• Screenplays Magazine, Friday, August 10, 2007 11:45 AM

A new campaign by Nike, from agency Wieden+Kennedy, could pave the way for transforming DVRs from ad-skipping devices into a method for advertisers to actually engage their consumers. Nike is using interactive TV tools to forge a new "Quick is Deadly" campaign for both broadcast and Dish Network DVRs, in which 22 minutes of video are downloaded in the background to a DVR drive. When a Nike ad appears on any of 15 nets, like ESPN and MTV, the viewer gets an invitation to go interactive and can then look at additional content, such as short videos, games or long-form commercials.

As part of the effort, San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson and other top sports stars are featured in videos that show training to hone quickness. "There's also a game to test how fast you are with the remote control, and you can watch some of his quick moves and slow down or speed up," says Ensequence CEO Dalen Harrison. "It's showing the feature-rich capabilities being enabled by the DVR as an enhanced ad platform and not just an ad-skipping platform."

The Nike iTV effort is only on the Dish Network for now, but Harrison says Ensequence can allow distribution across multiple cable and other platforms. "You can imagine this same mechanism could work with cable VOD or cable DVRs, either one," he notes.

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