Marketing in the Media 2013 - Essay Example

?Assignment Marketing in the Media Table of Contents Introduction 3 Media Selection 3 Marketing Issues faced by Nike 5 Major Stakeholders Involved 6 Lessons Learned from the Marketing Campaign 7 Individual Opinion about the Marketing Campaign 7 Conclusion 8 References 9 Introduction Over the past few decades, the marketing paradigm has changed from being a sellers’ market to be regarded as a buyers’ market where there are more products and services customised for people. The advent of buyer’s market has created the requirement of consumer based marketing. Marketing in present days is no longer regarded as a supplementary activity of organisations, instead marketing plays an important role in business apart from production and finance. Even during challenging economic conditions, when organisations attempt to reduce expenses and enhance revenue, the marketing ideas concentrate on the objectives of accomplishing long run success, rather than short run profits (Boone, 2012). Based on this this aspect, the assignment will analyse the marketing campaign of a globally leading organisation namely Nike. The objective of the assignment is to analyse the recent marketing campaign organised by Nike namely “Just Do It”. In this marketing campaign, brought into limelight in the year 2013, Nike has aimed to redefine its key marketing mantra i.e. “Just Do It”. With this consideration, the assignment describes the marketing aspects related to the redefined campaign such as media and stakeholders among others. Media Selection One of the most important aspects of marketing is media selection. The media of marketing must be matched with the overall objectives of the marketing communication program. The media selection process starts with careful analysis of the target market. In this context, it can be stated that the target customers of the concerned marketing campaign of Nike is based on people who aim towards being athletic (McGraw-Hill Education, 2012). The following figure demonstrates the new marketing campaign organised by Nike. Fig 1: Marketing Campaign of Nike Source: (Nike, 2013) There are several types of media that are available for marketers and one of the most prevalent media is digital media. Over the past few years, digital media has continued to emerge as a key medium for marketing in most organisations. Digital media has grown beyond its origins as a media of interest exclusively because of direct reaction of marketers. Through digital technology, organisations are able to compete with every aspect of marketing communication and traditional media channel. The boundaries of digital media are diverse in nature because it not only acts as a way of communication, but also as a mode of spreading a message. Digital media provides flexibility to marketers in the competitive business environment as well (McGraw-Hill Education, 2012). Due to the increased importance of digital media and rapid utilisation of internet, Nike has started concentrating on digital marketing strategies. In present days, people around the world spend considerable amount of time on digital media and less time on traditional media. Hence, Nike has also started to put much emphasis on digital media such as internet and social media in order to reach the target customer base. The ‘Just Do it’ campaign of Nike was started in the year 1988 which has proven to be a successful campaign. The slogan of the campaign represents an inspirational brand image for Nike. In order to exploit the current market trend, Nike has again launched ‘Just Do It’ campaign by redefining it to the target customers. Nike has used digital media such as internet and social media in order to communicate its message to the target audience (IBS Center for Management Research, 2012). Marketing Issues faced by Nike There are several marketing issues which are faced by Nike while using digital media for the new marketing campaign. Several marketing experts stated that the digital marketing strategy of Nike is quite narrow in nature and also ignores certain important customers segments. For instance, ‘Just Do It’ campaign concentrates on only customers who prefer and love sporting activities. It targets young customers within the age group of about 18 to 30. However, in the current redefined campaign, Nike has been praised because of its innovativeness. Through the new campaign, Nike desires to demonstrate that people can push their limits and strive to accomplish new objectives. The campaign was further planned to capture fitness fashion among people. The main objective of the campaign is to encourage customers to take more concern regarding physical fitness. Nevertheless, the other critical aspect related to this campaign is that Nike should not completely ignore the traditional marketing media, because many older customers are still exposed towards traditional media. Besides, it has also been criticised that marketing campaign of Nike is intended to extract premium pricing from its customers and does not provide honest value addition (IBS Center for Management Research, 2012). Major Stakeholders Involved Nike acted tactically by involving stakeholders in the marketing activity in order to establish strong long run connections. Stakeholder involvement