Lily Presson

Nicole Rossi
Kambell Schmidt
Cassandra Sheerin
Kayla Singleton
3/30/22
JMC 310
Mini Assignment #3

Sample Tactics (Nicole Rossi)

Fact Sheet/News Release

In terms of corporate responsibility, Nike has many effective tactics to provide

stakeholders with transparency about the company’s honoring of a triple bottom line (the three

Ps) to people, planet as well as profit (Page & Parnell, 2021, p. 200). In outlining its 2025 goals

and objectives, Nike also shares with publics tactics they will use to achieve them.

People/Social CSR Tactics:

● 100% of Nike’s vice presidents are required to “complete and be credentialed on

Inclusive Leadership education” (2025 Targets Summary).

● Nike pledges $1 billion to cumulative spending by 2025 on diverse suppliers (2025

Targets Summary)

● All of Nike’s facilities in its extended supply chain will meet the company’s foundational

labor, health, safety and environmental standards in order to demonstrate respect for

workers’ rights and respect for the communities in which they operate to achieve its

foundational expectations (2025 Targets Summary).

Planet/Environmental CSR Tactics:

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 ● Nike pledges to use 100% renewable electricity and electric vehicles by 2025 (2025

Targets Summary).

● It will maintain greenhouse gas emissions from its key suppliers’ manufacturing and

transportation operations below their 2020 level emissions “through the use of renewable

energy, energy efficiency, and alternative fuels” (2025 Targets Summary).

● It pledges to allocate 10x the amount of finished product waste into being refurbished,

recycled or donated (2025 Targets Summary).

● Nike will support “long-term resilience for water-stressed ecosystems and communities

within [its] extended cotton supply chain” (2025 Targets Summary).

Profit/Economic CSR Tactics:

In 2022, Nike plans to reach $50 billion in revenue by focusing efforts on digital and

direct to consumer advertising (Salpini, 2021). The company expects to reach 50% digital

through both its own channels and partners by 2025; it will increase DTC from 40% to 60% by

2025 as well (Salpini, 2021).

(new.nike.com)

Additionally, customers can visit news.nike.com, its owned media, to see progress and

updates made by the company in the achieving of its objectives. For example, consumers can

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read “How Nike Is Transforming Its Supply Chain to Best Serve Consumers” (How Nike Is

Transforming) or how Nike has made an equity investment in the Women’s National Basketball

Association (Driven By Its Commitment).

(new.nike.com)

Social Media

Nike has 318 total social media profiles and is one of the most followed brands online. It

has accounts on all major social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,

YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok and more (Ravi, 2018). Nike has diversified its presence online

through separate pages for its different audiences and products. For example, one quick search

on Instagram shows a variety of Nike brand accounts including Nike Women, Nike Sportswear,

Nike Run Club and more. In 2019, Nike Football on Facebook was one of the top ten most

followed brand pages on Facebook (Ravi, 2018), and in 2022 Nike’s primary Instagram account

has 208 million followers.

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 (@Nike on Instagram)
Nike has also launched a variety of social media campaigns to promote itself. In 2017,

the brand ran its “Breaking2” project with world class marathon runners attempting to run

26.219 miles in two hours, something that has never been done before (Ravi, 2018). “Regardless

of the outcome, the ultimate winner was Nike as the athletes wore a customized version of

Nike’s racing shoe for the event” (Ravi, 2018). Also in 2017, the brand launched during Black

History Month. Due to the campaign premiere following President Trump’s immigration ban, it

brought the company a lot of publicity (Ravi, 2018).

The company also opts for quality over quantity in its social media presence. It follows

no consistent posting pattern and instead posts more frequently during their campaigns or during

international sporting events featuring its brand ambassadors (Ravi, 2018).

Brand Ambassadors/Celebrity Endorsements

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 Nike, being such a large company, had the advantage of using paid media to hire or entice

sports superstars to be spokespeople and endorse its brand. Many stars from a variety of sports

have been the face of Nike over the years, including Tiger Woods, Maria Sharapova,

Roger Federer, LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Cristiano Ronaldo (Chang, n.d.). “By

personifying the brand through these sporting legends and putting their faces ahead of the brand

or their product, Nike has earned itself a special place in the sporting world” (Ravi, 2018).

