Director's cut of Nike's "Take it to the NEXT LEVEL"

Nike Football has made the wise decision to post a 3-minute director's cut (the director being Guy Ritchie) of the "Take It to the Next Level" film that currently has about 3 million views on YouTube. This one is even better, because Ritchie gets to extend the concept--which is the world seen through the eyes of a world-class soccer player--in more ways off the field. Take a look.

Nike tells what William Gallas knows

If you want to see a good, unadorned use of YouTube by a marketer, subscribe to the NikeFootball channel. You will find commercials there, such as the recent Guy Ritchie-directed film, but it's also a repository for short interviews with international soccer/football stars. The four-minute clip I've embedded above features William Gallas, a defender and captain of Arsenal (not that I know my international soccer stuff). It's a straightforward mix of sound bites and highlights, carrying the theme, "What William Knows." This is not the sort of content that is going to send people flocking to YouTube in the tens of millions, but it's a great, ongoing way to connect Nike Football with its formidable , passionate fan base.

Guy Ritchie Nike spot a YouTube hit

I'm ready to declare the Guy Ritchie-directed Nike soccer spot a hit. It's closing on at least 1.7 million YouTube views after two weeks up on the site. It's wasn't done by Wieden + Kennedy, or Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, but 72andSunny in L.A.