Nike: How Quick Are You Going to Get Up?

Nike has done it again. The marketing genius from ad agency Wieden+Kennedy continues to roll out creative ideas that tug at the emotions of athletes. And they've been at it with Nike since 1982. The newest ad "How Quick Are You Going to Get Up?", depicting athletes from most all competitive arenas Nike sells product in, is another notch in the belt for W+K and Nike.

As Nike states on its Facebook page, "The road to greatness is not marked by perfection, but the ability to constantly overcome adversity and failure."

The ad starts with a sprinter lining up at the starting blocks. But this is no ordinary sprinter, he's donning prosthetic racing legs called Blades and he's known as "the fastest thing on no legs". His name is Oscar Pistorius and he's the perfect athlete to draw you in to the commercial.

Add in athletes like Deron Williams (NBA), Sergio Aguero (soccer), Maria Sharapova (tennis), Mike Spinner (BMX star), LaDainian Tomlinson, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson of MMA fame and Livestrong creator Lance Armstrong and one can see how far Nike's brand reaches. W+K has successfully tied all these brands together, an impressive feat.

While the lineup of powerhouse athletes in this commercial is quite astounding, what stands out most is the addition of Nike 6.0 athletes into traditional ad spots. No brand has successfully reached the action sports crowd and tied that with their traditional stick and ball athletes like Nike. Growth of Nike 6.0 (surf, snowboard, BMX, moto, wake and free ski) has been tremendous over the last several years, gaining clout with the action sport masses -- a finicky spending force in the crucial 18-24 demographic. A demographic Vebe Visual has had a strong tie to over the last several years working with KTM and Husaberg.

"It's not how you start, it's how you finish. It's not where you're from, it's where you're at. Everybody gets knocked down, how quick are you going to get up?"

Did Nike miss an opportunity by not having its golf superstar Tiger Woods make an appearance? Considering how well the words in this song fit his personal struggles and toppling of his brand image, I'd say yes.