by Jessica Ayers

Nike entered the new millennium with a brand portfolio that any company would envy and spokespersons of the likes of Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong, Roger Federer and others who, in 2000, were at the top of their game or climbing to the height of their legendary status.

Having dealt with corporate responsibility issues in the previous decade and continuing to enforce high labor standards and increased monitoring, Nike could go nowhere but up. And the company reached for the stars. Literally.

Phil Knight told the world on CNBC’s special “Inside Nike” that he doesn’t “believe in advertising.” On that foundation, Nike has implemented campaigns throughout the company’s history that combine public relations, marketing and advertising. However, per Knight’s request, “it doesn’t look like advertising” (Inside Nike).

The cornerstones of these campaigns have been Nike’s athlete brand ambassadors. The following are two of the campaigns that have set Nike apart since 2000.

"Become Legendary"
Legendary is one of the only words that can be used to describe basketball great Michael Jordan. Nike launched the “Become Legendary” campaign in January 2008 to coincide with the release of the Air Jordan XX3 in the same year.

The campaign features a series of television ads airing for the first time during significant professional sporting events. The ads were called “It’s Not About the Shoes,” “Look Me In the Eyes,” “Clocktower,” and “Maybe It Was My Fault.”

According to a Nike press release, “‘BECOME LEGENDARY’ is intended to inspire consumers to exceed expectations, challenge conventional views of sportsmanship and explain that greatness is attainable. Using evocative imagery, the ad campaign animates the Jordan Brand core truths - Authentic, Uncompromised, Earned, and Inspirational - which speak directly to the brand pillars derived by Michael Jordan's personal values and philosophy for success” (“Jordan Brand Unveils ‘BECOME LEGENDARY’ New Brand Campaign in Celebration of Air Jordan Legacy”).

"Let Me Play" and support for female athletes
Nike published the original “Let Me Play” ad in 1995, publicizing the benefits of organized sports for women and girls. In 2007, Nike responded to Don Imus’s derogatory comments regarding Rutgers’ female basketball players by launching a campaign touting the accomplishments of famous female athletes like Serena Williams and Mia Hamm, among others.

To prove the company’s commitment to the advancement of female athletes, Nike started the Let Me Play Fund with $425,000 to issue grants for equipment and uniforms for girls’ sports teams (Howard).

"Nike+"
"Nike+" is less of a campaign and more of a technology meant to create a new lifestyle for consumers, or simply make it easier. Nike+ technology includes a chip inserted into Nike+ running shoes that communicates with the runner’s iPod or Nike+ SportBand, tracking mileage, pace and other training variables important to serious athletes and fun for casual athletes. The data can then be uploaded to the Nike+ Web site. Here comes the fun part.

The Nike+ Web site is a social network that allows users to log their workout information and share it with other users, as well as setting goals while connecting with an online network of cheerleaders. Empowered with a means of tracking progress and maintaining accountability, consumers interact with Nike on a regular basis.

Nike used this technology to put on the Nike Human Race 10k on Aug. 31, 2008, holding 10k races in 25 cities, but allowing anyone to register and log their run on the Nike+ Web site.

The message
Of course Nike is in the business of selling products and making money, but the message in each campaign is meant to empower the consumer. By empowering the consumer, Nike builds an undeniably positive relationship with its number one public.

The timing
The planning of the release of each campaign has been impeccable. Whether honoring the accomplishments of a world-renowned athlete, responding to a negative situation in the public eye or capitalizing on the growth of social media, Nike has been able to key into what people were already thinking about, making the message more effective.

The consumer-orientation
Nike knows its audience. The company’s message is effective because it builds effective relationships with its consumers. Consumers identify a message that inspires them to respond to or act on an issue already on their radar, and Nike garners instant interaction with the public, whether a sale is made or not. Once the relationship is built, a sale is probably inevitable.

Nike is the relationship king of the corporate world, and the rest of the decade should bring more good PR out of Beaverton, Ore.


