What These Wild And Crazy (Ad Agency Guys) Will Do For Adidas Golf!

Thanks to reader Stuart for Rich Thomaselli's AdAge look at the authentic outreach campaign by adidas Golf to circumvent the lack of organic social connections found in your every day television ads: send two finalists chosen unrandomly from an applicant pool of thousands who are will to do anything for a job working at adidas, and film the entire thing in a Survivor meets Big Break in the vein of Amazing Race social media campaign aimed at...golfers!?

Ironically, the two contestants -- Steve Olsen and Chris Dukeminier -- are from the agency world. Prior to the adventure, Mr. Olsen worked at Hiebing, a small marketing agency in Madison, Wisc., while Mr. Dukeminier worked at Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, Ore., on the digital media team for the Electronic Arts account. Both resigned their posts before taking on what is perhaps the world's longest job interview.

The irony!

"There is no question that working for an agency, specifically in digital, helped me land this gig," Mr. Dukeminier said via e-mail from Chanthaburi, Thailand, as he and Mr. Olsen got ready to go to South Korea for the next portion of the contest. A decision is expected Aug. 14, after the contenders return to the U.S., finishing up at Brandon Dunes Golf Course in Oregon.

I do hear Brandon is pretty this time of year.

Both men said they have been pleased with the amount of interaction taking place between advertising and social media.

"That said, I don't see epic TV spots ever going away or losing their effectiveness, but virtually no major brand can get away with doing just that anymore," Mr. Dukeminier said. "Many consumers like to interact with a brand via social media and learn about the brand through that channel as opposed to traditional advertising or marketing. That makes it crucial for brands like Adidas Golf to have a prominent social-media footprint."

That's a nice quote, but to get this job, we need more Ad-speak. Other former ad guy, show us your best stuff.

Said Mr. Olsen: "Social media is another touch point to reach consumers like print or TV. The difference is that social media is 24/7, changes daily and involves talking 'with' consumers and not 'to' consumers. This is a great space for Adidas Golf. Through my adventures so far, I have learned one amazing thing: the word 'Adidas' is universal. No matter what language, what country, this brand is global, and people are passionate about it."

Thatta boy. I know who just took the lead!

And adidas VP Harry Arnett, what do you say to those cynics out there questioning the authenticity of the campaign with two, gulp, "agency creatives"?

Mr. Arnett said he didn't think it made the "Wear in the World?" challenge (there is a customized website with this name that both contenders post to) disingenuous considering that with all the applicants, it was two agency creatives undertaking this challenge.

"Because we're actually hiring one of these guys to be our social-media guru, their résumés stuck out as guys who were media savvy," Mr. Arnett said. "That was really one of the biggest challenges -- the way we wanted to use social media and authenticity, we didn't try to necessarily find somebody who worked at an agency, we just wanted guys who were media savvy and could think on their feet and think quickly."

Or, do just about anything in front of a camera...love the background banner. It screams authenticity!