The 2009 Nike advertisement (shown below) that will be evaluated in this paper is the “Ladies First” magazine advertisement. The advertisement shows a female runner in an athlete’s running attire, intently looking forward, as if looking towards the finish line. The slogan in the advertisement says, “Ladies first. Men second.” At the bottom of the advertisement, in smaller letters, states, “Join the men vs. women challenge at Nikeplus.com.” This objective of the advertisement was to encourage women to participate in Nike’s running challenge which was open to both sexes. The target market of this advertisement are women runners.
The message of the advertisement is clearly conveyed through the text, which is extremely prominent. It wants to empower women. The slogan itself is very powerful because it implies that women can be better than men, even in the sports world. The female athlete in the advertisement exudes confidence and power. She seems determined to reach her goal. Women viewers of this advertisement would think that they too can be successful athletes and can win over men. Another point that this advertisement depicts is the issue of stereotyping. Women have always been perceived as the weaker sex, but the message of this advertisement contradicts such stereotype. The message is simple, and that is, women can excel over men. For the men, this advertisement tries to drive the point that they can also be beaten by women and can come in second place. The statement “Ladies first” can be a subtle message for men to bring back the age of chivalry and respect women for what they are truly worth and not as mere sex objects.
The advertisement is seems to be part of a positioning strategy. One thinks that the positioning strategy used by the advertiser is based on cultural symbols. Over the years, women were considered inferior to men especially in the field of sports. The view of most cultures is that sports is for the masculine and that the feminine cannot excel in sports. Nike takes advantage of the cultural change towards women empowerment. Nike is aware that this advertisement will have a strong appeal to women. Because of the idea that they are trying to push in the advertisement, women will be enticed to buy their products because they believe that Nike has an advocacy that is one with theirs, fighting for equality between men and women.
The Nike advertisement has a very competitive appeal to both the male and the female. It raises the spirits of both genders and inspires them to be first. The advertisement, although directed to the women, challenges the men to prove that they are number one.
The execution style used in the advertisement is a combination of lifestyle and slice-of-life. It shows how the Nike sportswear can fit into the lifestyle of a female runner, whether she is an athlete or not. It also uses the slice-of-life execution style because it portrays a woman who probably runs every day to keep fit.
This advertisement by Nike has a very good message strength. It meets the four rules of message creation which is, it should be specific, should show the benefits of the product, promises value and it sets the product apart. The slogan clearly conveys what the advertiser wants the readers to know and realize.
The Nike advertisement was featured in several sports and women magazines. The media selection was appropriate because the target market for the advertisement buys these magazines.
Source: http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/men-vs.-women-challenge-nike-ads
Works Cited
Sharma, Sourabh and Paul Janssen. "Message strength: Tips for beautiful and effective product messaging." 26 November 2012. Allured Business Media. 28 April 2015
< http://www.gcimagazine.com/business/marketing/Message-Strength-Tips-for-Beautiful-and-Effective-Product-Messaging-180864611.html>.
Trend Hunter Inc. "Men vs. women challenge ads." 30 March 2009. trendhunter.com. 28 April 2015 <http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/men-vs.-women-challenge-nike-ads>.
