Words of Wisdom From Wooden

Shortly after Adidas signed a $19-million sports-marketing deal with UCLA, advertising agency WongDoody began searching for an icon to represent the university’s varsity sports programs. The unlikely star of a quirky advertising campaign is 89-year-old retired basketball coach John Wooden, whose teams dominated collegiate play during the 1960s and ‘70s.

Some viewers complain that the edgy Adidas commercials are little more than a parody of Wooden’s old-fashioned demeanor. Others view the ads as a tribute to a coach whose style and grace continue to inspire subsequent generations of athletes and admirers.

The ads cast Wooden in the unlikely role of an action figure--imagine the respected coach as the hardwood equivalent of Obi-Wan Kenobi. In one spot, the Wooden doll advises a fallen runner that “the courageous struggle for a noble cause should be considered success in itself.” After the athlete jumps up and rejoins the race, a grateful track coach mumbles, “Powerful stuff.”

In another spot, struggling members of the UCLA cheer squad listen to Wooden’s words of wisdom and finally complete their human pyramid--a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Pyramid of Life that Wooden created decades ago to summarize his philosophy.

The new commercials mark the first step in a multiyear agreement in which Adidas will make an average annual cash payment of $1.3 million to UCLA, along with providing $1.3 million worth of shoes and athletic gear for the school’s 21 team sports. The ads are a subtle way of touting the relationship between Adidas and UCLA--a formula Adidas also is plying with such respected universities as Notre Dame.

WongDoody’s creative team says Wooden quickly emerged as the perfect icon for UCLA’s varsity teams. “At UCLA, all roads lead to Wooden,” said Michael Boychuk, senior art director in WongDoody’s Los Angeles office. “With Notre Dame, everyone knows the Fighting Irish, but UCLA doesn’t have a personality you can put your finger on.”

After initial research suggested Wooden, WongDoody employees visited the campus bookstore, where they found half a dozen books by or about Wooden.

“That’s when lights started to go off in our heads,” Boychuk said.

WongDoody’s Los Angeles office wasn’t sure how Wooden would react to the ads.

“We knew there was a good chance that any number of people wouldn’t like them,” said Tor Myhren, a senior copywriter. “We were really concerned that Coach Wooden wouldn’t react well. And he was the ultimate test.”

The ads drew some criticism as they were reviewed by UCLA, Adidas and WongDoody. “They sort of had been on and off of the deathbed any number of times,” Boychuk said. “We were getting nervous, so on the spur of the moment, we ran over to [Wooden’s] condo and sat there with him to read the spots.”

Wooden reacted favorably to the ads, Boychuk said, and even volunteered to record voice tracks.

“He responded to the fact that these spots promote what he’s been promoting for his entire life,” Boychuk said. “The things this man has to say are incredible. You don’t necessarily think that an 89-year-old man would be interesting to younger people, but his message is something people are interested in.”

Wooden, who was paid a fee for the use of his likeness and voice, declined to comment on the ads, but Tracey Morris, Adidas’ sports marketing manager for the UCLA contract, said “everyone associated with the ads is happy with them.”

Wooden’s appeal to today’s generation of UCLA students is surprising, according to some observers.

“Over the years, we’ve not had one client request a measurement of John Wooden’s appeal, which tells you something,” said Henry Schafer, executive vice president of Marketing Evaluations/TVQ Inc., a Manhasset, N.Y.-based firm that tracks recognition of famous names.

Glenn Toth, the UCLA associate athletic director who oversees the Adidas contract, also had doubts. “I initially thought that WongDoody was reaching way too far back in time,” he said.

Even after WongDoody’s market research proved that Wooden would click with today’s students, Toth wasn’t sure the story line would pass muster.

“When I read the scripts on paper, it wasn’t as impressive as I’d have liked it to have been,” Toth said. “I figured if Coach Wooden likes it, fine. But, doggone it, after I saw the spots, I said, ‘Wow!’ It definitely was a case of something looking so much better when it came to the finished product.”

The Adidas brand advertisements, featuring the slogan “The spirit of excellence. The spirit of UCLA,” are running during televised athletic events. Wooden also is featured in print ads and outdoor advertising on bus stops and telephone kiosks in Westwood that urge students to shop for Adidas shoes and apparel at the university bookstore.

WongDoody executives said they concentrated on such lesser-known sports as water polo and the steeplechase because commercials featuring the university’s best-known sports--basketball and football--would appear out of place most of the year.

The decision to pass on football has paid dividends given the team’s disappointing performance this year and embarrassment about a much-publicized handicapped-parking scandal.

Former Bruins note that Wooden’s pristine reputation ensures that his image won’t quickly fade.

“Generally speaking, you’d have to be an awfully cynical person to quarrel with any values he espouses,” said Ken Heitz, a UCLA basketball player in the 1960s who now practices corporate securities law in Los Angeles.