End, instead of Under Armour [of course, who would do that?!] maybe they get docked a few basis points from the U A agreement. We'll need a lot of AirTags.

Years ago, I was a friend of the agent of one of MLB's top home run hitters. The player had an agreement to wear X brand's wristbands when he was batting. That was it, nothing more. The player frequently didn't wear any bands, or wore competitors' bands that he would pick up here and there. Drove the agent nuts to get irate calls from X, "Your guy isn't wearing our wristbands!" Btw, this kind of nonsense drove this agent, who was a very bright lawyer, and great tennis player, from the business. As Seinfeld said recently, there is some torture even in work we love.
 
Phredd3 said:
The vibe in the commercial was great. My problem with it is that, without this long thread to support it, I would never have remembered what the advertised product was.
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Which is one of many reasons why a marketing person like me dislikes the commercial. Even the shoes - which I assume are NB - are just lame. Is that really the best they can do?

My total guess is that this won't be a relationship that a) Lasts long and/or b) Prevents Cooper from endorsing other athletic products.
 
bluedevilwildcats said:
Which is one of many reasons why a marketing person like me dislikes the commercial. Even the shoes - which I assume are NB - are just lame. Is that really the best they can do?

My total guess is that this won't be a relationship that a) Lasts long and/or b) Prevents Cooper from endorsing other athletic products.
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I generally agree with you regarding the commercial and the shoes, but New Balance does seem to be making some serious moves in multiple sports - they have Ohtani (and came out with his signature Ohtani 1 spikes), and a bunch of others featured in those upbeat commercials that I've seen all over the place. Jamal Murray, Tyrese Maxey, Cameron Brink, Coco Gauff, Saka from Arsenal, and an up-and-coming Brazilian teenage soccer player, possibly others. Ohtani's cleats aside, the sense I get from the upbeat commercials is that they may be going for the ath-leisure market more than athletic performance footwear. I still have never liked the New Balance look.
 
roywhite said:
Guess who is winning the conditioning competition in early Duke team drills?

Duke Basketball Phenom Hits Deck to Beat Beep in Practice​


www.si.com

Duke Basketball Phenom Hits Deck to Beat Beep in Practice

Evidently, Cooper Flagg's extreme competitiveness extends to Duke basketball conditioning exercises.
www.si.com www.si.com
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Yeah, it's documented on @dukembb Instagram. Very impressive. The kid competes. And his teammates were cheering him on big time.
 
budwom said:
Yes, I'm resigned to the fact that nothing is marketed to me any more other than perhaps laxatives. As long is Cooper is happy why worry...
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Medicare supplement ads have got to be near the top for our age group.

It's also the time of year to gripe about incessant political commercials. Thank goodness for the ability to record shows and fast forward through the breaks.
 
roywhite said:
Medicare supplement ads have got to be near the top for our age group.

It's also the time of year to gripe about incessant political commercials. Thank goodness for the ability to record shows and fast forward through the breaks.
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I've DVRed everything for years now, no ads, political or otherwise, for me. My pal and I even start Duke football games on DVR 75 minutes after kickoff so we can watch straight thru with no ads...
 
bluedevilwildcats said:
Which is one of many reasons why a marketing person like me dislikes the commercial. Even the shoes - which I assume are NB - are just lame. Is that really the best they can do?

My total guess is that this won't be a relationship that a) Lasts long and/or b) Prevents Cooper from endorsing other athletic products.
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With utmost respect to Phredd3 and bluedevilwildcats,

I believe that the showing of Coop's wearing NB sneakers is all that was needed to connect with the Brand. Younger folks than me [which is most folks] don't focus on concepts, words and foreground images. They're looking for cues to assure them that whoever the ad is about, "Get's it." or, rather, "Get's them." NB's
ad, IMO, is predicated on a long-term bet that awareness of their brand, coupled with Cooper, will pay off.

There are also sub-texts that resonate, including: Being where you're from, no matter how inconsequential in the land of ESPN, etc, matters. Maybe, me, as a young baller from Nowheresville, hitting hoops in the driveway, can make it.
 
hustleplays said:
With utmost respect to Phredd3 and bluedevilwildcats,

I believe that the showing of Coop's wearing NB sneakers is all that was needed to connect with the Brand. Younger folks than me [which is most folks] don't focus on concepts, words and foreground images. They're looking for cues to assure them that whoever the ad is about, "Get's it." or, rather, "Get's them." NB's
ad, IMO, is predicated on a long-term bet that awareness of their brand, coupled with Cooper, will pay off.

