Marketing communications “from each promotional mix element (personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, social media, and public relations) should be integrated” (Lamb, Hair, and McDaniel, 2018, p.285). Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is the “careful coordination of all promotional messages for a product or a service to ensure the consistency of messages at every contact point at which a company meets a customer”
(Lamb, Hair, and McDaniel, 2018, p.285).
Promotion plays a key role in the Marketing Mix: Product, Place, Promotion, and Price. The Promotional Mix includes “advertising, PR,sales promotion, personal selling, and social media” (Lamb, Hair, and McDaniel, 2018, p.273). The promotion plan is an “integral part of the marketing strategy for reaching the target market… the main function of a marketer’s promotional strategy is to convince target customers that the goods and services offered provide a competitive advantage over the competition” (Lamb, Hair, and McDaniel, 2018, p.273)
“Few goods or services, no matter how well developed. Priced, or distributed, can survive in the marketplace without effective promotion – communication by marketers that informs, persuades, and reminds potential buyers of a product in order to influence an opinion or elicit a response” (Lamb, Hair, and McDaniel, 2018, p.273).
The first advertising campaign I thought of when I read the brief and the chapter was Nike’s recent ad campaign with Serena Williams providing a voiceover; the ad features many of the world’s best female athletes. The ad demonstrates female empowerment while highlighting the double standard female athletes face when they show emotion during sport; it’s a powerful ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whpJ19RJ4JY (Source: NIKE – Dream Crazier)
Nike sell athletic wear and sport apparel. In a recent survey published in Business Insider, Hanbury (2018) admits that “while Nike reigns supreme as the popular clothing brand among teens, it has lost market share in both apparel and footwear ranking to rivals Adidas, Vans, and Lululemon”. Nike is attempting to cement its position as the market leader and to make back lost ground surrendered to its rivals. The ad aims to set an emotional link to the target audience in an effort to secure brand loyalty through social justice.
The ad fits with previous social justice ad campaign that featured Colin Kaepernick, an NFL quarterback who has since recently settled a collusion case against the NFL as he has been blackballed for taking a knee during the national anthem to highlight social injustice against police brutality against African Americans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq2CvmgoO7I (Source: NIKE – Dream Crazy).
Both ads focused on television ad spots and heavily on social media campaigns. The ads have been effective. Lamb, Hair and McDaniel (2018) note that “Gen Zers want to work for their success… believe that brands need to be real.” Nike successfully demonstrate this wish to appear real and attempt to tap into the tween ambition to work for their success using this marketing campaign.
“Promotional strategy is closely related to the process of communication… as humans, we assign meaning to feelings, ideas, facts, attitudes, and emotions” (Lamb, Hair, and McDaniel, 2018, p.274). Nike is plugging into this through these ad campaigns by aligning themselves with just causes such as gender equality in the case of this latest campaign. Further to that, “as promotional strategies change… content marketing has become a crucial part of promotion” (Lamb, Hair, and McDaniel, 2018, p.273). Social media is used as a promotional tool and to facilitate conversation and social interaction online. Nike successfully empowered their consumers using these tools. The conversation will go on and Nike plan to remain at the center of it.
Articles, I enjoyed that I think you also will are listed below:
https://www.crfashionbook.com/culture/a26519254/nike-dream-crazier-serena-williams-campaign/
Reference List:
Hanbury, M., (2018) ‘These are the 10 clothing brands teens are obsessed with right now’ [online] Available at: https://www.businessinsider.in/these-are-the-10-clothing-brands-teens-are-obsessed-with-right-now/articleshow/66320794.cms (Accessed: 2 March 2019)
Lamb, C.W., Hair, J.F., and McDaniel C. (2018) MKTG 12 Principles of Marketing Boston: Cengage
Nike (2018) Nike – Dream Crazy [Youtube Video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq2CvmgoO7I (Accessed: 2 March 2019)
Nike (2019) Nike – Dream Crazier {Youtube Video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whpJ19RJ4JY (Accessed: 2 March 2019)
Marketing Insight 