Brand Ratings: Nike, Just Do It
When a campaign can elicit enough outrage that people are willing to literally burn hundreds of dollars worth of sneakers, apparel and more, you’ve struck a chord and likely hit a homerun.
While this campaign will be remembered for Colin Kaepernick, other athletes included were:
Serena Williams, pro tennis player
Shaquem Griffin, NFL football player with one hand
Odell Beckham, NFL football player
Lacey Baker, pro skateboarder
LeBron James, NBA basketball player
The campaign that caused an uproar amongst many, also boosted Nike’s bottom line, according to Fortune, to the tune of $6B. 😮
With that little bit of background, let’s get to the ratings.
Visuals — 8.7
Clean, simple, black & white graphics with very understated branding. They don’t jam their brand or over colorful imagery down your throat and allow the words to simmer in your mind.
The TV spot was equally as attractive but loses points from me for a couple of things, and I’m nitpicking.
I would have liked to see continuity in color. Black and white in the video can be super powerful.
Secondly, I didn’t love the use of Kaepernick’s voice. I thought it lacked a bit of depth (he’s not a voice actor, not his fault). If you’re not a sports fan, you may have never made the connection.
Sentiment — 9.7
Really hard to watch the commercial or see the ads and not feel like you too could go out and be the best at something… anything.
Emotion wins the advertising game and this had plenty of it.
Impact — 9.5
With all the free marketing Nike received from the haters burning their Nike gear and subsequently posting it online, in addition to the $6B cap bump, the marketing department isn’t complaining.
Here’s something else that Nike achieved here: they stood for something. They took a stance and made it clear how they felt.
Regardless of your feelings (I find myself saying this a lot lately), I can guarantee that Nike accomplished exactly what they set out to and strengthened their bond with the exact audience they wanted to.
Final Thoughts
Front-runner for campaign of the year at this point. Wouldn’t be surprised if Nike follows up with more at the Super Bowl.
This campaign does everything it set out to do and then some.
It got people talking, lovers and haters, it communicates clearly where Nike stands and it boosted the bottom line. — 9.3
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