Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything. #JustDoIt pic.twitter.com/SRWkMIDdaO

— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) September 3, 2018

 

Ever since Nike announced Colin Kaepernick as the face of their new campaign, they’ve gone viral. From across the pond, it’s really strange to see how much divide this campaign is causing in the US. I happen to have heard about Colin Kaepernick, not because I’m an odd European watching American Football instead of real football (I watch neither to be honest), but because I happen to follow US politics and social issues (at heart, I’m still an anthropologist). Most Europeans however, don’t know who Colin Kaepernick is, so for them, seeing people burning their Nike gear over some guy must be a strange sight.

But, I’m not going to go in on the European perspective of the US, nor am I going to say anything about US politics, or racial injustices and police brutality against black people in the States. I’ll save that for another day. Today, I’m looking at the Nike campaign from a marketing and copywriting point of view because, in my humble opinion, it’s genius. Everything that Pepsi did wrong with their campaign starring Kendall Jenner, Nike is getting right with their campaign. Let’s get into it.

Hero’s Journey

A very compelling copywriting technique is storytelling. I’m talking specifically about the hero’s journey where the underdog has to fight an enemy that’s logically speaking way too big to take on for the hero. The hero experiences some setbacks and goes into training often with the help of an older, wiser figure (think: Mr. Miyagi). The hero goes back to the battlefield and comes out victorious. This type of story is so persuasive because it directly touches our hearts. We root for the underdog because we often feel like, in life, we’re the underdog ourselves.

In Kaepernick’s story, he is the hero who’s fighting for racial justice for black people in the US. While fighting for his cause, he’s faced with enemies that are way too big for him to take on: one part of society that disagrees with him, the NFL, and even the president of the United States. Kaepernick’s fight has led to him being shunned by every football team, and now he’s out of work. The situation seems hopeless. Enter Nike.

Nike saves the day for our hero. Someone on Twitter pointed out that Nike is one of the NFL’s main sponsors. And to be honest, if they’d cared that much about Kaepernick’s situation, they could have just threatened the NFL to retract their sponsorship if they wouldn’t stop working against Kaepernick. But, instead, they decided to make Kaepernick the face of their new campaign. Knowing they had a perfect hero’s journey in their hands. They even chose to use the slogan “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” It doesn’t get more heroic than that, right?

Controversy

There’s no doubt that the campaign is controversial. And you might wonder: why would Nike choose to be this controversial? They must have known beforehand given the opinions people have about whether or not Kaepernick is disrespecting the US anthem and military by taking a knee. And, as evident from the people that are burning their Nike gear, they’re losing a lot of people with this campaign. If that was your company, would you do the same? Or would the thought alone of taking a stand that’s this controversial scare you too much?

But does it really matter if you take a stand on an issue that fosters such strong responses? Actually, it doesn’t. First of all, it’s that very controversy that’s making this campaign go viral. Leading to Nike’s brand awareness to go through the roof (as if they weren’t already a globally recognized brand). Secondly, you can’t please everyone. Neither do you need to please everyone. You just need to appeal to your target market. The people you’re trying to sell to, and that’s exactly what Nike is doing with this campaign.

Data

While 53% of Americans say that it’s never appropriate to kneel during the national anthem in protest, you can bet that Nike knows what they’re doing. And that they know their target market. Who would they like to appeal to? Let’s have a look at the numbers for each polled group.

Republicans are the most opposed against kneeling during the national anthem: 86% say it’s never appropriate against 51% of independents and 29% of Democrats.

Furthermore, 58% of white people are against taking a knee against 22% of black people and 54% of Hispanic people.

But of people that fall in the age category of 18 to 29 only 38% think it’s inappropriate to kneel during the national anthem. So does 50% of people aged 30-49. Of people of 50 and over 63% disagrees with kneeling during the national anthem.

It’s precisely that age group that in large agrees with the Kaepernick’s protests that makes up 67% of Nike’s customers. Moreover, their customers are more ethnically diverse than average.

In fact, with this ad, Nike is appealing to Millennials.

Millennials

If you’re like most companies, you’re probably wondering how to appeal to Millennials. This group has now almost entirely entered the workforce and needs to be recruited as the next group of consumers. They spend $600 billion annually in the United States alone, and they’re expected to grow their spending to $1.4 trillion annually by 2020 which means they’ll represent 30% of total retail sales.

