• Client: Buick
• Agency: McCann-Erickson, Detroit
• Principals: For Buick: Randall Tallerico, advertising director; Jill Cooley, advertising manager. For McCann-Erickson, Detroit: Pat Heffernan, group account director; Tom Parr, senior vice president/creative director.
• Media buy: National network and cable TV, especially in golf programming, along with online and print media through August.
Summary: Golfers on a public course near Orlando are taken aback when Tiger Woods appears out of the trees. They are even more shocked when he challenges them to a "closest-to-the-pin" contest on the 150-yard 12th hole. The prize: a new Buick Rainier. All the action is captured via 13 hidden cameras. The ad for "the official car of golf" teases a five-minute film of the action on www.buick.com, where consumers can enter a sweeps to play in a similar contest.
Grades
A- For creative. With Michael Jordan retired, Woods' prowess as an endorser is unrivaled, but he still seems one-dimensional off the golf course. This campaign shows us a more human side of Tiger, which helps contemporize Buick. The prize, a Buick Rainier SUV, is better highlighted in the five-minute film at www.buick.com, but with more iterations of this ad due, we assume that will change.
A For use of sports as a marketing vehicle. Effective sports marketing is all about tapping into aspiration. McCann effectively reels in the viewer by showing every duffer's dream: the chance to compete against Tiger and win.
