Nike Rolls Out Widespread Media Campaign To Expands Its Net Of Influence Over Target Markets Through Various Outlets
Nike has released plans to implement a widespread media campaign for the roll out of its latest line of shoes. The newest edition to Nike’s collection includes sneakers that invoke the celebrity status of NBA star LeBron James, nytimes.com reports.
Celebrity partnerships have proven extremely successful for companies in today’s fast-paced, ever-changing world of progressive media. For example, profit margins for both iTunes and Bob Dylan soared when a commercial aired in recent months featuring a match up of the two icons. What Nike hopes from its alliance with James is to expand its brand and fully market the Nike Air Zoom LeBron IV. The PR campaign includes ad placements on ESPN, MTV, MTV2 and in Madison Square Garden, where visitors have been determined to match Nike’s target demographics.
Furthermore, The Times noted that Nike has released plans to send out hundreds of thousands of promo DVDs in hopes of increasing product awareness. For the corporation’s fourth edition to the James shoe line, it is pulling out all the stops and maximizing its advertising and marketing budget. Adam Roth of Nike added, "We’re not afraid to try new things. It’s fair to say we’ve gone deeper into pushing content into the world consumers are already living in."
The most telling aspect of the media campaign is the amount of time and money spent on online advertising. Promotional materials for the shoe will be featured on websites for media outlets such as BET, MTV, CBS Sports, and of course Nike and James’ pages—demonstrating how important and prominent the shift toward more contemporary forms of media has been for successful advertising.
But what Nike is seeing is that it cannot completely abandon traditional media outlets that have always been effective in bolstering sales, which is why print ads are slated to run in various men’s fitness, sports and lifestyle publications, and a "pop-up store" will be erected in New York City that will sell only LeBron James merchandise as a further promotional tool for his latest shoe.
