Nike's Impactful Approach To Media Relations

A presentation from Nike on “temporary branded environments” at the retail design conference I’m attending also serves as a case study in media relations.

Nike morphs pop-up retail into a targeted media relations tactic to reach key media and influencers. They create branded environments to attract, and completely immerse, their audience in a Nike experience according to Kurt Parker of Nike Asia Pacific.

Make Your Brand an Event
Consider the challenge of getting media attention at the Olympics or the World Cup. Creating destinations like Nike Park offer media, athletes and customers the chance to experience the brand and test out Nike products while generating word of mouth and media coverage.

Turn Your Brand into Art
Nike has also evolved into what it calls sports culture events like White Dunk. White Dunk brought together 25 artists to create art inspired by the Nike Dunk shoe. The end result is an art exhibit which was initially housed in a building transformed to resemble a giant, white shoebox. Online demand for the shoe surged as a result and pieces of the exhibit are now on loan to various art shows.

Athletes Serve Up the Nike Experience
The Flickr set above is from the Nike Plus News Conference in Taiwan. Marathoner Paula Radcliffe was a focus of this event where the audience was immersed in a themed environment created to show the impact the product could have on someone’s running routine.

Big Brands, Budgets and Buzz
Even an iconic brand like Nike needs to go big to stand out. Nike cannot afford to rely on a product media kit – not matter how clever – to get the coverage it needs. While I was pleased to learn that Nike does not use ad equivalency to justify its investment, I was surprised that there are few metrics in place to track ROI. Parker notes the president of Nike Brand understands the importance of these events and elements of these environments often trickle down to influence the retail launch.

Here is the takeaway that inspired me to write this post. When creating a giant media event, Nike is very careful to edit the message and to not say everything.

“Focus on saying less, but say it really well to generate more excitement than you might otherwise around a product.”

Think about that concept as you stuff your next press kit to its breaking point.

Nike Plus Taiwan Press Conference uploaded by wahaha_wu
tags | public relations | PR | media relations | media | Nike | advertising | marketing | branding | brand | design | retail design

Comments

[Lewis Green]

Kevin,

It also helps to get noticed by journalists when you have deep pockets and can bring in stars to schmooze with the reporters. Having been a reporter, I can say we seldom turn down free food or a chance to meet a celebrity.

Good post, Kevin.

[Nike SB]

You guys should checkout the shoes that came out from Nike with Ipod applications. Nike and Apple coming together is a perfect combination and if this can motivate a healthier lifestyle than more power to them.