Why Nike Ads are Better
When it comes to brand communication effectiveness is one of the main challenges of the contemporary advertising industry. This does not mean that it is only a recent problem, of course. Communicating a message that can be understood and interpreted by an audience is a historical problem.
But today, we are exposed to such a high number of advertisements and messages that the search for effectiveness has acquired a new dimension. In fact, according to different studies, an average person interacts with more than five thousand ads per day.
Amid such an abundance of messages, brands and noise, how does Nike go about communicating effectively? To answer this question, I decided to select and analyse some of the brand’s most iconic ads in recent years:
In general, we can say that the success in the effectiveness of Nike’s communications -which is reflected in the metrics of its ads and in the massiveness that they reach- can be summarised in three points:
1- Copywriting:
Nike sums up its position as a brand in a very few words. It does so in a powerful, ambitious and creative way. We see it reflected in “Just Do It”, but it is also present in any of its advertisements. One of the latest concepts, “You Can’t Stop Us” is a clear example.
2- Coherence
Nike maintains a coherence of communicational style through the different elements that make up its messages and through the different advertisements that they publish. Music, for example, is one of those elements: Nike makes a coherent selection to accompany its texts. Also, the visual aesthetics is algo maintained in the different pieces.
3- Context
No message is complete without its context. We need a situation to be able to encode what a brand is trying to tell us. Taking into account how difficult it is to understand when to speak and how to speak, Nike chooses to communicate in sensitive, critical circumstances and with a very firm posture.
Wanting to summarise the success of a brand that has been leading the industry in which it competes for more than 15 years and is valued at more than 34 billion dollars is simply crazy. But, at least, these three points can bring us closer to an understanding of what we must take into account to achieve effective communication.
Nike will once again deliver an effective message with powerful copywriting, styling consistency, and in a critical context. It’s only a matter of time.