• by Erik Oster , March 14, 2024

Audiences will be familiar with the golf pros who star in Bridgestone Golf’s ad for its new Mindset ball --  namely, Tiger Woods, Jason Day, and Fred Couples -- but will also find an element less in line with expectations: a literal depiction of a wandering brain.

The animated brain was developed to depict the type of distractions golfers face, distractions which the Bridgestone Mindset golf ball purports to help quiet. Bridgestone’s Mindset ball features a series of three color-coded icons developed to remind golfers to narrow their focus as they line up their shot -- a distillation of a much more complex process of focus and visualization employed by performance coach Jason Goldsmith in working with professional golfers, including Day.

To bring the inspiration behind their innovation to life, the brand teamed up with agency ASO to develop a concept that showcased the distraction-quieting mindset.  They ultimately decided on a "wandering mind” as personified by a literal brain wandering around the screen.

In the initial stages, ASO employed AI technology to demonstrate what such an approach might look like.

Explaining why the approach ultimately stood out, ASO CCO Ryan Mikesell told Marketing Daily, “It’s something we’re all familiar with: losing focus. This physical character of this wandering mind roaming around, bumping into things, [encapsulated] not focusing on what you should be.”

Bridgestone and ASO worked with Los Angeles-based writer, director and comedian Jay Larson to shoot the ad featuring its trio of well-known golfers, and design/animation studio ODD to bring the final version of the wandering mind character to life with CGI in post-production.

The ad’s balance of humor and seriousness is nothing new for the brand, according to Mikesell.

 “Bridgestone has a history of really leaning into technology stories as well as humor,” he said. “They look at themselves as serious people, but don't take themselves too seriously. They like their advertising to have that humorous element. So we felt it was important to sell the seriousness and not [double] down on the humor [in a way that] undermines that.”

“Wandering Minds” debuted on broadcast  March 13, on the Golf Channel, and the campaign will also run across digital and paid social channels. Part of a broader campaign for Bridgestone Golf, it will be followed up with another ad starring Tiger Woods next month, followed by a third ad more focused on the technical aspects of Bridgestone’s approach.