Nike Just Do it advertising campaign analysis - Essay Example

? Marketing Nike ‘Just Do it” advertising campaign analysis Introduction Nike aspires to be world’s leading sportswear company through providing its customers with quality athletic footwear and apparel (Kaser, 2011). Nike deals with sporting shoes, apparel, sports equipment and branded merchandise. The company is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, and operates in the sportswear and sports equipment industry. The company has experienced high market growth since it commands about 47 percent of footwear market. In addition, celebrities like Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Tiger Woods have endorsed the products. According to Kaser (2011), Nike’s “Just Do It” advertisement campaign and slogan is one of the iconic campaigns that have lasted for more than two decades. According to Shah and D’Souza (2009), Nike’s ‘just Do It’ campaign has been at the centre of the company’s brand image for more than two decades. Nike started the slogan campaign with an advertisement that featured 80-year old marathon runner Walt Stack talking about his daily 17-mile run. The campaigns has inspired people to ‘just do it’ thus opening up new possibilities for individuals who need to engage in physical fitness and sports. The Ad campaign was launched in 1988 when the company was losing market share to competitors like Reebok and Adidas in the athletic and sports apparel segment (Kaser, 2011). The campaigned worked well to people involved in sports and those not involved in sports as many people reported that the advert had inspired them to engage in things they never thought were possible. Segment target promotion Nike’s ad campaign inspired the entire mass market in America and especially the youthful generation that desired to engage in fitness activities. Accordingly, Nike targeted the people aged 18-40 years and women in the advertisement campaign thus increasing the overall market share and brand loyalty (Kaser, 2011). In addition, endorsements by celebrities aimed at inspiring the niche market and high-end clients whose lifestyle is associated with sports. Considering most of the Nike sneakers marketed in the US are not used for sports, Nike inspired the non-sporting market who mainly purchases Nike products for self-esteem and belongingness to the ‘just do it’ community (Kaser, 2011). Major trends in marketing Global marketing has witnessed several trends that have revolutionized the ways companies inform and persuade customers to start using their products and services. One of the trends is the shift from mass media advertising to specialized media that caters for personalized consumption patterns and segmentation of the market in terms of income levels, tastes and preferences (Batra, Myers and Aaker, 2009). In this case, Just Do it campaign initially focused on the mass market through appealing to target audience regardless of income, age, and sporting activities. However, Nike shifted the campaign to niche markets such as athletics sports, football and young generation who prefer fitness through seeking celebrity endorsements (Batra, Myers and Aaker, 2009). Another trend is the use of data-based marketing as opposed to focus marketing thus Nike has shifted its efforts to market research activities that aim at identifying the consumer incomes changes, changes in tastes and preferences (Shah, K & D’Souza, 2009). Accordingly, the internet and new media channels like YouTube, direct marketing through e-mails and digital platforms like twitter and online discussion forums have enabled Nike to cut its advertising costs on traditional media and focus on new media channels that elicit high feedback and interest among consumers. Web-based marketing has enabled companies to reach the global market due to instance response and its ability to elicit responses. Another major trend in marketing is the event marketing that entails face-to-face conversations via trade shows, live events and corporate meetings (Carbasho, 2010). Nike uses several sporting events to exhibit its products such as entertainment events, sporting events like the Olympics and product launches (Batra, Myers and Aaker, 2009). Campaign strategy- Rationale Advertisement objectives Nike aimed at attaining several objectives with the ad campaign. First, the company wanted to gain brand awareness and recognition during the fitness craze in order to gain market share in the American market. Accordingly, the company aspired to create good relations with potential consumers through providing inspiring messages and encouraging consumers to pursue their dreams (Batra, Myers and Aaker, 2009). At the same time, Nike was geared at informing the consumers of the benefits of fitness, sports and benefits that could be derived from purchasing Nike’s athletic shoes and sporting apparel. Accordingly, the use of the slogan in merchandise such as school bags and jumpers was geared at creating primary demand for the non-sport and Nike-related commodity market through demonstrating the value of Nike products. Advertising aims at positioning the product in order to create a distinctive impression on the minds of the consumers and assign an intangible value to the brand. Accordingly, Just Do It ad aimed at linking the social lifestyle in America with the brand’s image through making consumers understand Nike cares for their health and wellbeing. In addition, Nike aimed at winning back the previous customers who had shifted to competitors like Adidas and minimise the existing negative attitudes towards Nike products (Batra, Myers and Aaker, 2009). Nike sought to build brand loyalty in a friendly manner and increase sales among the existing consumers. Nike targeted the young generation in order to increase the frequency of purchase and establish brand leadership in the sporting market segment through featuring sporting stars in the ad campaign (Batra, Myers and Aaker, 2009). Evaluation of the Ad campaign Creative strategy The creativity of the ad campaign is timeless since it has inspired consumers for more than two decades. The ad inspires both sports consumers and non-sports oriented consumers thus creating huge brand awareness among the entire population. The message is simple and sharp thus making it easy to memorize for decades. Message strategy The message strategy behind ‘just do it’ slogan is to get everyone urgently lose weight through sporting activities such as running or any other sport and not being lazy. According to the campaign slogan, there is no alternative, but to ‘just do it’. In this case, the advertiser expects the audience not to think twice or wait for seconds since fitness is essential for the body (Carbasho, 2010). The campaign targets people suffering from procrastination or laziness and aims at inspiring them to start exercising. ‘Just Do it’ campaign is aimed