Sources:

Howard, Theresa. "Nike Serves Up New Ads Supporting Women." USA Today 27 Aug. 2007. Money. 8 Dec. 2008 <http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/adtrack/2007-08-26-ad-track-williams_N.htm>.

“Inside Nike”. CNBC. <http://insidenike.cnbc.com>.

“Jordan Brand Unveils ‘BECOME LEGENDARY’ New Brand Campaign in Celebration of Air Jordan Legacy”. All Business. 8 Jan. 2008. 8 Dec. 2008. <http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/marketing-techniques/6598934-1.html>

Nike.com

by Jessica Ayers

Successes, failures and successes
In the first article of this series, we left Nike growing at an unprecedented pace in organizational size, sales and market share at the end of the 1970s. By the early 1980s, the company went public and passed Adidas to claim the position of the top sports apparel company in the industry (Locke, 2002). The next 20 years would bring more growth and incredible success, but not without encountering serious failure.

Success
After the initial move past Adidas, Nike slipped from the top of the industry in the mid-1980s as a result of underestimating the growing popularity of aerobics. It did not take long, however, for the company to regain the number one spot.

Nike gambled on a young rookie basketball player from The University of North Carolina in 1985, pinning on Michael Jordan the hopes of the company’s line of basketball shoes. His success along with the impact of the new Air Max line of shoes and its commercial featuring the song “Revolution” by the Beatles catapulted Nike back to the top of the sports apparel world.

Another gamble on cross training shoes, a two-sport athlete named Bo Jackson and the slogan “Just Do It” also paid off in a big way in the second half of the 1980s.

In the 1990s Nike opened a new world headquarters in Portland, Ore., as well as a new shopping experience called Niketown. The company focused more on soccer, golf and cycling in this decade, again taking chances on unproven athletes Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong. By the end of the 1990s, Nike sponsored the Brazilian national soccer team and U.S. men’s and women’s national soccer teams (Nike.com).

Failure and success
Unfortunately, not everything was coming up roses for Nike. In the 1990s, human rights activists fiercely attacked Nike for its human rights abuses in foreign production factories. The accusations were printed in mass media across the United States, including The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Foreign Affairs and The Economist (Locke, 2002).

Allegations included lower than minimum wage payments to workers, child labor, forced labor, poor working conditions and verbal abuse.

Nike suffered from these blows, losing contracts and its good rapport with many consumers. Initially the company denied responsibility for the shortcomings, saying that the factories were run by independent contractors and therefore were not employees of Nike.

In 1992, the company took a step to remedy the problem by creating a code of conduct to be displayed in each factory. The response escalated from there when the company raised the minimum age of workers to 18 in footwear factories and 16 in all other factories. The company also required factories to meet U.S. labor standards and increase wages, among other improvements (Locke, 2002).

PR in Success
Nike’s success was very public. The more successful the company was, the more pervasive the company became.

Nike moved from track and running shoes to basketball, cross training, golf, soccer and cycling products in these two decades. Each time focus shifted to a new sport, Nike signed a new athlete – or team of athletes – to signify the company’s entrance into the market in a big way.

Allowing professional athletes to be the spokespersons for the company gave Nike a sort of superpower mystique, as well as credibility in the eyes of consumers.

Success in PR
No company wants to be faced with the accusations with which Nike was hit in the 1990s. However, Nike overcame this challenge using simple PR techniques:

1. Admit Responsibility
Although initially denying fault for the abuses occurring in its factories, Nike earned credibility and sowed the seeds of a reputation of social responsibility with CEO Phil Knight’s admission of guilt:

“The Nike product has become synonymous with slave wages, forced overtime and arbitrary abuse” (Locke).

2. Fix the Problem
Nike initially addressed those grievances specifically mentioned by attackers: child labor, health and safety standards and wage issues. However, Nike did not stop there.

The company created a Labor Practices department and the Nike Environmental Action Team, now covered by the Corporate Responsibility and Compliance Department. The company also placed employees responsible for ensuring the quality of working conditions at each factory. All new personnel involved in the maintenance of these factories go through training in all areas of Nike’s corporate responsibility standards and are present in the factories daily. Factories are now also audited and inspected by outside organizations.

