I believe Nike have successfully created an IMC strategy relevant to their target audience, who presumably belong to generation Y, have a high interest in sports, are likely to be cynical of marketers, be tech savvy and have a high disposable income.
Based on this information Nike have affectively used social media to reach their target audience, making the launch of Chosen feel personal, and allowing interactivity between Nike and its consumer. The Video contest cleverly tricked entrants into providing personal information that could be collated into Nikes Client relationship management system.
By Encouraging the video entrants to create hype about their Videos and effectively creating their own campaigns to encourage people to visit the sites, Nike have also created an affective viral campaign without being intrusive. Gen Y are said to be more likely to purchase a new product based on recommendations from friends and family, this demonstrated Nike have clearly done their research about the demographic.
The use of celebrity endorsers for the new product lines creates credibility that Nikes products are quality and worthy of the action sports market, it creates a a unique associations with the brand in the consumer mind.
The 3D commercials to be aired in cinemas, I feel might be a bit extravagant whilst marketing to Gen Y needs to be creative and innovative, the current box office releases don't resonate with the target market and I feel that the money invested into this may have been better spent on more events or competitions, that have a positive response from the target audience
The use of the large scales events by Nike has create a lot of PR. Public relations again is known to be more credible that marketing because it general is communicated from a third party not associated with the brand or product.
The multi million dollar campaign has exhausted every possible avenue to reach its target audience, but as with any strategy its not without is faults a few things that must be noted about the campaign is :
- The celebrity endorsers in the commercial are exclusively wearing Nike products this may create confusion as to what the commercial is communicationing
- The video contest creates breadth but not necessarily depth
- Launching during the NBA grand finals will reach their current market, not necessarily the niche market they are targeting
- Nike was not an official sponsor of the NBA so there may be a lot of "Noise" from competitors during this time
- Forcing consumer to provide personal details to enter the video contest may create a negative customer experience and deter them from the campaign
Overall Nike have created a campaign appropriate to its target audience, using a soft sell approach, using mediums that are appropriate to their psychographic and demographic characteristics.
The campaign has effectively created buzz in the media with numerous articles appearing in the media. The have dominated the use of social media and set the bench mark for future campaigns. If the consumer reaction is anything to judge by Nike with successfully reach its objectives of breaking into the action sports apparel product category.