However, the publicity brand ambassadors bring to Nike has not always been positive. A

celebrity’s controversy can also bring controversy to a brand for endorsing him or her. “The

sportswear firm has run advertising featuring Lance Armstrong after a doping scandal, Maria

Sharapova following a failed drugs test and Tiger Woods in the midst of a sex scandal and after a

drug driving accusation” (Kelner, 2018).

In 2018, Nike took a risk in choosing NFL player and civil rights activist Colin

Kaepernick, most known for starting the movement of taking a knee during the U.S. national

anthem, as the face of its global advertising campaign (Kelner, 2018). Following the

announcement, Nike’s share price fell 2% and many consumers threatened to boycott the brand

or cut out the Nike logo from their socks (Kelner, 2018).

In spite of the divisive move, Nike founder Phil Knight said, “It doesn’t matter how many

people hate your brand as long as enough people love it” (Beer, 2019). It appears Knight was

right too. After the campaign, Nike claimed $163 in earned media, a $6 billion increase in its

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brand value and a 31% boost in its sales (Beer, 2019).

(Kelner, 2018).

Timeline/Implementation (Cass / Kayla)

Being one of the top manufacturers and marketers of sports footwear and apparel, Nike

channelizes communication with target audiences through pervasive, impactful, and resonating

strategies.

Nike rolled out the new release/fact sheet consisting of the 2025 Target Summary that

outlined its 2025 goals and objectives, along with the tactics they will use to achieve them at the

beginning of fiscal year 2021 on their website available for their audience to see

(purpose.nike.com).

Nike’s social media prioritizes quality over quantity in its social media presence, evident

in their infrequent posting. Instead of filler content, Nike posts intentionally with inspiring

figures in sports, during major sporting events like the Olympics sporting, and when releasing

campaigns with their celebrity brand ambassadors. The messaging of their social media posts

further their goals of “representation and hiring, pay and benefits, health and safety, inclusive

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culture and engagement, education and professional development, business diversity and

inclusion, foundational expectations, active kids, inclusive communities, employee engagement,

community investment, carbon, waste, water, chemistry” (2025 Targets Summary).

Their brand ambassador and celebrity endorsements make social statements and are

widely promoted. These campaigns have a hybrid strategy on social media, commercials,

billboards and print. Nike’s 30th anniversary ‘Just Do It’ campaign with Colin Kaepernick was

announced in Sept. 3 over social media (CNBC, 2018) and was followed up with the ‘Dream

Crazy’ commercial, starring Kaepernick and featuring other stars like Usain Bolt and Serena

Williams, posted to social media Sept. 5 and aired on television Sept. 6 during the NFL season

opener (Maaddi, 2018). Nike also had billboard ads across the country, including one revealed in

San Francisco Union Square on Sept. 4 of a black and white shot of Kaepernick’s face with the

words “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” (CBS SF, 2018).

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 The use of social media speaks to many audiences Nike wants to target. Not only this, but

celebrity endorsements and brand ambassadors reach a wide audience being they include a

diverse collection of people to endorse their brand. Though Nike’s audience is extremely vast,

their influence is significant which makes it easy for their outreach to be seen at the same or

similar timing by most target audiences.

While most brands incorporate heavy advertising, Nike sets themself apart by the

timeliness in which they release advertisements or campaigns and the messages they contain.

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Ultimately, Nike structured their outreach to keep up with the times in order to make social

statements, leaving an impression on their target audience.

Evaluation – what does success look like (Kambell / Lily Presson)

Nike values the consumer and the importance of providing a quality product (Keller,

2022). This means Nike values a qualitative approach when measuring success. Nike strives to

offer more products to more people than any other sports company. By doing so, they are able to

capture a far greater market share of the market than any other company (Keller, 2022). Consider

a plain black tee-shirt, for example. A black shirt with a Nike logo may be perceived to be higher

quality than a blank black tee. To Nike, success looks like many things. They strive to succeed in

innovation/designs, sales, reach, etc. But they place a higher value on qualitative success. In

2025, Nike aims to: include “seeing women in 45 percent and racial minorities in 35 percent of

leadership roles, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent in Nike facilities and multiply

the amount of product waste recycled or donated, “ among other goals. (Sergison, 2021). Nike

also pledges to use 100% renewable electricity and electric vehicles by 2025 (2025 Targets

Summary). Nike wants to send the message to their consumers that they want to make your life

better at something you are passionate about (whether that be basketball, running, swimming,

etc) and to improve your overall health (Keller, 2022).

