See the poster below? This is one of the first print ads that a then-upstart shoe manufacturer released around 1977. Nike, maybe you’ve heard of it?
One of the first TV commercials the athletics giant did was in 1988 features an 80-year-old running icon Walter Stack jogging slowly across the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. He tells the audience how he runs 17 miles every day, and to stop his teeth from chattering, he just leaves them in the locker!
Notice something striking and similar in both these ads?
On the print ad, out of a copy that is 152 words long, the word Nike is the 109th word, and appears only twice in the copy (once at the 109th position and once as the logo). The ad’s emotional focus then is not on Nike itself but on the euphoria of running.
In the TV commercial, the word Nike appears only once at the end, as the logo, and Walt Stack does not talk about the shoe or the company. He instead chats about his love for running and what he’s achieving every day.
Nike was founded as an importer of running shoes manufactured by Onitsuka Tiger (now Asics) from Japan to the USA by Phil Knight and his running coach Bill Bowerman. Bill Bowerman, not coincidentally, is the person responsible for installing jogging/running as a popular form of exercise and activity among the general public.
While one of his goals was obviously to sell the company’s shoes, his biggest passion was to introduce people to running and have his products help them achieve their best. And it reflects in the marketing of Nike.
What Nike has been doing almost since its inception, and doing extremely well, is benefits-based marketing.
What is Benefits-Based Marketing?
Every product emerges from the necessity of fulfilling a need. A feature is a characteristic of the product, it might be the appearance, a component, or some capability. For example, Nike’s React foam is a feature. On the other hand, a benefit of a product is the outcome that users get by using that product. In Nike’s case, it’s being better at athletics.
Benefits-based marketing is the concept of replacing the what of the product with the why of the product in the messaging. Promotional campaigns and messaging that employ this type of marketing focus on the utility of the product and what it can help people achieve, rather than bombarding them with the tech specs or the features of the product itself. Sometimes, when done successfully enough, this type of campaign might not even need to mention the product.
So here’s the thing — Nike does NOT sell shoes. It does not need to! It sells the idea of overcoming odds, mainly athletic. After all, people running races need great shoes, and Nike helps them get to that goal.
Time and again they have showcased a protagonist battling against a challenge and coming out on top, incidentally using Nike products, such as the Find Your Greatness campaign. This approach is excellent because the viewer (potential customer) identifies themselves in that protagonist. Every time there is a choice to go to the gym or rest on the couch, the battle begins. Every time our body feels like it’s tired and cannot go another mile, it is that same battle. And every time we use a Nike product while getting past that hurdle and winning the battle, an association between the brand and overcoming challenges is built in our minds.
In another marketing campaign, Nike asked 6 NFL players to work with the football teams at each of their respective high schools. There is bare minimum mention of the brand in the resulting videos. By sponsoring these events, Nike creates a campaign that promotes the act of giving back to sports and to the community. And each time that these videos are shared or liked by people, the Nike brand automatically becomes larger in the consciousness of the public.
This motif of overcoming challenges is so universal that it can be rehashed and reused to work with any hurdle. Case in point, the recent You Can’t Stop Us advertisement by Nike, which apart from being an incredible editing masterpiece, is another ode to humanity’s struggle and capability of sustaining hope, conquering obstacles, and making the world a better place, together. Fun fact: the creative team went through over 4000 action sequences to make the final cut of 72 shots!
This is the benefit of a benefits-based marketing strategy. Nike has built one of the most powerful brands in the world by tapping into the collective aspirations of people wanting to become better versions of themselves.
Right from its extremely recognizable slogan and logo, to its various interpretations of the heroism in overcoming various hurdles, Nike has created a marketing juggernaut through benefits-based marketing. Selling a lifestyle rather than shoes has enabled the brand to become aspirational, generate word of mouth, and absolutely kill on social media, turning it into the behemoth we all know today.
A version of this article appeared first on The Strategy Story.
