Just do it. Is there anyone who is not familiar with Nike's iconic phrase? The Nike ads are everywhere. Not only are they on billboards, but on almost every teams uniforms and gear. What I wanted to find out was how their ad campaign works so well, and how they always able to produce such inspirational ad's. The first time I saw the below commercial I could not stop from repeating the song (All These Things That I've Done, by The Killers), over and over, and over. It was by far the best ad they had produced in my opinion, and was pure genius. Not only is it different from a ton of the ads out there, it also has an emotional appeal unlike any other. Everyone struggles in life, and we all hope to someday conquer the forces that oppose us, and this is what the message from this ad implies.
The first advertising technique that Nike uses, and uses profusely, is emotional branding. By the end of a majority of their ad's you gain a emotional attachment, and thus an attachment to their shoes. I believe that by far that emotional attachment and bond that a company can create with their product, is the most powerful of the methods. When Nike created they were very intuitive in deciding to include people of all sexes, races, and backgrounds. This is how they maximized the amount of people who would pay attention to the ad, and lets face it people care about themselves, so when they see someone who represents them, they are more likely to take an interest. The target audience for Nike is impressively diverse when it comes to age and physical activities. They have ad's that are directed towards almost every sport and physical exertion desired. If you are a soccer lover then you can be sure there will be an commercial out there for you.
The second technique that they take full advantage of including a myth in their commercial. Now for those who are unfamiliar with this use of myth, it relates to when a company tells a story in their spot that people can relate to. In this next ad they tell a story of hardship, and pain, and the struggles of athletes, and then they conclude the story with their victory's, their hurrah's.
One other advertising technique that I want to touch on is their use of two seemingly opposite methods. They use both the famous person approach by including shots of Michal Jordan, and Steve Prefontane, but also use a plain folks approach. The plain folks approach comes with their hints that anyone can achieve what these people can. I have also noticed that inserted in a variety of their other commercials are people who are not famous, and are just regular people who then gain athletic superiority by wearing Nike's.
Nike is great at using all the current forms of technology and taking full advantage of them. For example, they noticed that there is a large trend in running currently going on, and so they created Nike+ which is a great way of keeping track of the miles you run. ( http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/plus/#//dashboard/) They pride themselves in providing their customers with the newest innovations that will outfit them with the best gear possible. They are now working with Apple to incorporate the Ipod with their new features in running gear and the like. When it comes to advertising they are always on the forefront by dispersing their product as far and wide as possible and using techniques like the association principle to help their campaigns. Nike is great as well when it comes to reflecting current trends like I mentioned above. If they see that a new hi top basketball shoe is trending then you can be sure that that trend will be reflected not only in the products they produce, but also in how their ads evolve around those trends. This kind of work is very important because it helps provide the public with what they want and not just some junk that is not going to sell or go to waste.
Another important note is that Nike breaks stereotypes. In a world where everything and everyone is labeled, a commercial where those stereotypes are broken can catch peoples attention. This next add has almost more snippets of women athletes than men, This really increases the chances that they will reach the female audience who are quickly becoming a larger percentage of their customers. Another stereotype and common misconception that they break is that most people do not have the time or live in the right place to run. In almost all their running commercials they have people who are just sitting in work and then they throw on some Nike's and take off into the streets. The whole idea of "being free" is really stressed in their ads. It is also important to know that Nike tries not to offend anyone, or at least that is what it seems like. From the ads that I looked at I could not really obtain an angle that one might take offense from. Once again they also use a plain folks approach by having seemingly regular people do neat stunts and tricks.
The strengths in Nike ads are that they are memorable and that they tend to be profound and very catchy to the eye. They also make use of the various methods of advertising very well. The thing that helps them the most in my opinion though is the how wide a range of an audience they are able to command. What makes the ads memorable is how they have both well known athletes, and ordinary people do extraordinary things. Weakness wise, they tend to focus too much on a particular sport or team in their commercials which can cause people who are not interested in that area to become uninterested.
In conclusion I am a believer that Nike ads are sublime, and among my favorite commercials, but you eventually have to look at the fact that Nike is just a company that is trying to sell their products, and that is their only concern, they don't really care if you become the next LeBron James or not. After researching for this blog I learned a few new things about Nike but the most interesting fact that I learned was that Nike is now trying to target the Native American population. They learned that most Indians have a taller and a wider foot then most people and so the "Air Native" is a shoe that accommodates those unique dimensions. It was amazing to me that Nike is even trying to target so small a niche! (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298063,00.html) Also, and interesting that most people overlook is that Nike puts on many benefits and fundraisers to help important causes. Ones like the Nike women's marathon which was put on to help benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. Many people only look at some of the negative aspects of Nike, like how they take advantage of cheap labor, but it is important to remember that every coin has two sides, and so do company's.( http://www.nikebiz.com/responsibility/community_programs/features/luol_deng.html ), (http://www.teamintraining.org/firsttimehere/sportprograms/destinations/nikewm/;jsessionid=02B8C0CE3F70F060B36C9B6E862447E1.msprod-server1?utm_source=DirectMail&utm_medium=mail&utm_content=nikewm&utm_campaign=11TNTFall) are websites for two of their fundraisers.
Some people say that a commercial could never make you change your lifestyle but I have to diverge from that belief when it comes to some of the Nike commercials. Say that after you watch a Nike ad you go buy a pair of running shoes, and then that decision leads to you running, maybe to eventually lose weight, or what ever it is you are running for. Then you can say that the commercial was what may have started that whole chain of events. I am personally very interested to see how long Nike's reign of the footwear industry can last, and if the public will always support them as they do now.
Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man.
Sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.
-Vince Lombardi
