Executive Summary
Nike is the most reputed and celebrated brands globally, the tagline Just Do it and the swoosh logo is recognized by one and all, in this age of digital media Nike has been able to outrun its competitors on the social media by using engaging and interactive programs.
The accounts of Nike as researched and repeatedly mentioned in the report connects with the consumers on a deeper emotional level and is spite of managing different departments, the company has been able to create a leading niche in the social media marketing programs amid the competition effectively.
Nike needs to keep pushing the envelope in relation to technology and needs to keep providing value and experience to consumers.
Business Description
In this age of digital connectivity, companies are going an extra mile to connect with the consumer on different social media platforms to not only sustain the brand image in the eyes of the consumers, but also create new revenue streams and most importantly create an emotive connect through engaging and interactive content, besides the usual communication done through Advertising communication channels.
A global giant in the sports sector, Nike, is a phenomenon when it comes to global reach, as one of the most reputed and celebrated brand, with numerous product line ranging from shoes, sports equipment, accessories and apparels, the most important reason for Nike’s sustained success over the decades is their cutting edge and innovative thinking, that transcends into the systems and process and being able to adapt to trends that connects with the consumers pulse, just like being able to carve a significant brand presence on the social media (Deering. S, 2015).
Nike is actively connecting with the consumers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest and YouTube
Situation Analysis
The sports sector has been dominated by Nike for years, however, with the advent of new companies in the sector, the competition has become very strong, with Adidas and Under Armour, Nike is expected to be one the biggest brands in terms of revenues in 2016, however, it is imperative to maintain the position by using the social media platform in an effective manner through engaging content and interactive brand experience, by being part of the most popular lifestyle trend of this generation, i.e. social media (Total Sportek, 2015).
Currently, Nike has the following number of followers and subscribers on the social media platforms it partakes on.
Social Media Followers / Subscribers
Facebook – 23.9 Million followers
Twitter – 5.9 Million followers
Instagram – 41.7 Million followers
LinkedIn – 990 Thousand followers
Google+ - 4.4 Million followers
Pinterest – 156 Thousand followers
YouTube – 361 Thousand subscribers
The numbers on the aforementioned platforms showcases Nike’s strength in terms of connecting with the consumers.
Marketing Objectives
The marketing objective is based on three important factors, awareness, buzz and increased sales. These factors are all connected and when integrated together, the result is a marketing winning program on both traditional and digital media.
The objective of awareness is to make sure to utilize all available channels on social media and on the website to pass on the information regarding any new development on the products and services front, this co-relates with the second factor i.e. buzz creation, the primary marketing objective of any brand and specifically Nike is to generate maximum buzz through engaging content and interactivity that propels the brand image to a different level.
The buzz will result in positive increase in sales of the product and service, since social media is an avenue that needs to connect on an experiential level, Nike+ is a personal social network that shares services like activity tracker app.
The 2014 campaign is an apt example of creating buzz by focusing on the core function of the brand, i.e. sports, teaming up with Google, for ‘Risk Everything’ campaign, Nike allowed fans to celebrate, re-mix, customize and the share on their social network, thus creating a massive viral campaign (Digital Buzz, 2014).
Nike has understood that a sale is not the end of the marketing cycle, and with social media, they are able to connect and provide different services to consumers depending on their needs and requirements (Cashman. J, 2015).
Key Social Media Channels
Just like every product is aimed at a specific target segment, Nike has utilized social media channels with the same intent in relation to connecting with the right audience for a particular social media channel.
The success of Nike’s strategy can be simply gauged from the fact that the followers as mentioned above are in the tune of millions, who interact, engage with the content specifically developed for them and become part of Nike lifestyle.
Twitter is the primary channel to communicate with the followers, and in view of the brand audit, Nike never communicates from the other channels, this helps the brand in maintaining consistency of the communication with the consumers.
The recent Neymar campaign, on YouTube, showcase, Nike’s intent in sharing content with advanced utilization of technology and give an experience to the consumer base, although virtual reality is in its nascent stage, but Nike’s brand DNA is to be number 1 in everything and they ‘Just do it’ (Mansoor. L, 2015).