So, if you care about the continuity of your company, now is the time to reel in those Millennials. But they’re perceived as a hard group to reach. They’re less materialistic and less sensitive to status than their parents.

Well, Nike clearly has invested in getting to know those Millennials because this is exactly how you appeal to them. Millennials are socially conscious, and they expect the companies they buy from to be as well. There’s this conception about Millennials that they’re not loyal towards brands. This is not true, they can be very loyal, and part of that loyalty comes from wanting to contribute to a better world with their economic power.

Emotion

The only way to sell is through emotion. This sounds counterintuitive because people like to think about themselves as rational beings. We’re not. A decision to buy is made in a split second, and the decision is made based on how we feel. Only after we’ve already made the decision, we try to find reasons to justify why we feel we need to buy something. People get emotionally invested in brands. Think about it: Nike and Adidas both sell sports gear. The gear even looks much the same for the most part. If you have two identical looking shoes, that are both the same price, one is from Nike and the other by Adidas, what do you base your decision on? You base your decision on whatever brand you feel is more you.

Everyone that stands behind Colin Kaepernick will now choose Nike. And this connection can become so strong that those people will choose Nike for the rest of their lives, without even considering any other brand. And that type of brand loyalty is exactly what companies strive for.

Nike’s future

In the end, this hero’s journey will still be a good story to tell after 100 years. And if Nike still exists at that point, they can say they stood on the right side of history.    

Don’t believe me? Just remember that Nelson Mandela was once considered a terrorist for his non-violent activism. So was Gandhi, so was Martin Luther King, and even Jesus…

Is Nike genuinely concerned about the racial injustice that black people experience in the US? I didn’t investigate the company well enough to say something about that. But from a marketing perspective, it doesn’t really matter because all that matters are the sales coming out of this campaign and the consolidation of the Nike brand within their target market.

CNBC reports that the Nike stock has fallen after the release of the Kaepernick ad. The hashtag #NikeBoycott has been trending on Twitter. People are burning their Nike sneakers and cutting the swooshes out of their clothes.

But all of that still doesn’t matter. Nike’s Q4 results are the real measurements of the effectiveness of this campaign.

 

 

References:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2018/05/23/poll-53-percent-of-americans-say-its-never-appropriate-to-kneel-during-the-national-anthem/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c603e6a27d06

https://www.businessinsider.nl/nike-colin-kaepernick-deal-strategy-2018-9/?international=true&r=US

https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insight-outlook-who-are-millennial-shoppers-what-do-they-really-want-retail

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2018/09/04/nike-stocks-colin-kaepernick-ad.html

Man, how I wish I could start every new customer journey by interviewing at least 3 of their happiest clients to create case studies. I’ll tell you why but first let me ask you: do you use case studies for your marketing?

If you do, you’re probably familiar with their power. By showcasing your happy clients, you can attract new clients because nothing beats the power of social proof when it comes to selling. Social proof builds instant trust, and that’s why everyone first visits a review site before buying anything. You could say that case studies are the online equivalent of mouth-to-mouth marketing. But this isn’t the only reason why I’d love to start every new client relationship with writing case studies for them.

See, case studies can help your marketing in so many more ways besides by providing social proof. That’s what I found out while writing case studies for my client Resourcing Pros.

It’s pretty obvious to me now but there’s no better way to get to know your clients than by interviewing them for a case study.

Case studies help you join the conversation

Most writers will tell you to write how you speak but the real deal is: to connect with your reader you need to write how they talk. By interviewing your client, you get to hear the exact words they use when they describe their pain points, the benefits of your service or product, and their challenges in general. Use those words in your content and copy and your clients will feel like you’re in their heads. Right where you want to be.

Your strongest selling points

Interviewing for a case study doesn’t just help you to get to know your client very well, those interviews can also help you find out on what points you’re outperforming your competition. They tell you why your clients appreciate you. The clients I interviewed for Resourcing Pros, for example, all praised their empathy and ability to get to know all the ins- and outs of their client’s company in a brief period of time.

That’s great to know! Now, you can attract new clients by using your unique selling points as identified by your current clients and by writing copy and content about those USPs in their words. Making your prospects feel like you truly understand them. That’s how you sell: a prospect needs to feel that you understand his problems and that you have what it takes to solve those problems.

