Nike Celebrity Marketing: Carrying Boat Can Also Overturn

With the improvement of people's quality of life and health awareness, sportswear has become an important part of the clothing industry. Nowadays, both professional sports equipment and casual sportswear are reflected. fashion With the fusion of sports elements, mainstream fashion is also injected into the vitality of sports. Nike (Nike) is the sports brand that occupies the largest market share in the world. It creates great influence through cooperation with the world's top athletes. It also draws the distance between sports and mass consumers, creating a life concept of integration of fashion and sports.

　　 [ Marketing Way]

Advertising reform

　　 Nike The slogan "who owns Nike, who knows sports" has a certain impact on consumers. In 1980s, Nike wanted its products to enter the homes of ordinary people from track and field and gymnasium. Therefore, we must adjust the advertising strategy. Facts have proved that Nike's advertising reform has been successful. Not only has it won the market and consumers, but also more importantly, Nike has gradually grasped the art of advertising communication with ordinary people in the process of change, and has formed a unique advertising idea and Strategy: it must be committed to communication rather than sales appeal.

Example: in 1986, an advertisement promoting Nike inflatable insole was a real breakthrough. TV advertising has become Nike's main "spokesperson", which has made Nike advertising better adapt to the new development of its product market. Nike's logo appears on subway stations, streets, laundry rooms, buses and escalators. The market share of the company has also increased rapidly. For the first time, Reebok Co has become the new overlord of the American sports shoes market. This makes Reebok Co have to follow the example to emphasize communication style rather than just product function.

　 Star worship and resonance communication

The youth market is the primary breakthrough for Nike to expand its market. Young people love sports, respect for heroes, strong sense of chasing stars, want to be valued, active thinking, imaginative and full of dreams. Nike signed with sports stars with healthy image, such as Michael Jordan, Andre Agassi and so on. They became the brilliant protagonists in Nike advertising films. Let consumers associate themselves with celebrities, which establishes the link between consumers and brands. The image of Nike's spleen is deeply rooted in the hearts of customers.

Example: in 1990s, Nike designed and promoted a computer game: let participants play basketball with Jordan in the game. Nike fully understands the psychology of teenagers, and knows that teenagers are disgusted with sermon and enhance their independence. Therefore, Nike gives full play to and caters to their imagination and self-consciousness, from "Jordan" to "I love sports", from "wearing Nike shoes Jordan" to associate with "Nike shoes in me".

　　 Advertising slogans

In 1988, Weedon Kennedy (Wieden Kennedy) advertising company put forward the slogan of "just do it" for Nike. It was named one of the 5 best advertising slogans in twentieth Century by the famous "Advertising Age" magazine. This time, Nike's advertising case was also recorded in the Smithson Institute's case tutorial. But by 1998, because of operational problems, Nike laid off 1600 people, and the marketing budget was reduced by 1/3, and the retreat of Jordan was even worse. While Nike is facing a crisis, Weedon Kennedy advertising agency has launched a new advertising slogan for I can (Nike). It seems to be announces to the world that Nike can "overcome" the pain, "can" can not become possible, and "can" achieve the next Jordan.

　　 Nike in China

In 1980, Nike entered China, adhering to the concept of "Local for Local (where, where)", introducing advanced technology into China, aiming at training local talents, production technology and sales concept, taking local and local use, and made rapid progress in China. In China, Nike not only supports the development of China's football industry, but also focuses on the development of young people, and has launched the "I dream" large-scale youth sports series, the first China 3 to 3 basketball match, the Nike high school men's basketball league tournament, the Nike youth soccer Super Cup, 4 pairs of 4 Youth Soccer open competitions and so on.

Nike not only invited American NBA stars to China, but also became an important strategy for Nike to win the Chinese market as Chinese basketball players Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian landed on NBA. Not only has the expensive Zodiac Air force 1 Series been launched, but also Chinese players have been invited as advertising spokesmen.

Yi Jianlian, the Chinese young athlete who landed in the US NBA League, advertised the slogan for Nike: "you can join the professional league at the age of 15, you can be selected for the national team, you can win 3 times, you can become MVP, but this is not enough. Because you can be the one who continues to move on to the next step. Just do it just do it. " Nike's strategy in line with local conditions has played a strong support for its expansion plans in different markets.

　　 [typical case]

Celebrities are also celebrities.

Nike likes to create brand value and sales performance through celebrities, although most cases are successful, but there are also some regrets.

In 1984, Nike signed a 5 year contract with Jordan for a total value of up to US $1 million per year, which is 5 times the price of Adidas or CONVERSE. Jordan has thus become the core of the market strategy and the whole athletic shoes and sportswear production line. Fortune magazine also published an eye catching report that Nike's financial condition was not good at that time. Signing such a contract was a big mistake. The result proved that the cooperation between Nike and Jordan was a "win win" deal. Jordan made Nike walk out of the running shoes circle, making a big fuss about the basketball game which has just started in the United States. Nike has also become the leading product of top grade basketball shoes.

On the contrary, in November 27, 2009, Nike golf series spokesman Tiger Woods, a famous American golfer, caused a traffic accident at Orlando's house, which attracted the attention of the world's media about his extramarital affair scandal. According to a new survey report from University of California Davies, the share loss of Woods's sponsorship brand is 5 billion to 12 billion dollars. General motors, AT&T, Accenture, Gillette razor and Swiss Heuer Watch all terminated contracts with tiger Woods, only Nike still insisted. {page_break}

　 [strategy analysis]

Nike's cooperation with Jordan is a classic success story. In 80s and 90s twentieth Century, professional athletes were worshipped as heroes. Therefore, Nike invested a lot of money to invite successful and attractive athletes to endorse products and adopt the Pyramid image promotion strategy. The number of top athletes is the least, but it has a strong radiation. Nike is not the only one who uses athletes to advertise products, but Nike is the most successful.

Water can carry a boat, and it can also overturn. After ten years of cooperation with Woods, the world's number one professional golfer, in the face of Woods's scandal, Nike chose to work together in the same boat. Nike knows that Woods is crucial to the brand's golf series. Without Woods, the market share of the product line will not be asked. But when others are too busy to draw the line, Nike still insists on cooperation. It will be questioned by social morality. Whether its sales will be affected is still to be noticed. But one thing to admit is that Nike has a strong dependence on the sports brand marketing model that he founded on the basis of idols, and its disadvantages are obvious. This is also worth considering for other brands.

As a leader of the world sports brand, Nike has created enormous economic and social value in professional sports and lifestyle. It creates business myths with the world's top athletes, but inevitably suffers from the negative effects of celebrity effects.