LO1 report

Aims and Objectives

The aims of the just do it campaign was to raise brand awareness with Nike saying that the meaning of the slogan of just do it as being both "universal and intensely personal". However the campaign was also used to show that an average person can do what the athletes are doing too. This was shown by Nike creating an advert of an old man running over a bridge portraying the message that an old person can do it too. The next adverts were all along the same theme saying that all different types of people can do what they want to do. This ad campaign was hugely successful even turning just do it into their official logo in 1988.  Their aim with the campaign was to target all Americans regardless of age, ethnicity or fitness level which is why on the adverts there are people which aren't your typical athletes. However Nikes main objective was to represent their clothing as fashion instead of just fitness gear. This ad campaign was also Nikes first major television campaign. Nike spent 300 million dollars to create the campaign and since then the campaign has been immensely popular and seen as though Nike was in a tough spot in the 1970s due to reeboks new shoes this campaign was the turning point which turned a falling brand into one of the most popular brands in the world

Target Audience

This campaign was made to target everyone with many different kinds of people being in the adverts to represent all fitness levels, age and ethnicities. Every age is represented from an 80 year old marathon runner in the first advert to younger people in more recent years. Seen as though Nike used above the line marketing. This made the advert accessible for everyone as more people could see the advert than Nike had ever done. instead of only advertising to one particular group of people this made every one aware of Nikes campaign which is one reason why it was so successful because it catered for everyone. They mainly used television adverts but they also had buses wrapped which also got the brand out there as every time someone saw a bus the saw the just do it ad on it. This made Nike beat their competitors such as reebok as when they were just creating fitness clothing Nike decided to expand their brand and make clothing that had nothing to do with fitness which is what put them above their competitors

Key Messages

the main message in the just do it campaign was that anyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or fitness level can do whatever they set their minds to. This resonated with people, shown in the popularity of the company, as in 1988 the success of the brand sky rocketed. They also needed to raise brand awareness as in the 1970s and 80s Nike was beginning to fail with other brands such as reebok overtaking them in popularity so they needed something big to raise their brand to the next level. These messages worked as it inspired many people to take up sports when they thought they never could do it due to disabilities or age. The consumer enjoyed these messages and connected with the slogan of just do it even though it was quite blunt.

Approach

The just do it campaign was created in 1987 by Wieden and Kennedy to accompany their first television campaign and included adverts of a range of people doing a range of sports. Nike was being overtaken by reebok at this time as reebok designed the aerobic shoes so Nike needed to respond dramatically and forcefully. The difference between Nikes campaigns and other campaigns at the time is that Nike focused in on individual people and their stories instead of having the full advert around the product. This made the approach different to all other brands as they tapped into their audience which was made up of a number of famous people which is another reason why it was so successful. This as well as tapping into the fitness craze of the 1980s is another reason why Nike managed to make billions in just a decade. Nike also use strategies to target certain types of people. These targeting strategies include getting famous people and athletes to endorse their products.

Representation

The Just Do It campaign contains many features that will cater for the non-specific target audience. More specifically, the inclusion of multi ethnic representation, highlight to the audience that Nike aims to incorporate every audience member and encourage them to 'just do it' this is seen in the 1990 just do it commercial. However the ad doesn't include spoken information, which would specify that Nike targets an inclusive audience. Despite this, the imagery included allows for the audience to visualize themselves using the products like the people presented in the video. Furthermore the campaign doesn't limit their marketing to a certain age. The athleticism theme indicates to the audience that younger/fitter people are being targeted. This means the ad needs to represent older people within their campaign so that the older age is included. Walt Stack is the main focus within the first advertisement in 1988. The use of an older man using Nike products represents the older community, making them feel more capable to join in with the just do it campaign. Sport is stereotypically male dominated , so the just do it campaign needs to enforce female representation more. In the 2015 Nike just do it commercial, a female athlete is featured, sponsoring Nike wear. This expands the female representation in sporting activities motivating females of all ages to join in with the campaign.

campaign logistics

In the 1980s was a a difficult position having to lay off one fifth of its entire workforce. However Scott Bedbury and Jerome Conlon realized that most of the sport brands were only catering to male consumers who were already involved with sports. However they thought that if they could target anyone with an interest in fitness then the amount of consumers would skyrocket. Before Just do it came out for Nike they were at 877 million dollars however when they came out with just do it the sale increased dramatically to 9.2 billion dollars in worldwide sales with the advertisement campaign only coming to three hundred dollars. Meaning that this campaign was the turning point for Nike making it one of the largest sportswear brands in the world.

choice of media

Nikes first just do it advertisement was broadcasted on the television in 1988 as well as there being advertisements on billboards. However as the years went on they expanded their advertisements and tapped into every type of media to maximize exposure to as many people as possible. They used the same house style in every type of advertisement. As well as the font style is also exactly the same which keeps the style of all the advertisements exactly the same so that the consumer can see a just do it advertisement anywhere and know exactly what brand that is for and what they sell. Nike used a television advertisement to begin with as that is where the most people would see the adverts and this proved hugely successful raking in millions of dollars of sales worldwide.

Call to action

call to action would be what the company would want the consumer to do once they had seen the advertisement. So for Nikes, just do it, campaign they wanted the consumer to purchase their product first and then go out and do the fitness that they wanted to do regardless of ethnicity, gender, age or fitness level. Once social media was introduced people could then post themselves doing the sport they didn't think they could with the hashtag just do it which boosted Nikes sales even more with Instagram having 20.2 million posts with the hashtag of just do it. As well as many other social media platforms having similar numbers. 

Legal, Ethical and regulation

When Nike was creating the first advertisement they needed to conform to the rules and guidelines of the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority). which is the UK’s independent regulator of advertising across all media. They also need to conform to ofcom's rules for when they created billboards and had advertisements in magazines.

MERIT:

How is the message delivered and consistent across media platforms?

In Nikes Just do it advertisements the message is that people should just get out and do whatever it is that they have been putting off.The adverts are usually spread through social media with many celebrities getting involved with the slogan of Just do it. They keep the campaign consistent by having the nike tick as well as the words just do it either at the end of the advert or somewhere on the billboard. this ensures that the advertisements gets to the mainstream audience and so that everyone gets connotations of nike when they see the words just do it

Coca Cola comparison campaign:

In the Coca Cola campaign their main aim was to show the new Coca Cola products such as their new flavours and the share a coke campaign. This made people buy a coke when they saw a bottle of with someone that they know has a name on the bottle. This is different from the just do it campaign as Nike was empowering people to go out and do what they wanted whereas the coke campaign was just getting people to buy coke if they saw a name on it that they knew

However there are also many similarities such as both companies having popular and well known slogans which are directly targeting the audience which is different from other companies. Another similarity is that Both campaigns were mostly on a plain background with their slogan for the campaign. Both advertisements proved hugely successful with both bringing in large profits for both of the companies. Both companies use very simplistic designs as it helps ensure trust with the audience as the sight of the product is familiar. Both brands use their logo for the profile picture as it makes the consumer instantly know which brand they are looking at.