What do you think of when you think of the word ‘brand’? For most people, they think of Coca-Cola, NFL, Disney, Apple, Facebook, and Nike. And why is that? Why do the biggest names in the world come to mind when someone asks you to think of a “brand”? Well for obvious reasons, they are some of the largest, most successful companies in the world. And companies like the ones I listed above are huge and successful because of the brand they have created. Earlier in the year, Coca-Cola – specifically Diet Coke – went through a rebrand. The entire rebrand consisted of a new advertising campaign, package redesign, and new flavors which all lead to an increase in sales. It’s easy for a company like Nike or Coca-Cola to increase sales through a new advertising or marketing campaign because everyone knows who they are and what they sell. When Coca-Cola came out with new Diet Coke flavors and a new look, people were interested and wanted to try it. At that point it isn’t so much the products they are introducing that are selling to consumers, but it’s the well-known brand. Whereas a smaller company doesn’t quite fit the same scale as say Nike, Coca-Cola, or Facebook, that doesn’t mean that they can’t develop and create their own brand to do the same for their company – it will just be on a much smaller scale.
A brand should encompass a company’s beliefs and values, just like how it should promote its strengths. When people are asked what they think of when they hear the word “brand”, they think of Facebook, NFL and Disney because those companies have cultivated a strong brand, whose strength has been promoted for years. The creators of these companies believed in something, and if the they wouldn’t have do you think these companies would still be around? Steve Jobs believed in Apple until the day he died, and his values and beliefs he began the company with are still embedded in Apple now, 7 years later.
Let’s take a look at Nike. Recently Nike has gotten a ton of both praise AND criticism around their “Just Do It” campaign with Colin Kaepernick. For those who don’t know, (which I’m sure is few and far between) Colin Kaepernick is a former NFL quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, known for ‘taking the knee’, or his decision to refuse to stand for the national anthem as a protest for racism and police brutality. Fast forward from two years ago to September of this year and Nike comes out with a 30th anniversary edition of the “Just Do It” campaign, featuring none other than… Colin Kaepernick. The image of Kaepernick’s face with the quotes “Believe in something, even if it means losing everything.” swarmed the internet for WEEKS. By this I mean, everyone had something to say…for weeks. From people posting videos of them burning their Nike shoes in protest of Nike’s newest campaign, to coming up with memes on the photo and quote, people were talking about it. Some people would say that Nike using Colin Kaepernick for their campaign was stupid and would cause sales to plummet. As it turns out, it did the exact opposite. In fact, Nike’s newest campaign caused record engagement. Whether or not you agree with Nike’s campaign, it got people talking about Nike, searching online for Nike, reading about Nike, and writing about Nike. Nike has constructed a brand so strong that even on an extremely controversial topic for most consumers, and all products aside, people who were against it were still engaging with it.
Maintaining a brand isn’t only about pumping out new products and services that people will devour and obsess over. It’s about creating and maintaining something that people are going to know and talk about, which is going to have positive impacts on your product. Nike’s campaign had nothing to do with a product they were launching, yet here they are now a month later with a sales increase. A company’s products will always change to keep up with demand of consumers, and to keep up with the latest and greatest trends, but what will stick with consumers is the brand. People know brands, and people know the products companies produce because of their brands.
It will be interesting to see how well Nike performs moving forward and if this allows them to grow or become a short-lived advertising stunt that causes loyal customers to start using other brands.
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Thanks for reading!
Marketing and Promotions Coordinator
Marisa Moro