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 Sources

2025 Targets Summary. (n.d.). Nike. Retrieved February 25, 2022 from https://purpose.nike.com/

2025-targets?fbclid=IwAR0_OSDHKGe1tAUj_PW-_R4ODuplDD2Y3cY

1p_lOdgpgJVUPnRIUVymthTw

Beer, J. One year later, what did we learn from Nike’s blockbuster Colin Kaepernick ad? (2019,

Sept. 9). Fast Company. https://www.fastcompany.com/90399316/one-year-later

-what-did-we- learn-from-nikes-blockbuster-colin-kaepernick-ad.

CBS San Francisco. (2018, September 4). Kaepernick Nike billboard unveiled in San Francisco

Union square. CBS San Francisco. Retrieved March 30, 2022, from

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/09/04/giant-union-square-kaepernick-nike-billboa

rd-unveiled/#:~:text=Kaepernick%20Nike%20Billboard%20Unveiled%20In%20San%20

Francisco%20Union%20Square,-September%204%2C%202018&text=SAN%20FRANC

ISCO%20(CBS%20SF%2FCNN,San%20Francisco's%20Union%20Square%20Tuesday.

Chang, J. Top 10 Most Expensive Nike Shoes Endorsements: From Kobe Bryant To Tiger Woods.

(n.d.). FinancesOnline. https://financesonline.com/top-10-most-expensive-nike-shoes-e

ndorsements-from-kobe-bryant-to-tiger-woods/

Driven By Its Commitment to Women’s Sport, NIKE, Inc. Becomes an Investor in the WNBA.

Nike News. (2022, February 3). Nike News. Retrieved February 25, 2022 from

https://news.nike.com/news/nike-inc-invests-in-wnba.

How Nike Is Transforming Its Supply Chain to Best Serve Consumers. (2022, January 19). Nike

News. Retrieved February 25, 2022 from https://news.nike.com/news/

Nike-supply-chain-innovation

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Keller, Chris R. “How Nike Became Successful and the Leader in the Sports Product Market.”

Nike Strategy - How Nike Became Successful and the Leader in the Sports Product

Market,
https://profitworks.ca/blog/marketing-strategy/545-nike-strategy-how-nike-became-succe

ssful-and-the-leader-in-the-sports-product-market.html#:~:text=By%20offering%20more

%20products%20to,market%20than%20any%20other%20company.&text=Like%20mos

t%20leaders%20in%20the,of%20providing%20a%20quality%20product.

Kelner, M. Nike’s controversial Colin Kaepernick ad campaign its most divisive yet. (2018, Sept.

4). The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/sep/04/nike-controversial-

colin-kaepernick-campaign-divisive#:~:text=In%202017%20when%20Kaepernick

%20became,apparent%20exile%20from%20the%20league

Maaddi, R. (2018, September 5). First Nike Colin Kaepernick ad to air during NFL opener. The

Denver Post. Retrieved March 30, 2022, from

https://www.denverpost.com/2018/09/05/colin-kaepernick-nike-ad-nfl-opener/

Mitra, M. (2019, September 16). Nike won its first 'outstanding commercial' Emmy in 17 years

for an ad featuring Colin Kaepernick. CNBC. Retrieved March 30, 2022, from

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/16/nike-wins-emmy-for-ad-featuring-colin-kaepernick.ht

ml#:~:text=When%20the%20commercial%20was%20revealed,shoes%20to%20show%2

0their%20outrage.

Page, J., & L. Parnell. (2021). Intro to Public Relations. SAGE Publications, Inc; 2nd edition.

Ravi, K. 6 Ways Nike Built a Strong Brand on Social Media. (2018, April 25). Unmetric.

https://blog.unmetric.com/nike-social-media

Salpini, C. Nike plans for $50B in revenue next year. (2021, June 25). RetailDive.

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 https://www.retaildive.com/news/nike-plans-for-50b-in-revenue-next-year/602456/

Sergison, Darcey. “Nike Announces 2025 Targets for Diversity and Sustainability.” The Business

of Fashion, The Business of Fashion, 19 Nov. 2021,

https://www.businessoffashion.com/news/retail/nike-announces-2025-targets-for-diversit

y-and-sustainability/.

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