- Eleftheria Parpis

NEW YORK Sexy brand. Hot agency. At first, it seemed like a match made in heaven, but after 13 months with not much work to show for it, Nike and Crispin Porter + Bogusky ended a relationship last week that sources said was troubled with creative differences.

Although the PR speak surrounding the split was cordial, with both parties saying they mutually agreed to part ways, sources said the MDC agency's short tenure on the brand was fraught with frustration on both sides. Nike with Crispin's lack of understanding of the brand and lack of creative flexibility, and Crispin with the inability to push through the ideas that it felt were strongest.

"They were in love with the idea of Crispin more than the actual work from Crispin," said one source close to Nike. And "[Crispin was] falling in love with big ideas that couldn't see their way through to execution."

Crispin picked up Nike's running and Nike+ business last April, after sources said the client grew frustrated with the digital capabilities of its longtime agency partner, Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore., which has a 26-year history with the sports brand. The client, Wieden's first when it opened up shop in 1982, has worked with many other agencies over the years, but Wieden has always managed to remain Nike's lead marketing partner. Nike hired Chiat\Day in the'80s and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in the '90s, but both times, like now, the assignments that left Wieden eventually returned.

"Nike has been with Wieden for so many years ... it's hard to be the odd guy out," said a source. "For all the buzz and excitement Crispin has around it, it was hard for them to get inside the Nike world."

Crispin's most significant showing on the brand was a TV spot that showed images of runners throughout history, from a caveman to a modern man on a gym treadmill. The ad for Nike+ asked "Need motivation?" and ended with the gym scene turning from a single runner to a group of runners crashing through the windows onto the street with the electronic voice of the Nike+ tracking system urging them on. "It felt like Wieden light," summed up one source.

Another source said the client felt the agency was "sort of too busy for them." Since winning the Nike business, Crispin added American Express and Microsoft to its roster.

Wieden learned of the return of the business last Wednesday during a routine client meeting in Portland with U.S. sports performance brand director Adam Roth, said a source. Without warning, Roth, who was key in Nike's decision to shift the account to Crispin last year, simply asked if the shop would take the work back. "Everyone here is very excited to have them back," said a Wieden rep. Nike and Crispin declined to comment.

-–with Andrew McMains and Gregory Solman