Nike became a founding member of the Global Alliance for Workers and Communities, and became a member of the Fair Labor Association.

These solutions to corporate responsibility problems showed the public Nike’s commitment to being the top company in the sports apparel industry in ethics and in sales and market share.

3. Manage the Message
Throughout the campaign to rebuild Nike’s image, CEO Phil Knight was a visible primary spokesperson. For a company whose main spokespersons were professional athletes, to have someone at the head of the organization deliver the company’s message of responsibility and change was significant.

After the initial apology, the message was not one of remorse or of lighthearted delusion, but one of positive action. Nike even invited British documentary cameras into one of its Vietnamese factories (Haig 91).

4. See the Message Through
Since these first scandals and attacks, Nike has demonstrated a long-term commitment to corporate responsibility.

To this day Nike makes factory audits available online at Nike.com, as well as the most current version of the Code of Conduct and list of factories.

Through numerous programs addressing the grievances in working conditions and creating opportunities for people around the world to better their situations, the company has become the gold standard of responsible outsourcing and philanthropic programming.

What’s next
Nike is the gold standard of corporate responsibility and the leading, most pervasive sports apparel company in the industry. In the third and final installment of this series, Nike capitalizes on technology and mass media globalization.

 
Sources
Nike.com

Haig, M. Brand Royalty. Sterling, Va.: Kogan Page Limited, 2004.

Locke, R. M. (2002, July). The promise and perils of globalization: The case of Nike. MIT Working Paper IPC-02-007.

by Jessica Ayers

When you think of Nike, you probably think Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Michael Jordan. Maybe you think of the “Swoosh” or Nike+ running gear.

You probably don’t think human rights lawsuits or outrage over commercials. But Nike had to deal with all kinds of legal issues and ensuing image management problems.

You probably don’t think small town Oregon, Japanese track shoes or waffle iron shoe treads. But that is where Nike started.

How did a University of Oregon track coach and his athlete take selling shoes out of the trunk of his car to Nike Inc., the company that reported record revenues of $18.6 billion in the fiscal year ending May 31, 2008?

A history: The early years

According to Nike.com, Bill Bowerman, University of Oregon track coach, was obsessed with making his team better. He left nothing untouched, not the track, the water or the shoes. Bowerman even made shoes himself for his athletes to wear.

Phil Knight, a runner on Bowerman’s Oregon track team and recipient of an MBA from Stanford University, was also looking for innovation in athletic equipment. However, Knight believed that shoes could be manufactured in Japan to compete in an athletic market dominated by German track shoes.

After graduation, Knight traveled to Japan and made a gutsy call on Onitsuka Co. that ended in a deal for Knight to distribute Onitsuka’s Tiger running shoes in the United States.

When Bowerman found out, he saw potential and partnered with Knight in 1964.

The two were made for each other. The discipline of elite athletes in pursuit of perfection became the foundation of the partnership that would one day become Nike, Inc.

They formed Blue Ribbon Sports and sold shoes out of Knight’s car while both worked at other jobs. Jeff Johnson joined the duo in 1965 to market the shoes. Johnson set up a mail-order system and produced the company’s first advertisements to complement Blue Ribbon Sports’ already established relationships with local high school and college track teams.

Nike and the “Swoosh”

Bowerman continued to experiment with ways to improve the quality and performance of the shoes, and not even his wife’s waffle iron was sacred. When Nike’s relationship with Onitsuka Co. began to falter, the innovators were ready with a lightweight track shoe with nubs on the outsole inspired by the pattern on a waffle iron.

Johnson came up with the name “Nike” for Blue Ribbon Sports’ line of shoes in 1971, and Knight paid a young college student $35 to design the logo now known as the “Swoosh.”

