Nike is a true superstar of marketing. Just as its endorsers are superstars in their sports. Thus, we look deeper into how Nike nails its marketing campaigns.
First, take a look at a few of our past articles on Nike marketing: [Please note: A couple of video clips in these posts have been made private.]
- Remembering Kobe Bryant as a Star Marketer
- Marketing High-End Sneakers
- Nike Scores Big – Again
- Nike Pushes the Envelope Again
Behind the Scenes: How Nike Nails Its Marketing Campaigns
For “5 ingredients” behind Nike’s success, we turn to Bei Booker, writing for Attest. And include her YouTube examples:
A Nike marketing campaign is instantly recognizable. It’s not just because of the iconic tick and the ‘Just do it’ slogan, it’s because a Nike ad never fails to inspire, motivate, and move. But what is it that makes Nike’s creative work so special? By deconstructing countless Nike marketing campaigns, we’ll explore the ingredients that distinguish them. Once we’ve uncovered Nike’s ‘secret sauce,’ you can put the knowledge to use in your own campaigns.
#1: Real people, real stories
Nike marketing campaigns trade heavily on authenticity. They usually feature real athletes rather than actors and set out to tell their stories in a way that inspires other ordinary people to find success through sports. What really makes these ads stand out, though, is that they go beyond the sports themselves. They show the impact that sports have on the local community, how they bring people together and, ultimately, help change the status quo.
#2: Pure emotion
Sometimes, things are just too overwhelming. At times like these, glossy visuals can seem inappropriate and distracting, which is why Nike has completely pared back their approach for two recent campaigns with pure emotion at their heart. Here’s one.
#3: Sporting legends
Nike often teams up with sporting legends for brand partnerships but, unlike other brands that use celebrity endorsements, Nike turns the spotlight away from their products. Instead, Nike always seeks to tell us something meaningful about the featured star. Take, for example, the campaign “Love your dream until it loves you back,” created to promote Kylian Mbappé’s first Nike collection.
#4: Championing the underdog
Nike believes that everyone should have access to sports and has been championing equality for years. This has seen the brand advocate for underrepresented groups in sports, like women, people with disabilities, BAME and LGBTQ groups, through their creative work. A recent example is “Further than ever,” created to celebrate Women’s History Month.
#5: Fusing sports and culture
There’s something else about Nike’s advertising campaigns that we can’t fail to mention. They’re just cool. It might seem like an elusive quality to capture, but Nike achieves it by fusing sport with culture, collaborating with of-the-moment musicians, artists and creatives.