[Q] Nike brand culture

The approach of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games has triggered powerful international and domestic commercial organizations to take the Olympic shuttle bus to get higher profits. However, cherries are delicious, but it is difficult to plant trees. Searching the bills of enterprises that have participated in the Olympic Games over the years, there are both winners who have successfully achieved their goals and losers who have lost all their money. The editorial department of this journal specially planned the report of the marketing exhibition of sporting goods commercial institutions. The reporter conducted an in-depth investigation in Shanghai, Beijing and other places, interviewed dozens of people in the industry with more than ten years of sports marketing experience, interpreted the success or failure of international company Nike and local Li Ning in sports marketing, and provided sports marketing methods and experience for "hitchhiking" commercial organizations.

Only 30 years after its establishment, Nike beat its old rival Adidas to become the first in the world, and Nike China was widely praised by the industry for successfully planning a series of activities in Liu Xiang. Nike's success is not selling shoes, but marketing emotions.

Behind the rare sponsorship of sports events

Since Liu Xiang won the first place in Athens Olympic Games, it has become the target of many enterprises. At this time, employees of Nike made friends with Liu Xiang, because Nike signed an agreement with him as early as 2002 when Liu Xiang was the freezing point of the media.

Among the 32 gold medal winners of China delegation in Athens Olympic Games, 12 were sponsored by Nike, including breakthrough events such as kayaking and tennis. Why is it that only Nike can see the opportunities? Nike tells companies that want to borrow from the sports industry with their own personal experience that sports marketing is not sponsorship, but should be constantly innovated.

It usually costs a lot of money for enterprises to sponsor sports events. As partners of the Olympic Games, Li Ning, Shanghai GM, General Motors (China), Nongfu Spring, Jinliufu and Qingdao Red Collar Clothing shall pay100000 RMB in cash or products to the Chinese Olympic Committee, of which the cash shall not be less than 90%. In contrast, Nike rarely sponsors sports events, but its brand exposure is never less than others.

At the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, 12 companies that paid US$ 46.5 million were designated as official sponsors, including Adidas. Nike, on the other hand, quietly bought billboards in all prominent positions in Atlanta and made exclusive advertisements for Nike. According to the executives who worked in Nike, during the Olympic Games, Nike sponsored the swimsuits of the national diving team. In fact, Nike didn't produce swimsuits, but just bought a factory temporarily for this purpose. It is true that the award-winning clothes sponsored by Li Ning Company also won attention on the champion podium, but many media have fixed the picture on the beautiful moment when the athletes jumped into the water from the air. There is no doubt that Nike has the upper hand again.

When it comes to brand exposure, people may be more impressed with Liu Xiang. On the third day after winning the gold medal, the major media kept replaying the moment when Liu Xiang won the gold medal, and the magic shoes on his feet were also carefully prepared by Nike. Brand exposure is only a small part of all Nike's work, and it is more important to keep in touch with athletes for a long time.

Athletes' best laid plans

Wen Liyuan, the public relations manager of Nike, used to work in Nike headquarters. According to her introduction, the 16 buildings in the headquarters are all named after the world's top athletes. The hall of the office building displays photos and trophies of famous sports stars; The four walls of the corridor connecting each building are hung with bronze statues and biographies of Nike athletes from all over the world ... "Every tourist feels that these sports pride are part of their lives. You often walk around the office building with stars and eat in the same restaurant with employees; Exercise in the same gym, like a family. No employees asked them to sign. " She said with a smile.

Employees of Nike Sports Marketing Department are always running around the training ground, eager to live with athletes. This is also an important reason why Nike can know people. Thomas lee used to be a signed athlete of Nike. Because he is Liu Xiang's cousin, he has been in contact with Liu for a long time. Thomas Lee's recommendation, coupled with Nike's actual investigation, made Liu Xiang enter Nike's field of vision.

