Nike Brand Values

This post will discuss what Nike's core brand values are and how they portray these values to consumers by using factors of the marketing mix to become one of the largest and successful sportswear brands in the world. 

“NIKE, Inc. fosters a culture of invention. We create products, services and experiences for today’s athlete while solving problems for the next generation.." - Nike Company Profile

Nike’s brand values are clear and consistent throughout all their advertisements; the main core value is to inspire and innovate athletes. Their target market was specifically segmented to “athletes” however Nike define athlete as anyone who has a body which in turn widens their target market to anyone who has the drive and focus that wants to be successful and achieve their personal goals. These values are reflected in all Nike's marketing. 

In 1987, Nike had a slump in their sales and had to make 20% of its workers redundant due to poor sales. The marketing team at advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy came up with the "Just Do It" TV advertising campaign to boost sales. Advertising is mainly used to create awareness among targeted audiences, educating the target market about a brand and to remind and reinforce with intended customers (Ferrell, Dibb and Simkin, 2016). This was the first time that Nike had advertised on TV, Bowerman did not believe in advertising and Nike were mainly relying on sponsorship and celebrity endorsements, which are elements of the promotional mix in their own right (Shannon, 1996). Originally they targeted the elite professionals who would want premium, high value trainers to compete at professional levels in their sport. They realised that they had to target the full fitness industry as this would boost the sales which lead Nike to be one of the biggest sports brands in the world. At this time, obesity was a growing concern in America therefore targeting this market would be a difficult task. The campaign "Just Do It" was aimed at promoting and inspiring American's to get up and increase their fitness levels. This slogan started as an ad campaign over twenty years ago and is now one of the most memorable slogans recognised worldwide. This has been so successful due to the simplicity of the slogan, it is easy to remember and inspiring and relatable to its consumers. This means that any consumer or viewer can take this phrase and interpret it to mean something to them creating an emotional and personal relationship with the brand and understanding to the brand values. Instead of forcing the brands ideas and products on the viewer like other companies, Nike show that they are here to help and support you achieve your personal goals, which may or may not be fitness related. Their advertisements are not focused on the product features, their products are subtly included in their adverts with the main focus being the consumers and brands values. 

Above is the first television advert for the "Just Do It" campaign from 1988 and a recent one from 2016. There are many similarities in these television adverts; it is ordinary people doing the sport that they enjoy, it is relatable to consumers, it is simplistic, it is current to the time of production, it is inspiring and uplifting creating emotional reactions and creating personal relationships with the brand. The only main differences in the 2016 television advert is the fact they have used a larger group of people to relate to wider target audience and addressing current issues (for women, "you don't have to do it for the boys") and better digital enhancements to make it more appealing and modern. It is extremely clear from these two videos that Nike's core values have stayed consistent over the twenty eight years between these adverts which is why I think Nike have been so successful, it builds trust in the brand name and in the brands intentions. Much promotional mix activity and the creation of the promotional message relate to developing a favourable brand attitude, but other marketing mix ingredients also impact on these perceptions (Ferrell, Dibb and Simkin, 2016).

Now that the brand values are established, the brand must separate itself from other sportswear companies in the industry by creating a strong brand identity and image which will be considered in the next blog post. 

References

Company Profile (no date) Available at: http://about.nike.com/pages/company-profile (Accessed: 21 November 2016).

Conlon, J. (2015) The brand brief behind Nike’s just do it campaign. Available at: http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2015/08/behind-nikes-campaign.html#.WDNG6dKLSig (Accessed: 21 November 2016).

Ferrell, O.C., Dibb, S. and Simkin, L. (2016) Marketing: Concepts and strategies. London, United Kingdom: Cengage Learning EMEA.

Shannon, J.R. (1996) ‘The new promotions mix: a proposed paradigm, process, and application’, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice 4(1):56-69.

Terms (2015) History of advertising: No 118: Nike’s ‘just do it’ tagline. Available at: http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/history-advertising-no-118-nikes-just-it-tagline/1329940# (Accessed: 21 November 2016).