Despite the success of these unique shoes locally, Bowerman still was not satisfied. Mark Parker, Nike president and CEO who worked his way to the position from designer, told CNBC in the network’s special “Swoosh! Inside Nike,” that Bowerman would weigh newly designed shoes on a postage scale in board meetings and say, “Is this the best you can do?”

To launch Nike shoes nationally, Blue Ribbon Sports chose track athlete Steve Prefontaine as the first athlete to endorse the line.

Prefontaine’s success on the track was unparalleled, and his success as brand ambassador for Nike shoes was equally impressive. Prefontaine challenged Blue Ribbon Sports to keep pushing toward perfection in creative innovations while making appearances on behalf of the company and sending shoes to promising young athletes with notes of encouragement.

Prefontaine was only the first in a long line of successful brand ambassadors for the company now known as Nike Inc.

So, how did a University of Oregon track coach and his athlete take selling shoes out of the trunk of his car to Nike Inc., the company that reported record revenues of $18.6 billion in the fiscal year ending May 31, 2008?

Public relations strategy. Although, like many young companies, Knight and Bowerman may not have called what they were doing public relations, all those in the PR world today would do well to take notice of the successes of Nike’s early communications. Blue Ribbon Sports accomplished great things by answering two main challenges: proving the quality of the shoes and proving the company’s commitment to the athlete.

A clearly defined mission

Bowerman’s obsession was his mission in business: to make the highest-quality shoes available to athletes.

The mission of Blue Ribbon Sports’ public relations in those early decades, therefore, was to prove the quality of the shoes and the company’s commitment to the athlete.

Narrowly defined objectives give a campaign focus. Instead of jumping on every good idea, all efforts can be concentrated on making steady steps forward through communications. Instead of chasing more endorsement deals or immediately expanding into shoes for other sports, Blue Ribbon Sports was able to focus on effectively establishing the company’s image.

A clearly defined public

Blue Ribbon Sports’ public was athletes. As a company founded by track athletes, Blue Ribbon Sports knew the public and how to reach it.

Small companies are often founded by people who know their public well, but the importance of research in today’s larger companies cannot be stressed enough. A campaign without knowledge of its target is ineffective at its best and disastrous at its worst.

Success strategy 1: Proving quality through established relationships

Proving the quality of its shoes was the simpler of Blue Ribbon Sports’ two main challenges.

Track athletes — especially those in the Oregon area, where Blue Ribbon Sports was located — had an established relationship with Steve Prefontaine. As an elite collegiate runner, Prefontaine’s reputation lent credibility to the young line of shoes.

Previously established relationships can be just as valuable today. Associating a company with a person or group with an established reputation can be powerful. Although endorsement deals are a dime a dozen, hosting a joint event or giving a donation to a local nonprofit or a government official says something to the public.

Success strategy 2: Proving commitment by building relationships

Blue Ribbon Sports had to forge relationships with its public from nothing, making this goal more difficult than the last.

Knight started building these relationships by going to the athletes and offering them a face and a product. By selling Tiger shoes at local track events, Blue Ribbon Sports offered buyers a personal experience, and so proved how the company valued the athlete while cultivating the athlete’s personal loyalty to the company.

Blue Ribbon Sports also placed a premium on receiving feedback from all athletes on ways to improve their shoes. Knight and Bowerman spoke to local athletes and Prefontaine alike and took all suggestions seriously, again proving the company’s commitment to athletes.

Personal connections with a public are irreplaceable, and Blue Ribbon Sports’ success in this area is a great example of connecting through customer service. Wal Mart offers a similar example of personal connections through customer service on a large scale by employing greeters at each of the stores. Other ways for large companies to create personal relationships can be through sponsoring events unrelated to your company or participating in philanthropic efforts.

What’s next

The first two decades of Nike saw remarkable growth through focus, branding and relationship building, but the company hit speed bumps in the next two decades.

In the next article in this series, Nike will pass Adidas as the number one brand in the United States and it will deal with crises that lead to success in social responsibility.

Sources:

Nike.com

CNBC’s Documentary “Swoosh! Inside Nike”