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Introduction:
Nike is the most valuable sporting brand in the world worth, $26 billion, (Ozanian, par.
4) but it can be debated that most of the company’s success is owed to three words, “Just Do It”
one of the world’s most popular slogans (Mahajan, 2015). A campaign that still finds its slogan
on T-shirts, commercials, and other advertisements today, it continues to use advertising
strategies in a diversity of lifestyles from fashion, health, to motivation, just to name a few. I
would like to discuss with you how these three words reflect successful public relation strategies
and ethics for the sportswear company. I will do so by including the company’s background
history as well as the means of advertisement with the slogan including its positive effectiveness,
but also will I discuss the ethical issues the company has had and how they were dealt with.
Company Background:
Blue Ribbon Sports was founded in 1964 by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight the
company had their shoes manufactured at a Japanese warehouse which now has ties to another
footwear company, Asics (O’Reilly, 2014). Before creating the shoe company Knight was a track
runner at the University of Oregon, and Bowerman was previously a coach at the same
university. Bowerman was a successful track and field coach and noted to have worked with over
30 Olympians (Roy, 2015) and was reputed in the past for customizing shoes for his runners.
During this time specialized athletic footwear was scarce, with that being stated it became an
opportunity for a potential market as it lacked major competitors and innovation.
The two founders cut their ties from the Japanese distributor in 1971 and changed their
name to Nike after the mythological Greek goddess of victory. They also discovered their first
breakthrough product in this primary year (O’Reilly, 2014). A shoe whose sole was created with
Bowerman’s wife’s waffle maker, and named the Nike Waffle Trainer and the product was
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launched in 1974 according to Nike news websites. This shoe and the others first created by the
company were designed for their original niche: track athletes. The company had proven early
success being the only major company for the niche market, but competition arose for the new
powerhouse in the 1980’s (Katz, 1994).
The Slogans foundation:
Nike stayed private about their technological innovative approaches to their products, but
companies like Reebok and L. A. Gear were on the rise, and in 1985 L. A. gear landed $11
million dollars in shoe sales (Katz, 99). Although L. A. Gear was succeeding with their fashion
approach Nike lacked concern considering themselves separate from that market, but in doing so
Reebok began to surpass their sales using the same approach as L. A. gear. With their sales
falling and competitors rising, the company knew they needed a new approach and maybe
possibly tap into the new fashion market with athletic footwear, in doing so they “gambled on
the idea that the public would accept sneakers as a fashion statement.
In 1988 the company looked to their contracted agency Wieden + Kennedy (W + K) for
new marketing tactics, the agency came up with an ad campaign. The ad campaign, however,
lacked a theme and that’s when Dan Wieden discovered “Just Do It (JDI).” A slogan claimed to
be inspired by a serial killer, Gary Gilmore’s last words “Let’s do it.” These were Gilmore’s last
words before being executed by a self-requested firing squad in 1977. The thought of its
inspiration can seem controversial, but the slogan amplified what the company originally
anticipated, collecting a theme, and it even recreated their brand.
Campaign Advertising and Endorsements:
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As stated before Nike would not have reached its success unless it branded their product
ads that tied their slogan together. One of the original ads featured “Walt Stack, a then 80-year-
old running icon,” (Taub, 2014) who ran 17 miles a day with none other than Nike footwear.
https://www.google.com/search?q=walt+stack+just+do+it&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAmoVCh
MI9u2ggoKUyQIVwm0eCh1O5AUp&biw=1366&bih=667#imgrc=RdSLxAiJaamuMM%3A
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Above is a clip from one of the first advertisements from the campaign, below are some more
examples of early JDI advertisements:
Another featured the then upcoming National Basketball Association (NBA) player,
Michael Jordan and upcoming urban filmmaker Shelton “Spike” Jackson Lee. These two can
arguably be considered the founders of sneaker hobbyists. Michael Jordan also became Nike’s
first endorser in the NBA (Katz, 1994), signing him as a rookie was another gamble, but luckily
for them they signed, the best basketball player to play the game. The company continued to
use celebrities and athletes during that time and continues this approach today. They also have
been the official uniform sponsors for multiple professional leagues, like the National Basketball
Association (NBA) and the National Football League. Being associated with these leagues really
increased their brands awareness and according to an article by Trisha Mahajan “Nike was well
aware of the fact that people will love to wear what their favorite sports person are wearing.”
