This technique is commonly broken into three categories: pathos, ethos, and logos. The multi-billion-dollar company, Nike, is one of many companies that utilizes these techniques to not only sell their products, but present their values and morals as an athletic company. Nike’s, “If you let me play,” ad is a perfect example of a print advertisement that encompasses all three persuasion techniques. The ad has emotional appeal, using pathos to evoke feelings of strength and positivity in young girls and their parents urging them to embrace sports and physical activities. Ethos is a fairly simple persuasive technique for Nike to utilize due to their overwhelming success and popularity. With such a large company, it is easy to establish unspoken credibility. In order to establish further credibility, there are statistics and claims based on logical reasoning that exemplify an advertisement using logos to help the target audience understand exactly what Nike is striving to communicate. Through capitalizing on these persuasive techniques, Nike not only successfully promoted their female athletic apparel, but also educated the public on the importance of empowering young girls and encouraging them to participate in sports and physical activities for the overall betterment of their lives mentally, physically, and
When I learned that I had to write this research paper, instead of procrastinating, I convinced myself to JUST DO IT. This phrase also happens to be one of the signature phrases of the leading athletic apparel company, Nike. The JUST DO IT campaign has been very successful for Nike, but it is not he sole reason for their success. Nike’s campaign has definitely persuaded me to go out and buy a few Nike products. So what exactly does Nike’s persuasive campaign consist of? This paper will discuss all aspects of Nike’s persuasive campaign. Some of the campaign’s strategies, goals, and techniques will be revealed. Some persuasive theories that can be applied to the Nike advertising campaign will be identified and explained. After discussing these theories, the specific arguments of the campaign will be validated. Overall, the entire campaign will be analyzed and it will be determined whether the campaign is a success or a failure.
The name Nike is derived from the Greek goddess of victory which is exactly what Nike has over its competitors. Nike has been around for 53 years starting in 1964 and is the leading revenue sports goods company in the world with 34.35 billion US dollars in revenue in 2017. It is not only the biggest sports brand but also one of the three largest apparel companies in the world along with Christian Dior and Zara. It is such a prominent brand that almost everyone has used a Nike product in their lifetime. CEO Mark Parker wrote, “like athletes all over the globe, Nike’s future holds nothing but limitless potential”. Everyone is confident in Nike and their ability to continue creating and producing high quality products that everyone can enjoy.
Zuniga 1
Angela Zuniga
Assignment #4
Dr. Wendy Macias
October 18th 2016
Nike Advertisement Research: Focus Group
Research can be defined as a systematic method through which new knowledge is discovered. No matter what topic is being studied or analyzed, the value of research lies in how well it is designed and carried out. There are several types of research which include: surveys, interviews, content analysis and focus groups. As an advertiser it is important not only to be aware of your surroundings, but what goes on in people’s minds. Individuals’ needs and wants are not only essential but the base of an advertisement’s success.
Nike's ads, like many other businesses, require interpretation. Some of their commercials go on at the conscious level, some unconsciously. I have a constructive point of view in that I view meaning as interplay between text and the reader. Texts are full of indeterminacy, which require the reader's active interpretation. Thus, readers of advertisements bring with them a surface knowledge of the language as well as a set of preconceived ideas about how to relate the ads to themselves.
But what makes people buy the name brand Nike? They have great advertisement. I love to watch Nike commercials; they appeal to me as an athlete. The commercials show the inner fight in people, breaking records, becoming a stronger person, being the best you, and being the best athlete; you can be overcoming anything. I find their advertisement to be very inspiring and motivational. The Nike slogan ‘Just Do It’ plastered on so many products inspire others to get out and ‘Just Do It,' no hesitation. Nike tries to appeal to you to buy their products by placing their apparel on professional athletic. Everyone knows Lebron James he has many young athletes that look up to him and want to be just like him. What do they see Lebron James wearing? Nike apparel, for the kids that want to be just like him, they want what he has. So they want the Nike look. For me personally, I see Nike products and logos at just about all sporting events, which is a great strategy for the business.
Advertisements are one of many things that Americans cannot get away from. Every American sees an average of 3,000 advertisements a day; whether it’s on the television, radio, while surfing the internet, or while driving around town. Advertisements try to get consumers to buy their products by getting their attention. Most advertisements don’t have anything to do with the product itself. Every company has a different way of getting the public’s attention, but every advertisement has the same goal - to sell the product. Every advertisement tries to appeal to the audience by using ethos, pathos, and logos, while also focusing on who their audience is and the purpose of the ad. An example of this is a Charmin commercial where there is a bear who gets excited when he gets to use the toilet paper because it is so soft.
Since being founded in 1962, Nike has grown from a small fledgling shoe retailer into a world-wide corporate giant. During its first year, sales for Nike were $8000, but as of November 30th, annual sales for Nike were over 12 billion dollars. (hoover) Although Nike already dominates the sporting world, there are many opportunities for growth. According to our research, key strategic challenges facing Nike are increased competition from Adidas with their technological shoe, the Adidas One, and a potentially fatal inability to enter a new growth market such as the extreme sports market. Our recommendations to help Nike confront these challenges consist of developing a product to remain competitive with Adidas, and also an aggressive move into the extreme sports market.
As a consumer of this materialistic country, I can sometimes feel overwhelmed with all of the advertisements that exist and are thrust at me constantly. While some of them can be cute or creative and occasionally put a smile on my face, the majority of them exasperate me with their stupidity. However, when an advertisement is done correctly and the quality of it astounds the viewer, something amazing can happen. People can start to talk about what they have been impressed by, and word-of-mouth creates further advertising. Advertising is a form of art that reaches millions of people at once and can affect their view on not just the product, but on the entire idea of advertising itself.
Society has different opinions of advertising, some may think that advertising is always true, and some may think that advertising is simply a reflection of society itself. Most of society are afraid that they won’t be considered “normal” or they won’t “fit in”. People want to fit in to be similar to everybody else, and the advertisers know that so they use that as an advertising scheme. They persuade people to act certain ways through their commercials or jingles, and they also try to make people do, or buy, something because they think it will make them reach a goal. Advertising not only persuades people into doing a certain thing, or acting a certain way, but they also create their advertisements by being influenced by society’s weaknesses. Most of their schemes all tie together, for example, one of society’s biggest weaknesses is not fitting in. Advertising reflects the fears, quirks, and aspirations of society, while also feeding off of society’s weaknesses.