“It has the kind of edge, attitude and distinctiveness that should be applauded,” said Greg Silverman, global director of brand economics at strategy consultancy Interbrand, which has worked with Nike, but not on its latest Olympics campaign. “It also acts as a galvanizing rallying cry for how Nike thinks innovation, pace and ambition can get the brand back out ahead of the competition.”
System1, which uses a so-called Star rating to predict brand growth based on an ad’s creative, gave Nike’s Olympics spot a 1.5 out of 5 among the general public, but among sports fans it scored a 3.8.
“Nike spotlights endurance and personal challenge, which appeals to some but not all,” explained System1 chief customer officer Jon Evans.
Nike still has a long road ahead to regain its stature as a brand whose marketing has a point of view.
“It won’t happen overnight,” an agency leader who works with Nike told ADWEEK.
Much of what Nike needs to do to reverse its slide goes beyond its marketing messages. For instance, the company has already backpedaled on its decision to sever relationships with retailers like Foot Locker, Macy’s and DSW in favor of its ecommerce channels.
However, those decisions also impacted Nike’s marketing strategy, according to former Nike marketers as well as current and past agency partners. When Nike wanted digital sales to represent 50% of revenue by 2022, it invested in performance marketing and programmatic ads to drive traffic to Nike.com and its apps, cutting into resources that were once allocated for brand marketing.
“Nike became a machine to produce content to feed this digital ecosystem. It was all resources that took away from brand-building,” Giunco told ADWEEK. “The main objective was to drive people to Nike.com, not to resonate with or inspire people to play sport.”
To do this, Nike invested in programmatic ads and performance marketing at “double or more of the share of resources usually invested in the other brand activities,” Giunco would later post on LinkedIn.
To support these initiatives, Nike began producing more content that would engage members and collect data. For example, it released Mind Sets in 2021, a content series for the Training Club and Running Club apps that offered guidance about the intersection of fitness and mental health. This year, Nike’s “Mindset Tips” site has published two articles so far, compared to 13 in 2022.
