Learning From The Best Marketing Campaign Of All Time
In 2012, Nike was faced with a major problem.
At the time, Nike was THE world leader in athletic apparel and equipment. They were the name on everyone’s chest. The name on everyone’s feet. And the name on everyone’s lips.
With the London 2012 Olympics fast approaching, this major sporting event was going to catapult Nike to even greater heights.
However, competitor Adidas had different plans for Nike.
Adidas are a big brand, and in 2012, this was no different. However, at the time, they were still minuscule to Nike, despite being such a big name brand.
With the bidding wars open for the Olympics, Adidas fought hard to win over an exclusive sponsorship deal with the London Games worth £40m, brushing off Nike as an Official Partner.
This is the story of how Nike were able to pull of the best marketing campaign of all time.
Removing Ambush Marketing
After winning such a big deal, the Adidas team were very smart.
They worked a deal with the games to stop all non-official partners from using the terms “London 2012″, ‘Olympic”, “London Olympics” and the Olympic 5 Ring Logo, in marketing campaigns.
It would seem that Adidas had won their battle with Nike, being protected under strict guidelines from the Olympics.
But as they say, Nike may have lost the battle, but they would go on to win the war.
A Strike Of Genius
With so many restrictions in place, the Nike marketing team had to think differently.
With arguably the biggest sporting event in the world on display, Nike wanted some attention.
They were banned from using Olympic athletes in their marketing, and they couldn’t film anywhere near London, England.
So they came up with two effective marketing campaigns to combat this.
The first, they released a new wave of shoes. The “Volt”. A fluro yellow/green shoe that over 400 Olympic athlete would ultimately use throughout the games.
The effectiveness of this, is that the shoe was so bright, and contrasting to the red track, that it was easy to see which athletes were Nike athletes on the live-broadcast and across social media.
One loophole exploited.
The second campaign needed to create a buzz on social media. It needed to grab the attention of consumers, away from Adidas, and make it seem like Nike were the true Official Partner.
So, Nike turned to film.
#FindYourGreatness
Brand story films are the bees knees of video marketing.
They are different to commercials, as they tell a message. They don’t push out fast paced narratives to gain quick attention.
Instead, they captivate an audience. Get viewers engaged in the story, and ultimately attract consumers to a brand.
Nike knew this, and thus the #findyourgreatness campaign was born.
They created a brand story film centred around the games, without being inhibited by the laws against them.
They couldn’t film in London England, so instead, they filmed in London Ohio, London Gym and Little London Jamaica, amongst others.
They couldn’t use Olympic Athletes to grip the attention of viewers and sell their apparel using celebrity marketing.
So instead, they used their consumers. Created a relatable situation, whereby viewers could relate to the “actors” (regular people) in the film.
The film was centred around the key message that greatness isn’t just for the elite few. It is for everyone.
It takes viewers on a journey, seeing people just like them, achieve greatness in their everyday lives.
From the girl doing a handstand, to the amputated baseball player. Each individual is finding greatness in their own lives.
Captivating The World
Why is this campaign referred to as the best marketing campaign of all time?
It is because it targets the emotions of buyers.
Emotion is well known to be the number 1 factor of whether or not a consumer buys a product, and yet so many brands do not utilise their films to target emotion.
Nike was able to captivate their target market, young adults and teens, by using like-minded people, in like-minded situations to create relatability.
When a teen saw a fellow teen achieving greatness, the teen viewer would feel encouraged and motivated to do the same – not wanting to be outshone by another teen.
As Nike was the apparent driving force in achieving greatness, Nike would now be affiliated with achieving greatness.
Their shoes, their clothing, they must have a secret “sauce” to achieving greatness, which made their viewers be more attracted to the brand.
Global Fame
On the day of the opening ceremony, the Nike #findyourgreatness brand story film was the most trending video worldwide.
It was number 1 on YouTube. Had the most mentions and hashtags on twitter.
The world was convinced that Nike was the Official Partner of the games, and Adidas, who thought they had all of their loopholes covered, were once again left in the dust of Nike.
And it was all down to knowing their target market incredibly well, and targeting them with a deep and emotive brand story film that was relatable enough to demand attraction.
Without this knowledge and application, Nike could never have created the best marketing campaign seen in modern times.
Need A Hand Forging A Deep Connection With Your Clients?
It’s not always easy to forge a deep connection with your clients. Which is why we’re here to help.
Brand story films are your brand’s north star. They help you to make decisions internally, and act as the centrepiece of your marketing strategy.
If you’d like to learn more about how we can help you forge a deep, emotive connection with your consumer through a brand story film, contact us via:
didier@fixonmedia.com.au
+61 400 801 891
All the best,
Didier Le Miere
Director | Fixon Media Group