at the target market segment that can engage in physical fitness such as the young generation. Nike used to slogan in T-shirts, jumpers and school bags in order to appeal to the young generation that prefer fashion trends to buy Nike apparel and attain confidence while playing different sports. Nike wanted to put across the message that greatness, achievements were not reserved for a few, and everybody could just do it through engaging in athletics (Batra, Myers and Aaker, 2009). The campaign enabled Nike to increase the domestic share of sports shoes business from 18 percent to 43 percent in a period of 10 years. The Ad campaign reasserted the positive brand loyalty and image thus alleviating the brand to global recognition through adding meaning and value. The company managed to increase global revenues from $ 877 million in 1988 to $ 9.2 billion in 1988 due to aggressive Just Do it campaigns. The ad campaign managed to create media attention for Nike and appealed even to female and teenager consumers engaged in fitness craze of 1980s (Carbasho, 2010). Execution strategy The execution strategy involves the physical form of the advertisement. The execution strategy is evidenced in the choice of color, stories, words, phrases, art, music and scripts. The ad campaign is still memorable since it entails simple slogan that conveys information that the customers. According to Koekemoer and Bird (2004), the use of celebrity endorsements in billboards and television commercials made the advertisement relatable to situations and personalities. In this case, the celebrities made the ad capture the attention of the audience and establish an emotional connection with sporting events. Accordingly, the use of visuals such as energetic characters in the ad campaign instilled positive impressions thus creating a desire for physical fitness among American consumers (Koekemoer and Bird, 2004). In addition, the ad campaign aims at rewarding the target audience for ‘just doing it’ since potential consumers would benefit from attaining their dream goals of fitness and comfort while wearing Nike’s apparel and exercising with Nike sports shoes. The ad also embeds the company’s logo on the subconscious minds of the targeted audience thus increasing brand awareness. In the recent revival of the ad, musicians like Katy Perry and Tiny Tempa appeared on the advertisement (Batra, Myers and Aaker, 2009). Media strategy In media strategy, the ad campaign used a variety of media outlets such as television advertisements, billboards, merchandise, print media and graffiti art (Carbasho, 2010). The ad campaign was standardized in order to gain the attention of the consumers. Nike relied on non-personal presentation and promotions through outdoor posters, magazine adverts, newspaper adverts and television advertisements. Just Do It advert billboards were placed in major streets in key cities while sports magazines carried the advertisement on routine basis (Carbasho, 2010). The ad campaign focused on sports sponsorships in order to enhance the brand image and demonstrate corporate responsibility among the targeted consumers. The Just Do it campaign consisted of certain athletics that were supposed to represent the company while others appeared in television advertisements (Batra, Myers and Aaker, 2009). The use of celebrities like Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong and Serena Williams allowed the audience feel more connected and relate better with Nike’s sports apparel and shoes. For instance, Nike sponsored Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. According to previous surveys, more than 50 percent of the male consumers asserted that sponsorships influence their buying habits 9 Datamonitor, 2013). The media strategy was effective since it targeted the mass market, and aimed at effectively communicating the intended message. The frequency of the media was high since the creativeness of the ad captured the attention of large number of people who watched television in early 1990s (Carbasho, 2010). Currently, Nike releases commercials on social media before airing them on television screens. For instance, the Nike+ Fuelband video generated more than 10 million views on YouTube (Datamonitor, 2013). Conclusion Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ ad campaign entails compelling, meaningful and unique idea of communicating the message to the target audience. The slogan is wit and humorous since it talks about how individuals can exploit the full potential and attain goals they once perceived as impossible. In this case, the advertisement inspired the audience and increased brand recognition among the consumers since even non-sporting target audience wanted to be associated with the brand. Nike brand offered inspiration, courage and motivation through commanding the audience to ‘just do it’ and offering comfortable shoes and apparel. The ad campaign convinced Americans that wearing Nike apparel is smart since the shoes were designed for comfort. The endorsement by celebrities appealed to the consumers’ sense of belongingness and hipness and even those who were not engaged in sporting activities desired to own Nike sneakers since the ad campaign portrayed them as exciting. The ad focused on the image and feeling conveyed by a new fitness culture thus making it a norm for those who wished to start exercising to buy Nike sports shoes and apparel. Recommendations The ad campaign has led Nike to become the attain global recognition and expanded market share in sporting apparel through inspiring people to excel in other areas of life. Nike must shift its advertising channels from the traditional mass media to personalized advertisement channels like YouTube videos, Twitter, Facebook and other digital platforms due to the ability to reach high audience and elicit immediate reaction from the targeted potential customers. The new ad campaign must focus on outlining the brand benefits such as quality, comfort, style and durability of Nike’s sports shoes and apparel. At the same time, Nike must increase its sponsorship advertisements through focusing on major sporting events like Olympics and sponsoring several national teams. Reference list: Batra, R., Myers, J.G and Aaker, D.A. 2009. Advertising management. New Delhi: Pearson. Carbasho, T. 2010. Nike. Santa Barbara: Greenwood. Datamonitor. (2013). “Nike Company overview”, (Web). Accessed on 4th December, 2013 from http://www.datamonitor.com/store/Product/nike_inc?productid=8E563969-FC1C- 4D3A-8EEE-F9D79F81F0C3. Kaser, K. 2011. Advertising and sales promotion. New York: Cengage Learning. Koekemoer, L & Bird, S. 2004. Marketing communications. Lansdowne: Juta Academic. Shah, K & D’Souza, A. 2009. Advertising and promotions: an IMC Perspective. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill. Appendix Nike ‘Just Do it’ advertisement Read More