Nike’s Marketing Communication

Nike’s Marketing Communication Strategies

Nike is a multinational corporation based in the United States and is involved in the manufacturing, development, design, sales, and marketing of equipment, footwear, accessories, services, and apparel worldwide. Its headquarters are based in Beaverton in Oregon (Shank & Lyberger, 2014, p. 22). It is known for its manufacture of sports equipment and a large supply of athletic apparel and shoes. The official mission statement for Nike is to bring innovation and inspiration to all athletes across the world.

Nike’s Advertising Strategy

The various forms of communication used by Nike include advertisements, personal selling, direct marketing, sales promotion, and public relations. In advertising, the goal of Nike is often to reach an extensive pool of target customers and to bring a big impact on them (Shank & Lyberger, 2014, p. 22). Through advertisement Nike promotes its brand to customers while also improving their perception of the corporation (Lamb, Hair & McDaniel, 2015, p. 14). The outcome of Nike’s advertisement is a stronger brand image as well as improved demand for the company’s products. Additionally, the company makes use of celebrities to represent the perfect user of its products (Chung, Derdenger & Srinivasan, 2013, p. 272). As a result, target customers get inspired to copy the behavior of the celebrities, thereby promoting the company’s products.

Nike’s Personal Selling Strategy

Nike uses personal selling as a key marketing communication strategy. It trains its store personnel to give assistance to customers in matters pertaining to knowing more about the company’s products, while also convincing them to purchase these products (Shank & Lyberger, 2014, p. 23). The persuasion and trained assistance that customers receive from the sales personnel serve to enhance customer experience. As a result, customers feel empowered since they are able to make informed decisions in purchasing Nike products.

Nike’s Direct Marketing Strategy

Nike also uses direct marketing in a bid to promote its new products to its target customers. While the company heavily advertises new products, it uses salespeople to reach certain companies and individuals in its target market, for purposes of making a bigger impact. Direct marketing helps to create stronger relationships with potential customers while also inspiring them to buy Nike products (Lamb, Hair & McDaniel, 2015, p. 14).

Nike’s Sales Promotion Strategy

Nike uses sales promotion to inspire and motivate new clients by showing them benefits of their products such as the amount they can save if they buy Nike products, and the special offers they get from Nike. Additionally, the company uses public relation to promote its brand as well as to address issues to ensure that its customers have a better brand perception.

Nike’s Slogan “JUST DO IT”

Nike as a shoe company has a trademark or a slogan, “JUST DO IT”, which as well forms a key component of the brand. This trademark phrase was invented in 1988 during an agency meeting for advertisements (Carr, 2013, p. 11). Dan Wieden owes the slogan to the last words of Gary Gilmore (Let’s do it). The slogan greatly increases Nike’s share of the domestic sport-shoes in North America. It spreads to various media outlets such as outdoor billboards, graffiti art, print media and merchandise where it portrayed the image of Nike as an innovative icon in America and other parts of the world, thereby inspiring athletes across the world while also propelling the brand into international recognition.

Inspiration and Influence of Nike’s Slogan

Nike’s slogan “JUST DO IT” is arguably one of my best inspirational slogans. The phrase not only inspires you during your workouts but also helps you power through during races, to the finish line. Individuals not only feel but also identify with the power embedded in the words because they are true and simple. The slogan inspires people to do whatever they want to do now. Implementing this slogan when one is at a crossroad gives the person a drive to move on, as the slogan does not give room for looking back, neither does it entertain regrets (Carr, 2013, p. 11). What is more, the slogan is inspiring as it discourages the thought of failure.

Conclusion

All in all, Nike has enlisted various strategies with an aim to attract customers and promote its image among its target customers. Particularly, Nike effectively uses its marketing communication mix to reach its target markets globally and to bring innovation and inspiration to all athletes across the world. The marketing communication employed by Nike are advertisements, personal selling, direct marketing, sales promotion, and public relations. These strategies, coupled with the company’s slogan JUST DO IT, helps the company realize its mission.

References

Carr, A. (2013). Nike: The no. 1 most innovative company of 2013. Fast Company, 11.

Chung, K. Y., Derdenger, T. P., & Srinivasan, K. (2013). Economic value of celebrity endorsements: Tiger Woods’ impact on sales of Nike golf balls. Marketing Science, 32(2), 271-293.

Lamb, C. W., Hair, J. F., & McDaniel, C. (2015). MKTG9: Principles of marketing. Boston, USA.

Shank, M. D., & Lyberger, M. R. (2014). Sports marketing: A strategic perspective. Routledge.