In late May 2004, Nike invited michael johnson to visit China. At that time, Johnson felt that Liu Xiang was in good shape, and Nike made a bold plan based on this fact. The whole activity began to be planned in June and was fully promoted in late July. Through public relations and the Internet, the China team started advertising 10 days before arriving in Athens. In addition to advertising, Nike also designed the Liu Xiang News Center on Sina. After Liu Xiang won the gold medal, 30 million people went up to browse Liu Xiang's every move. While other companies were planning to invite Liu Xiang to speak for them, Nike provided a platform for the national audience to fully understand Liu Xiang at the first time. Pan Jianhua, Marketing Director of Nike Greater China, said that this is only the beginning of cooperation with Liu Xiang. "Our long-term goal is to let Liu Xiang make his voice on behalf of Nike in 2008. We are planning when Liu Xiang will play in these four years. He is not a professional player. Professional players can play in the league for several months. Nike must let him appear at the right time, and every time he appears, there is a different story. "

The classic of Nike's close contact with athletes is called Jordan. It has been 20 years since 1985 was signed, and Jordan shoes have also developed to18th generation. This year, Nike invited Jordan to China to present awards to the champion of the high school league. Jordan endorsed Nike products, passed on the idea of basketball stars to children, encouraged children and deepened their yearning for basketball. In fact, many companies are also sponsoring Jordan, but consumers naturally associate Jordan with Nike. Pan Jianhua said that having worked in Nike for more than 65,438+00 years has an important experience, and sports management takes time. "Sports management is characterized by emotions, which are people's excitement, excitement, sadness and joy. Cultivating emotions is like falling in love and needs to be accumulated. Many domestic sponsorships are short-term, but this effect is almost zero because consumers are forgetful. If a company chooses sports related to its own image, it should be regarded as a long-term investment. " For example, the "Celebrity Training Hall" that the company is doing now is to invite former world Olympic champions to coach in China every year to provide guidance for China athletes, not only on the technical level, but also on the psychological preparation level. This is to maximize the use of the company's existing resources.

Beyond the connotation of 5 seconds

A girl bought a cake in the school cafeteria. She threw a discus at the plate and took a bite of the cake left in her hand. This is a fragment of Nike's latest 5-second series advertisement "Anytime", which won the grand prize in Chengdu Advertising Festival. Unlike many of Nike's big shots, the cost of this advertisement is very low. The background of the story is where students study and live every day, and the idea they want to convey is that sports have been integrated into your life. What does the 5-second advertisement mean? General enterprises tend to do their own image advertising, shouting a slogan or even repeating it three times, while Nike tells a story. Nike knows that consumers have no feelings about a slogan or a logo and think it has nothing to do with themselves.

Xu Ying, the brand manager of Nike, has worked in the company for three years. When it comes to brand strategy, she has always stressed that Nike is creating and leading a culture. What makes Nike proud is that she created a shoe culture in China. Xu Ying said that there was no shoe culture in China three years ago. China is a big clothing country. People and all kinds of clothes always wear a pair of shoes, and rarely choose shoes. The secret of Nike's shoe culture is to choose the right person to do the right thing. At that time, a group of children who came back from abroad liked to engage in underground things. Nike contacted them and gave them a chance to perform in China. Another secret of Nike's promotion of shoe culture is to make full use of network power. There is a shoetalk forum on Sina, where netizens can tell stories about shoes, and any brand of shoes can be told.

Only when consumers accept the culture can they fundamentally accept your brand. Like American NBA or English football, it has gone far beyond the scope of competition, and a sport has become a carnival for the whole people. "NBA is a very systematic system, which perfectly presents the factors contained in any industry such as entertainment, competition and star players to you." Pan Jianhua said. Nike is now promoting basketball culture. The American high school league is the preparatory class of NBA, and the national high school league held by Nike in China has entered its fourth year.

This year, Nike launched the "Alliance Concept", proposing to be a youth culture. Xu Ying said: "Basketball has only one champion, but youth culture can have many champions. It can be the best dunk, the best cartoon, or the most dazzling cheerleader ... We started by building a platform, and after the platform was built, we decided to start promoting culture. With the ability to influence culture, it can be deeply rooted in people's hearts. We launched the Warriors Alliance this year, trying to tell children that they not only need their own style, but also need an alliance to cheer for you, write articles and draw posters for you. A player in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province organized more than 1000 people and got 5000 votes online. Only by recognizing a culture will it have a great effect. "

During the interview at the Shanghai headquarters, I happened to see Amy in the public relations department looking at a high school student's club activity plan. Although naive, she is serious. Nike employees said that when they interviewed children on the streets of Beijing, they all said that Nike really understood them. What we see here is that a brand is really influencing children. They were deeply branded when they were very young, and this brand will affect their lives.