serves as a smart business approach and supports organisational sustainability by increasing the possibility of capitalising on target markets. There are two types of stakeholders which are involved in the marketing campaign of Nike namely external and internal stakeholders. The main external stakeholder of ‘Just Do It’ campaign is community. Nike is highly committed towards local as well as international communities. The core marketing message of Nike’s marketing campaign is sport. Nike believes that sports play a vital role in people’s life and it can empower people to reach their full potential. Particularly, Nike observes sport as a way to challenge discrimination, resolve conflict, establish cooperation and improve lifestyle of the youth. Nike has involved the community in a positive manner by using sport. The other important external stakeholder is celebrity. Celebrities are exclusively used in this campaign which helps to boost the brand affluence of Nike (Wallace, 2010). Concerning internal stakeholders, the most important is employees. The employees of Nike and their unique and innovative thinking are the key proponents to the development of ‘Just Do It’ campaign. The employees are allowed to involve in the decision making process regarding the campaign and their recommendations are also given value (Wallace, 2010). Lessons Learned from the Marketing Campaign The marketing campaign of Nike has provided important lessons regarding marketing and the use of media. By analysing the marketing campaign of Nike, it can be stated that media has become an important part of culture because it acts as a medium to connect with large audience. For Nike, marketing plays a vital role in order to determine how the brand image is perceived by people. Nike has always been recognised to organise unique campaigns and the ‘Just Do It’ campaign is such a marketing activity which has engrossed the imagination of the young people and athletes alike (Neiderhauser, 2013). Individual Opinion about the Marketing Campaign Nike exemplifies that marketing resides in each aspect of business. The extent to which an organisation adopts marketing activities generally facilitates to enhance the brand reputation and the overall performance of the brand. Through the marketing campaign, Nike attempts to characterise itself as a self-reflexive organisation with a sympathetic philosophy. The marketing activity of Nike is encouraging and inspires people to have a healthy lifestyle. Nike uses the digital media in the marketing campaign as a method of communication owing to the increased significance of internet and social networking. Nike has persistently pursued creativity and the redefined ‘Just Do It’ campaign demonstrates its urge to develop new products and to reinvent marketing strategies. Besides, Nike also inculcates innovative ways to demonstrate similar messages to the target audience (Nike, 2013). Conclusion In today’s ever-changing economy, marketing is and will continue to be an important part of business. Since marketing is a vital component, it also must be evolved by using different thoughts and media. In this context, it can be stated that the success of any organisation depends on how it can exploit the media to spread the marketing message. The selection of media plays a vital role for any organisation to reach the target audience and thus, it is apparent that Nike has utilised the digital media for its new redefined ‘Just Do It’ marketing campaign. With the increasing popularity of internet and social networking, digital media has provided an inexpensive way for organisations such as Nike to reach the target audience and to provide information. In order to survive in the competitive business environment, organisations must have a fresh mind-set and must change the marketing activities according to the evolving trend of people. The marketing campaign of Nike demonstrates a fresh view and is a vital initiative to enhance the business and to pursue progress. References Boone, L. E., 2012. Contemporary Marketing. Cengage Learning. IBS Center for Management Research, 2012. Digital Marketing at Nike: From Communication to Dialogue. Icfai University Tripura. [Online] Available at: http://www.icfaiuniversity.in/Cases/August2013/J22.pdf [Accessed October 31, 2013]. McGraw-Hill Education, 2012. Digital Marketing and Social Media. Chapter 18. [Online] Available at: http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0077140001/990095/9780077140007_C18.pdf [Accessed October 31, 2013]. Neiderhauser, J. E., 2013. How Nike’s Leadership Affects Brand Image Internally and Externally. Journal of Undergraduate Research, Vol. 16. Nike, 2013. Nike Redefines "Just Do It" With New Campaign. News. [Online] Available at: http://nikeinc.com/news/nike-evolves-just-do-it-with-new-campaign#/inline/22423 [Accessed October 31, 2013]. Wallace, S., 2010. Business Ethics. Concord University. [Online] Available at: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CC4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Facademics.concord.edu%2Fwallaces14%2Fportfoilio%2FEthics-Nike%2520term%2520paper.docx&ei=olZyUoijMMT_rQfl4oHYBg&usg=AFQjCNHWO--kgq4y-5ageDEKcbT-tMjcCQ&sig2=a1-81LB0ZO1xmueNezdAzA&bvm=bv.55819444,d.bmk [Accessed October 31, 2013]. Read More