Nike incorporated this strategy constantly drawing the JDI slogan with it, they had endorsements
with several successful and prestige athletes during the heights of their “stardom.” Athletes like
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http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n9cI72TOTKU/TMX0lw9
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Tiger Woods, Bo Jackson, Derek Jeter, Serena Williams, and Charles Barkley, just to name a
few. Some celebrities they’ve worked with included members from the Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Arnold Schwarzenegger, and award winning actor Shia LaBeouf who narrated the slogans 25th -
year anniversary commercial (Taube, 2015), the commercial is accessible from the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAcq_jvmXDo
JDI was also notorious for the following commercial advertisements (Taube, 2015); Find
Your Greatness (2012), Move (2002), and If You Let Me Play (1995). “Find Your Greatness”
which featured an obese youth jogging in an effort to lose weight, with the narration saying
anyone one is capable of greatness. “Move” was a great success it included both “amateur and
professional athletes” (Taube) the commercial was so powerful it took home an Emmy in 2002.
“Let Me Play” incorporated young girls who discussed the benefits of letting females play sports,
some included even self-esteem, and this ad was even stated to being a favorite of the successful
personality Oprah Winfrey (Taube, 2015).
PRSA Code of Ethics Analysis
Nike’s campaign can be applied to the PRSA Code of Ethics in multiple aspects
including; expertise, advocacy, and loyalty. The JDI campaign conceived broader advocacy for
the shoe company, instead of just reaching out to the track athlete niche, JDI promoted health
and motivation for everyone of all ages, genders, and ethnicities. In a sense, you could say JDI
advocated for diversity and even unity. As discussed previously Nike is notorious and even
legendary with providing innovative products to the public. In the primary years of the company
Nike was one-of-kind for offering at that time innovative footwear. They established the market
to compete, constantly making it necessary to advance their products. The founder himself was
one of the first experts to create specialized athletic run wear and now the company continues to
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take the lead in providing affordable, comfortable, and fashionable footwear for multiple playing
fields. With their trusted innovation Nike has the most valuable sporting products in the world,
which involves several loyal customers, but also a loyal company to its consumers, a company
who is constantly makes advancing efforts for the sporting goods they produce.
Ethical Mishaps in Manufacturing
It’s not arguable that Nike’s JDI campaign influenced motivation, hard work, and
equality. What is debated is whether or not the sportswear company upholds ethics in producing
their products. A lot of controversies took place in the 1990’s after an article written by Jeff
Ballinger, titled: Just Don’t Do It discussed real accounts of working conditions for the
Indonesian manufacturing site for Nike (Nisen, 2013). The article exposed the poor and
dangerous environment its laborers faced. This sparked advocacy through protests and boycotts.
The company in 2005 became the first in its industry to share the list of factories it was
contracted with (Nisen, 2013) to the public. This was admirable because several American
cooperations have and continue to negotiate profits for human rights. It’s very uncommon to
expose such compromises, but the timing for Nike is questionable given their early accusations
and what they pride to stand for.
Applying the Dynamic Model
The dynamic model elements I like to discuss in relation to the JDI campaign includes; publics,
ethical values, and consequences. The facts element are discussed mostly in the background
section of this assignment.
The publics in the campaign are broad it involved athletes, both professional and
amateur, males and females, celebrities, multiple ethnicities, youth and elderly. The ethical
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values of the company included the aspects discussed in PRSA Code of Ethics; advocacy,
loyalty, and expertise. They also faced ethical criticism for their product production techniques
overseas. They continue to innovate these efforts, but the issue is those techniques question the
brand they advertise. Finally, consequences weren’t to much of a reality for Nike. The JDI
campaign has become the brand’s culture and led with only a few minor bumps as the most
valuable athletic wear company in the world.