So, if you’re not sure yet about your strengths and about what your clients need and want but you do want to invest in expanding your business: start by investing in a couple of case studies. They really are a good foundation for your inbound marketing strategy.

Download my content reference card to know exactly when to use case studies

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In this blog, I explained why it’s a good idea to take out time to plan out an inbound marketing strategy. If you need a refresher on that check out this blog and come back after for advice on where to start.

So, most marketing professionals will tell you that you need to start your marketing strategy by building awareness for your business through blogging, vlogging, podcasting, social media, or any other type of attraction technique.

I’m going to tell you something different.

See, the vast majority of people already have some kind of online presence. Even if it’s just as a private person. I mean, who isn’t on social media these days? That’s why I advise you to work on your business’ awareness and lead generation through your personal online presence because I believe that’s the fastest way to get results.

“But how?” you ask.

Well, – and here’s where I’m telling you something different than anyone else again – you start out with your lead magnet.

Crazy, right?

Or, is it?

Before you give me the side eye, keep on reading… (via GIPHY)

 

I’m telling you it’s not.

Why start with your lead magnet?

Just so we’re on the same page: a lead magnet is a free piece of content that you can give to people in exchange for their email address. Those email addresses are what you’re after. You have to build a list of prospects so you can reach out to them, nurture them and eventually sell them your product or service.

So, the sooner you can get some email addresses, the sooner you’ll be able to start selling.

Most people procrastinate on creating their lead magnet because it seems like it involves a lot of work. And that’s true for some types of lead magnets. But think about it, when you create your lead magnet first, it means you get that one thing that seems to be the hardest to create out of the way. And when you do, you’ll feel like a boss!

But I’m not only a fan of creating your lead magnet first just to get it out of the way. No, when you have your lead magnet in place, you have something that you can build on. That works in two ways.

First of all, you know exactly what you’re offering prospects so you can build your content such as blog posts or vlogs around your lead magnet. That way you’re able to target your prospects more accurately than when you write a bunch of blog posts first and create a lead magnet after that sort of needs to fit those blog posts. Second, if you decide to create a long-form lead magnet like a white paper or a guide, you can use pieces of it and repurpose it into different types of content such as articles, social media posts, and videos.

And you can then use your repurposed content to nurture the people that downloaded your lead magnet. Did I say it works in two ways? Apparently, I meant three ways!

Get your FREE reference list of content types here

Lead magnet done. Now what?

Before you do anything else, you need to create an opt-in page where people can leave their email address and download your lead magnet. That way you can make sure to capture the email addresses of every single person interested in your lead magnet. You’ll also need an email sequence that’s sent to anyone downloading your lead magnet. This is a good time to set that up but if you’re really pressed for time, you could do that later as well. Maybe when you actually have content to share with your subscribers. Although, you shouldn’t be afraid to share third-party content either. But I digress…

Thank you page

The best time to convince a prospect to share your lead magnet with their connections is right after you convinced them to download your lead magnet. So, if you really want to get the most out of your lead magnet you should set up a thank you page where you can encourage downloaders to share your lead magnet on their social media. The more exposure your lead magnet gets, the better.

Share everywhere

Your lead magnet and funnel are done. Now it’s time to share it on every social media platform you’re on. But don’t just stop at sharing it publicly (and don’t forget to ask your connections to share as well). Try sharing your lead magnet privately to anyone who you think might be interested in it. That way you can target specific people and make sure they see your lead magnet.

By the way, if you happen to have an email list already, you can send your lead magnet to the people on that list as well. You know, to give them some love a.k.a nurturing.

But do remember to always share your lead magnet’s opt-in page when you’re sharing with people that aren’t on your email list yet. Otherwise, you won’t get the email addresses that you need for the following phases of your marketing.

So, in short…

What do you need exactly to make all of this happen?

• Email service provider
• Opt-in page
• Lead magnet
• Thank you page
• Email sequence

That’s it. Your first step to building your inbound marketing empire.

Good luck with getting your lead magnet done!

Don’t know what to use as a lead magnet?

Grab my FREE reference list of content types here to see what types of content you can use as a lead magnet and to see which types of content you can use to build awareness and to nurture prospects.

As a bonus, you’ll get to go through my own funnel and see exactly how I’ve set up my opt-in and thank you pages and my email sequence including useful nurturing content.