Brand Storytelling and Brand Narrative (Nike)
According to Varey (2002: 152), a brand ‘is differentiated from a commodity by having associated with it, as an integral part of the total offering, values that are significant to the consumer and buyer.’ When the word brand is mentioned, the first things that come into my mind are the terms brand storytelling and brand narrative. Brand storytelling is commonly known as using a narrative for your brand in order to connect it with the minds and hearts of your customers, it is known to highlight the truth as to why the brand is existent and who benefits from it. Brand narrative has 3 elements: voice, tone and style. Voice simply revolves around the brand’s unique and distinguished voice, tone is how that voice is used in various situations, and style is what your writing looks like. Delin (2005) states that ‘the term ‘Tone of Voice’ has come to be used commercially to refer to the language styles or registers that a company uses to express a distinctive personality or set of values that will differentiate its brands from those of competitors.’
The brand ‘Nike’ used brand storytelling when creating their brand, in order to appeal to the desired customers.
Nike is a multinational corporation that was founded in 1964, the brand has a worldwide slogan that almost everyone is likely to know, “Just do it”. Although this may just seem like a simple slogan, it has a far deeper meaning. Several years ago, Dan Wieden, Nike’s advertising executive, confessed the truth behind the meaning of the familiar slogan. Wieden stated that in 1988, during the process of creating Nike’s advertising campaign, he miraculously thought of Gary Mark Gilmore, an American criminal and spree killer, who was shot dead by a firing squad. The firing squad supposedly asked him if he had any final thoughts or words, and his response was, “Let’s do it”. For some apparent reason, this was glued in the mind of Dan Wieden, who then decided to tweak it to “Just do it”.
Below is an image of Gary Gilmore.
In the eyes of a consumer, I would highly disagree that a brand would appeal to me in result of the slogan being representative of the last words of a murderer, however, the creators of Nike saw it in a very different light. Collectively, they viewed Nike as a universal unity, no matter what culture you are from or what barriers you face. Bill Bowerman, the co-founder of Nike, once stated, “If you have a body, you are an athlete”. The brand story was then revealed, it focuses on a hero archetype. We all know that outside forces are a battle, and that they are of high power, however, what Nike aims to remind us of is that there is a force out there that is stronger that the rest, and that is our inner selves. It is something that every single person on the earth can relate to, whether it is the inner self that wants to stay at home all day and do nothing instead of going to the gym, or the inner self that gives up half way into a fitness routine instead of pushing themselves and completing it. With the slogan, “just do it”, alongside understanding the brand story, the public will grow a deep connection with the brand, bringing “inspiration and innovation” to all.
When it comes to the brand narrative, Nike are known to be one of the most admired brands. The tone of voice that Nike use is not only incentive and compelling, but it influences the consumers in more than one way, giving the brand a unique identity. One way it influences the desired consumers is by simply drawing their attention to the brand’s products, in order to increase income, and secondly, it influences the consumers by connecting with them on a deeper level in order to push them to be the best athletes they can be. Although most brands in the sports market aim to target people of all ages, Nike’s target audience are supposedly those between the ages of 15–40, of both genders. Unlike other sporting brands who have a broad target audience, Nike differs in the sense that it focuses more on portraying a clear focus. This being to create and increase a strong and loyal relationship with the brand.
Evidently, this focus has rocketed the brands awareness worldwide as not only is it the biggest sportswear brand in the world, but it is one of the highest apparel brands. In the graph (2019) below from Statista you can clearly see the brand value (in million U.S. dollars) of Nike compared to other popular apparel brands such as Adidas and H&M.
As you can see Nike had the highest value compared to the opposing apparel brands worldwide ($32,421).
There are many more worldwide brands out there that have an admired brand story and brand narrative, for example, ‘Innocent’. Innocent Drinks is a company that have a unique brand story. It all started when three friends set up a stall at a music festival with the aim of selling as many smoothies as possible. At their stall they created a sign, it read, “Should we give up our jobs to make these smoothies?”, with the response options being “Yes” or “No”, marked on 2 bins where they would dispose of their rubbish. At the end of the festival, the “Yes” bin had the most rubbish in it, therefore, the three graduates quit their jobs and started producing more smoothies.
Although this brand story is not true it is so unique and inventive that it reaches the hearts of the consumers, just like Nike. Overall, brands such as Nike and Innocent, and many more, do more than just produce a good quality product, but also connect with the desired public on many l
