Ch. 16 - Advertising, Public Relations and Sales Promotion

Nike billboard in Times Square featuring Kobe Bryant

Nike Inc. being the powerhouse and the number one brand in its market which it controls a majority of, obviously spends a lot of money, time and resources on advertisements and the different channels of advertisement they use. As of this July, Nike has been projected to have spent about $2.8 million on marketing. In a further mathematical breakdown of the numbers spent, Nike spends about $8 million a day, $300,000 per hour, $100 a second in advertising. Nike goes far beyond your traditional type of advertising as it not only spends a large amount of money on it, but it uses many types of advertising such as billboard and print advertising, social media and television commercials. Nike posts billboards all over cities such as in train stations, on buildings and buses and even on park benches in towns across the country. On social media, Nike has its Twitter, Facebook and Instagram profiles available for consumers to follow and be a part of on that form of social media, and even has its own separate accounts for several of the categories of Nike brand products such as Nike Basketball, Nike Football and Nike Baseball. These pages that they have made available on social media are used to constantly inform consumers of new products, release dates and any information on current or upcoming Nike products. The fact that in today's world, most people get information from the internet through social media is considered key as to how Nike has continued to take advantage of that situation. But it is mainly in television ads and commercials is where Nike does its best work. As many people in today's world watch television, it is almost guaranteed that a person can't go sit through a single program on television without seeing a Nike advertisement on their screens. Nike generates its consumer interest through commercials and the people that are used in them. Nike is very good at using their top superstar athletes and celebrities in their ads and commercials such as NBA players and Pro Golfers to further show how the Super Star athlete model that they run by is very successful and continues to draw the interest of the consumers

As the Super Star athlete technique comes into play, Nike has been able to utilize its Super Star athletes into their advertising schemes no matter what type of scrutiny that athlete may be under in the eyes of the public.That alone is rather impressive in Nike's continued ventures in advertising with Super Star athletes. For example, Tiger Woods' affair scandal that lit up the media a few years back saw the threat of Nike possibly considering dumping Woods based on his conduct being detrimental and inappropriate to the consumer world, much like when they dumped football star Michael Vick following his arrest. Nike however decided to hold onto and stick by Tiger Woods and today he continues to be a successful super star athlete advertising model for the company. Following the speculation of his affair and during the inception of Tiger Woods' return to golf after his brief hiatus, Nike released a much controversial commercial featuring Woods listening to his deceased father's voice questioning him about his return and his hiatus in the commercial.

As the use of the Super Star athlete continues to play as an advantage in their advertising schemes, Nike continues to find new ways to make great commercials that lead to successful consumer reactions. The most recent commercial came from the hands of the Nike Basketball group. Nike in the past has done very well with the basketball marketing and advertising schemes they implement in their commercials, print and billboard ads, and the most recent one featuring LeBron James is another big hit for the advertising department at Nike Inc. They were able to shoot this commercial of LeBron and fans biking, swimming and running freely through the city of Miami, and in the background were able to sample a new song by artist John Legend that hasn't even been released to the public yet, as it has only been made available through the bits and pieces that play in the background of this single commercial. Nike yet again has successfully made a much criticized, hated and controversial super star athlete look like a very likable and adored figure in the city he or she represents. Nike not only preaches innovation in its product development but implements it and preaches it in its advertising schemes, leading to successful advertisements with great consumer reaction.