There are also sub-texts that resonate, including: Being where you're from, no matter how inconsequential in the land of ESPN, etc, matters. Maybe, me, as a young baller from Nowheresville, hitting hoops in the driveway, can make it.
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Can you (or anyone) please explain the newspaper headline? "Cooper Flagg the Intelligent Choice." It's like if Irrelevant married Non-Sequitur, moved to a toxic landfill, and had a bizarro baby.
 
bluedevilwildcats said:
Can you (or anyone) please explain the newspaper headline? "Cooper Flagg the Intelligent Choice." It's like if Irrelevant married Non-Sequitur, moved to a toxic landfill, and had a bizarro baby.
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Ok, I finally broke down and watched the ad.

To brand Cooper as "The Intelligent Choice" is a pretty odd decision IMO.

I grew up in the 70s/80s, back at a time when black players were often described as athletic and white players were often described as smart or crafty. And then there's the factor that he's attending a college often hated for its academic elitism.

Cooper is the most-hyped white basketball player since who? He's also a freak athlete.

NB, if you're reading, here are some alternative ideas.

Cooper Flagg's Got Next.

Cooper Flagg. It's His Time.

It's Flagg Time.
 
LasVegas said:
So the team has to wear everything Nike? They can’t have any other brand on when walking around?
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Last year, the Duke social media team would often take pictures and videos of the players walking to Cameron for the game that day. The players were wearing their own street clothes (Ryan Kelly would often wear retro tshirts, which isn’t relevant to your question).

I recall Jeremy Roach often wearing ASICS shoes and recall an occasion or two of players wearing Adidas on their feet (I think it was Mark Mitchell).

I’m a former Nike exec so may pay closer attention to these things.
 
Au contraire, Duke is secretly admired for its academics and has a lot of fans among folks who are not sport nuts. This is all IMHO, where the H was suspended 1st semester sophomore year.

The ad folks and the marketers would have to be bound and tied to not head off in the "Intelligent Chance" direction.
 
SkyBrickey said:
Ok, I finally broke down and watched the ad.

To brand Cooper as "The Intelligent Choice" is a pretty odd decision IMO.

I grew up in the 70s/80s, back at a time when black players were often described as athletic and white players were often described as smart or crafty. And then there's the factor that he's attending a college often hated for its academic elitism.

Cooper is the most-hyped white basketball player since who? He's also a freak athlete.

NB, if you're reading, here are some alternative ideas.

Cooper Flagg's Got Next.

Cooper Flagg. It's His Time.

It's Flagg Time.
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SkyBrickey, You are one of my most favoritest posters, so I offer my response with my humblest IMMHO.

My view is that the purpose of the ad was not to showcase Flagg. He doesn't need that. VMLY&R and NB know all about Flagg's popularity, and they know that their target market knows all about Flagg.

My hunch is that they are trying to connect Flagg with their market. VMLY&R's research likely led them to believe that their demographic targets would respond well to viewing their emotional attachment to Flagg as also an intelligent choice.

One way that we will be able to determine the efficacy of the ad is whether we see it being replicated.
 
hustleplays said:
SkyBrickey, You are one of my most favoritest posters, so I offer my response with my humblest IMMHO.

My view is that the purpose of the ad was not to showcase Flagg. He doesn't need that. VMLY&R and NB know all about Flagg's popularity, and they know that their target market knows all about Flagg.

My hunch is that they are trying to connect Flagg with their market. VMLY&R's research likely led them to believe that their demographic targets would respond well to viewing their emotional attachment to Flagg as also an intelligent choice.

One way that we will be able to determine the efficacy of the ad is whether we see it being replicated.
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hustleplays, the feeling is mutual.

Everything I expressed was just my personal impression. And I doubt I'm the target audience!

I've run tech company marketing orgs in a prior life and worked with some of the big ad agencies. I didn't have a budget near the size of NB. I'm pretty certain they market-tested "The Intelligent Choice" and have a campaign strategy laid out. I doubt it was just a NB exec picking a favorite...

I'm just personally not a fan. But I may just be a grumpy old man. 🤪
 
In case it hasn't been embedded in the thread yet, here is a video of the ad from YouTube:


bluedevilwildcats said:
Can you (or anyone) please explain the newspaper headline? "Cooper Flagg the Intelligent Choice." It's like if Irrelevant married Non-Sequitur, moved to a toxic landfill, and had a bizarro baby.
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LasVegas said:
I think it’s just their brand motto like “Just do it”.
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LasVegas is correct. Here is an explanation:

www.complex.com

Cooper Flagg Signing to New Balance Is the Intelligent Ch...

Maine native Cooper Flagg signed to New Balance over Jord...
www.complex.com www.complex.com

The paper reads, “Cooper Flagg, the Intelligent Choice.” The same slogan can be seen on the tongue of his sneakers. It’s a smart play on the “Intelligent Choice” slogan New Balance has been using in recent years. Aime Leon Dore used in an ad for its 997s from 2019. The phrase traces back to the 1980s, when New Balance described itself on its shoe boxes, “A more intelligent approach to building footwear.”
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