Marketing Campaign of Nike - Essay Example

Analysis of Marketing Campaign of Nike – “Find Your Greatness” Introduction A large number of advertisements are bombarded to audience through all possible channels. Corporations continue to seek their ways in daily life of public. Numerous strategies and tactics are utilized by marketers in order to penetrate the subliminal message present inside an advert. A successful ad is the one that conveys the core message correctly and accurately to the audience that is, audience must understand what is being conveyed. Marketers find ways to make their products appear constructive for consumers. This paper emphasizes on a recent marketing campaign of a large multinational sportswear company, Nike. This paper attempts to evaluate concealed messages in the adverts of this campaign and the probable model used by the company.in addition, it explores the ways through which the company persuades the viewers towards its brand. The slogan of this campaign is named as, “Find Your Greatness.” The spot was launched during London Olympics 2012. The core purpose of this advertisement was to cater masses by taking advantage of Olympic coverage and alert television audience. Campaign Strategy – Rationale The substandard endeavors of International Olympic Committee (IOC) demanded to ensure that their chosen sponsors receive hefty spotlight during London Olympics games. The associated athletes were restricted for two weeks from showing their appearance for any unofficial sponsors. Unofficial sponsors were not allowed to gain benefits from Olympic themed messages. For a large number of ads, the plan of IOC worked. However, some creative companies and athletes found their way around the system. Nike was one such company that came up with smart approach. Instead of investing millions of dollar for obtaining official sponsorship, it found a distinct way to celebrate Olympics at London. The company launched a new marketing campaign, titled as “Find Your Greatness.” This ad campaign featured everyday athletes from around the world. The concept is cleverer in terms of breaking through the advertising blackout of IOC. Only a selected few will be able to find their spot in London Olympics but it does not mean that greatness has been lost from rest of us common people. The level of greatness might not be equal to that of these athletes but most importantly, it exists. The rationale of campaign is explained by Nike; “It is not just the championship athlete or record breaker that aspires to push their limits. It is also the everyday athlete, who strives to excel on their own terms, to set and realize personal goals and achieve their own defining moment of greatness. That’s the insight behind Nike’s ‘Find Your Greatness’ campaign, a powerful message to inspire anyone who wants to achieve their own moment of greatness in sport, launched just as the world focuses on the best of the best” (Media News Line, 2012). Evaluation of Campaign The marketing campaign of Nike will be evaluated in two ways. First, a famous marketing model of DAGMAR will be applied in order to determine the steps as mentioned in the framework and as applied by Nike. Second, the evaluation of this campaign will be conducted to determine how potent the campaign has remained in order persuade the audience, which in essence, is the core purpose of marketing campaign. Application of DAGMAR Framework The framework of DAGMAR is useful in order to build awareness of the brand among current and potential customers. The purpose of this model is to alter the buying behavior of customers. DAGMAR is a contraction for “Defining, Advertising, Goals for Measured Advertising Results.” Ideally, when this model is applied, the target audience moves easily through all the stages of this framework. These stages are based on the common decision-making and cognitive pattern of people when they decide whether to purchase something or not. This model is based on five key stages. These key stages are followed either in a single advert or in a series of advertising campaign. They are mentioned below: 1. Unaware At this stage, the consumers are unaware and marketers utilize the media to inform the oblivious consumers. At the initial stage of ‘Jogger’, audiences are unaware of what is being conveyed. The suspense created in the spot holds the attention of viewers. 2. Aware This step arises as the ad unfolds. The words of narrator and visual imagery create a link in the minds of consumers and they begin to connect themselves with the advert. Apart from this, the core purpose of this step is to create awareness of product among customers. Nike does so by being involved to cater Olympics viewers indirectly. 3. Comprehension At this stage, marketers begin to disclose product information. Nike indirectly discloses the product information. It first, attempts to develop a connection between greatness and common person and after that; it develops a connection between greatness and Nike products. In this way, a viewer is induced to fall into the fourth stage. 4. Conviction At this stage, viewer develops a judgment about that advert whether the advert has influenced the perception of viewer or not. Creativity in the advert campaign of Nike surely develops a positive conviction in a large part of audience. 5. Action The final step is of taking action that refers to purchasing the products of the company. This step determines the effectiveness of the advert. If sales turnover is high after a particular marketing campaign, then the campaign is said to be effective. Effectiveness of this marketing campaign is discussed comprehensively in the subsequent part of this paper. Persuasive Tactics of Advertisement in ‘Find Your Greatness’ Nike utilizes persuasive techniques in this campaign. In lieu of featuring a start athlete or person with highly athletic performance, Nike used a different technique in this campaign. This technique is different from the signature style of Nike. Marketers featured an out of shape, less than desirable teenage boy in one of its ad. The boy is clearly relatable to an average American. His desire and endeavor to strive for greater accomplishment s what a large number of audiences can connect with, regardless of being old, young, black, white, female, or male. Language is utilized very smartly in these campaigns. It has been used as a potent way of communication to convey the persuasive message. Adverts of this campaign reveal that