Nike Advertising: What Type of Consumer and Athlete is Nike Targeting These Days?

Oh, Nike. (Sigh.) In case you haven't been following the recent Nike advertising and marketing announcements, Ad Chickadee has a thoughtful synopsis on just why I'm sighing right now. Nike announced that they've re-signed Michael Vick to their athlete roster, and also started selling Nike shirts with phrases like "Dope," and "Get High," on them - which while controversial, seem the opposite of phrases that a healthy active athlete would be touting anyway.

There was a reason we stopped getting excited about your products, Nike...and it had nothing to do with your marketing. We didn't start buying Under Armour (among others) for their marketing. Their products were innovative and sexy, so we gave 'em a try. We liked how they made us look (how athletic and flattering!) and how they wicked as we ran (how comfortable!).

So your recent marketing and business strategy decisions seem misplaced. I understand wanting to remain - or regain - a relevant or edgy brand. But your decision to re-sign Michael Vick - when there are thousands of other top-of-their-game athletes to have chosen - just feels amateur and desperate. Couldn't you have found a better use for the dollars you're giving him for his endorsement?

I totally get forgiveness and offering a second chance for Vick to prove himself to be an upstanding or redemptive contributor to the game of football. Athletes and stars have faults and make mistakes - we all do. But turning compassion into a business strategy sends a message loud and clear to your consumer base - and future consumers - that you've chosen the entity you want to align with. And that entity doesn't align with what parents of young kids, tweens and teens want them to be associated with or representing. It's also not cool for the other athletes on your endorsement roster who are living up to their contracts and obligations and serving as inspiring athletes and heros to kids and teens from coast to coast.

Perhaps I'm more vulnerable to the sting of your decision because I'm a parent now. . .or maybe I'm just getting old. I am in my 30s. But I'm cognizant of the brands, characters, stars and athletes I expose the Kiddo to, and to any related topics that each idol would require me to address with my son. Having just begun the summer schedule of sport camps: baseball, soccer, swimming, golf, and football waiting in the wings, I'm buying sports equipment, shoes, bags and apparel for the kiddo. I make the decision on which products we're buying at this point until he's older. Yes, he's sported some of your more clever Nike baseball shirts, hoodies and swoosh shorts, and warm up pants. They're a staple in many young boys' dressers across the country. But that's baseball. . .and I can support the Kiddo aspiring to play and focus like Derek Jeter. :-)

So with these thoughts, I beg you to please think about your future potential consumers and Nike athletes in your upcoming marketing and business strategy meetings. Kids tend to stick with the brands they're brought up with in their own homes, and it'd be a shame for you to miss out on your 100th anniversary as a successful iconic company (like IBM recently celebrated theirs). I hope that you're agile and humble enough to rethink these decisions and maybe make some substitutions in your internal line-up. Because the more I read about your recent endorsements and clothing designs, the less I think you'll have a future customer base.

Comments

[Nicole Feliciano]

Sigh. I've been on the same page for a year...http://www.momtrends.com/2010/04/mommy-time-monday-nike-boycott/

[c2cmom]

I can't believe it's been over a year since you wrote that, Nicole! It's so disappointing when we're used to buying a brand for years, and they make decisions like this that make us stop and think when we're at the store, or adding things to our basket/carts online.

Lucky for us, there's other (better?) brands waiting for us in the wings: Lucy, The North Face, Asics, Under Armour, Brooks, Adidas, Reebok, New Balance, Mizuno, Champion, Athleta...:-D