Nike’s marketing has always been about more than shoes. Its best campaigns take an athlete, a conflict and an attitude, and let the product ride along.
In 1985 Nike built the launch of the Air Jordan around a conflict with the NBA. The “banned” commercial censored the shoes on screen and claimed the league had thrown them out of the game, a story that was more legend than fact but helped Air Jordans earn $126 million in their first year.
Three years later, Dan Wieden of Wieden+Kennedy gave Nike the line that tied its advertising together. “Just Do It”, inspired by a condemned man’s last words, spoke to anyone who exercised, not just elite athletes, and over the following decade Nike’s share of the North American sport-shoe business rose from 18% to 43%.
For the slogan’s 30th anniversary in 2018, Nike made its most divisive bet. “Dream Crazy”, narrated by Colin Kaepernick, prompted boycott calls and burned shoes, yet Nike’s online sales rose over the weekend it launched.
Together the three show the Nike formula: find the tension, side with the athlete, and trust that the customers who matter most will side with you too.