In view of the marketing objectives, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube as social media channels with highest priority needs to be focused on, to tailor messages for different audiences depending on the campaign.
Target Audience
The target audience from a marketing perspective is primarily the women customers, as the women segment is growing faster than the men’s segment, Young Athletes are also a major part of the marketing strategy since the focus is to connect at a young age to secure the loyalties for the future in categories such as running, basketball, soccer and finally Runners, since the innovation is ongoing for this category with apps, shoes, and apparels (Lutz. A, 2015).
The strategy used by Nike to reach the target audience through different social media depends on the channel, as mentioned earlier, the focus is on sports and running and thus, the content on Instagram is focused on arty videos and images, that are carefully selected befitting the brand Image of Nike.
The utilization of hashtags such as the trademark #justdoit and #nikewomen to support an ongoing campaign, besides any specific content such as celebrating #airmaxday, have their own separate hashtags (Deering. S, 2015).
The twitter is used from an operational perspective to take care of the multiple branched out departments for specific sports and also mobile fitness apps, thus, Nike has many Twitter accounts such as @NikeFootabll, @NikeNYC, the largest following is on @Nike, and besides, @Nike.com and @Nikestore, have a sizeable follower base (Deering. S, 2015).
YouTube is used for technology videos and other campaigns that enable consumers to connect such as the ‘Risk Everything’ campaign as mentioned earlier.
And, last but not the least, Facebook, has a huge following, 23 million strong, linking the page with Instagram and Nike support page, Facebook is also used for pushing sales with the addition of ‘Shop Now’ button (Deering. S, 2015).
In spite of all the followers, that can be a misleading figure, Nike use it for only couple of posts a month, the content is more of a direct audience on Facebook as evidenced with the Nike Running page that also have a following of around 6 million followers.
Recommendations
The lists of recommendations in view of the marketing collaterals utilized by Nike are as follows:
Start using the Facebook, in a more dynamic manner by starting tactical campaigns that should include a gift by giving a coupon or discount #TheNumber1Fan, this campaign will include pictures and messages with Nike products.
The need is to streamline the twitter feeds in view of the fact that, twitter is the only social medium that interacts with the followers.
YouTube activities should increase to create a viral effect on a constant, basis, with Adidas, Under Armour and other brands breathing down Nike’s neck, the use of campaigns that enables users to interact will reap much reward.
Instagram account should keep adding videos and introducing new hashtags regularly to keep the account interesting.
Finally, Nike should, reconnect with its roots, i.e. running and start creating campaigns #BackToRoots, to celebrate the history and take inputs of the consumers on a global level, to be able to reconnect with the fans who have jumped ship and also make new fans in the process.
How Nike measure success of social media programs
Nike measures success by the number of followers on their social media channels, on twitter every tweet is responded, to keep in check the activity level, on Instagram account the posts likes and comments measures the success level, Facebook is used for selling and also connecting other social channels as mentioned earlier and YouTube channel activity is measured depending on the activity level of the followers for a campaign.
The traffic and share of voice are the general measurement tools for the social media programs.
References
Cashman, J. (2015). How Nike is Killing it in Social Media Marketing. Digital Firefly Marketing. Retrieved from
https://digitalfireflymarketing.com/how-nike-killing-it-social-media-marketing
Deering, S. (2015). How Nike Uses Social Media. Link Humans. Retrieved from http://linkhumans.com/case-study/nike
Digital Buzz Blog. (2014). Nike ‘Phenomenal Shot’ Real-Time Ads.
Retrieved from http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/nike-phenomenal-shot-real-time-ads/
Lutz, A. (2015). Nike is going after 3 kinds of customers. Business Insider Singapore.
Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.sg/nike-is-going-after-3-kinds-of-customers-2015-4/?r=US&IR=T#.Vxira3qmFgA
Mansoor, L. (2015). Step into the shoes of Brazialian Suoerstar Neymar with Nike.
Digital Agency Network. Retrieved from http://digitalagencynetwork.com/step-into-the-shoes-of-brazilian-superstar-neymar-with-nike/
Total Sportek. (2015). Biggest Sports Brands In Terms Revenue in 2016.
Retrieved from http://www.totalsportek.com/money/biggest-sports-brands/
