From sneakers to spandex

Nike has an illustrious history of taking celebrities and turning them into larger-than-life heroes. Traditionally this has been done with mass media advertising campaigns, pelting us with images of Michael Jordan. They made kids all over the country fall in love with the guy and desperately want to wear his shoes.

Now they've got a hero for adults. And he wears tights.

Lance Armstrong is easily the best athlete in the world, which would have been enough for many of us to dust off our bikes and daydream about climbing through the Alps. But his personal story and the obstacles he's overcome have turned him into an icon - one that might eventually rival Jordan himself.

Consider the yellow bracelets. Nike's longtime creative agency, Weiden + Kennedy, helped them piece together the concept of the yellow bracelets as a fundraiser for his cancer research foundation. The bracelets are a walking advertisement - we see someone wearing it, and we think of Lance. We think of overcoming adversity, living our lives to the best of our abilities, and completing the race called life victorious. That's a pretty powerful message for a little bracelet.

And what does Nike get out of all of this? We fell in love with Lance. We buy the bracelet to support his cause. We became extremely fond of the guy, to the point of wanting to be like him. He becomes a hero for adults - and though we can't ride as fast or as far as him, we can look just like him in our Nike gear (except for the beer belly. Yours, not his.)

A modern-day hero - built not on mammoth television campaigns, but on a story we can't ignore and inexpensive mechanisms for spreading the word. Welcome to the world of personal branding, premarketing style.