word and language, if selected wisely, can be used a tool for influencing the realities of people. The first thing that the narrator emphasizes on is the usage of ‘we’ and ‘us’. This technique is called as connection language technique. Here, the consistent usage of these words attracts the audience towards agreement. A strong example of one such statement is when, at the end, the speaker concludes by saying that, ‘we’re all capable of it, all of us’. ‘We’, ‘all’, and ‘us’ assures the audience that the claims of greatness that have been mentioned in the spot applies to them as well. Second aspect of persuasive technique that has been used in this advert is building tension. According to Merriam Webster, tension is defined as a state of antagonism and aggression between individuals or groups. It is human nature to seek relief from tension if he is suffering from it. Narrator builds tension by comparing two distinguished notions of greatness and through visual displays. In ‘Jogger’, the scene begins with a remote road in an unknown area. A distant image of someone, who is jogging and moving towards the camera, is shown. Face, age, build, and identity of this person are unrecognizable. Suspense is created by concealing the identity of Jogger and audience remains in uncertainty about that person. It is when the narrator says, ‘You can forget that’ and the identity of the jogger is revealed. He is an overweight twelve-year-old boy. At this stage, greatness is linked to a common person by saying that “Somehow we have come to believe greatness is a gift reserved for a chosen few, for superstars.” The third persuasive technique used in the advert is command phrase. A subtle command phrase is used in the middle of the ad and can be disregarded easily if not listened attentively. It says, “You can forget that!” The narrator speaks it in a way as if intending to criticize everything that has been said about greatness. Narrator is perceived as an authoritative person when he commands the audience to do exactly what is said, ‘forget that’. Audience is more likely to pay attention if the narrator is someone reputable and credible. When a person, expert in his manner, gives command people tend to be receptive towards that command because authority demands respect. Nike has always been comfortable in giving commands through his advert. The first of which was coined in 1988, stating as, ‘Just do it!’ Effectiveness of Campaign It has been seen that DAGMAR framework fits to marketing campaign of Nike, named as ‘Find Your Greatness’. Numbers of persuasive techniques have also been applied including from language choice (command, phrase, emphasis, pausing) to delivery. Several determinants can help in measuring the effectiveness of this marketing campaign. First, the most fascinating thing about this campaign is that it gives stern competition to its prominent rival Adidas. Nike and Adidas strived to find their places in the London Olympics 2012. In order to do so, long-term commercial rival of Nike, Adidas, paid as much as £100,000 for obtaining the spot of official association and sponsorship with London Olympics 2012. However, the results showed a different picture. It was observed that the campaign of Nike remained more effective than that of Adidas’. Even without having to sponsor London Olympics, Nike managed to gather the attention of a large audience through its marketing campaign. In contrast to Adidas, this campaign helped the company to save a large amount from paying for sponsorship. By applying the DAGMAR model, the reputation of Nike changed dramatically. The company was highly creative in implementing this model at right place and on right time. It seized the opportunity from its rivals through correct, creative, and timely execution. Another contributing factor leading towards effectiveness of this campaign was that the adverts of Nike landed at no. 1 position of Viral Chart. The videos of these adverts had 4.5 million views out of which, around 1.7 million were paid. On the other hand, the campaign of Adidas, the official sponsor of Olympics landed at number 3. This campaign of Adidas was named as ‘Take the Stage’. Visible Measures reports that Adidas had only 2.9 million and had overall views of 5.7 million, which were outperformed by Nike in just one week. Another factor determining the effectiveness of Nike’s campaign was survey conducted by Global Omnibus. The survey included 1034 consumers out of which 37% regarded Nike as official sponsor of Olympics and only 24% considered the original sponsor, Adidas (Russell, 2012). Conclusion By analyzing the marketing campaign of Nike, it can be inferred that marketing models, theories, and techniques surely help the companies. However, to a greater extent, it depends upon the companies how efficiently and creatively they manage to implement these tactics. In today’s fast paced and competitive business environment, it is impossible to survive without following correct practices in a creative manner. Nike is one such example that showed how to snatch the opportunity. Marketing tools and campaigns reflect the perception of audience. Campaigns are becoming sophisticated because audiences are getting sophisticated. Nike teaches that every model or theory would have its limitation, but creativity is limitless. It is possible to sustain the competition only through smart and creative approach. Works Cited McGuire, William., 1999. Constructing Social Psychology: Creative and Critical Aspects. Oxford: Cambridge University Press. Nike Inc., 2012. Nike Launches “Find Your Greatness” Campaign. [online] Available at: [Accessed 5th December 2013] Packard, V., 2007. The hidden persuaders. Singapore: IG Publishing. Persuasive Language., 2012-2013. Changing Minds. [online] Available at:   [Accessed 5th December 2013] Pratkanis, A. R., 2012.  The Science of Social influence: Advances and Future Progress. New York, NY: Psychology Press.  Russell, Mallory., 2012. Nike Ambushes Adidas on World Stage … Again. July 31, [online] Available at: http://adage.com/article/the-viral-video-chart/nike-ambushes-adidas-world-stage/236400/ [Accessed 5th December 2013] Tension Definition., 2013. An Encyclopedia Britannica Company, Merriam-Webster. [online] Available at:  [Accessed 5th December 2013] Tim Nudd, 2012. The 10 Best Commercials of 2012. The year's most entertaining, intriguing, powerful and beautiful spots, Adweek. [online] Available at: [Accessed 5th December 2013] Read More