In a nation
where cricket is almost worshipped, how can a sports accessories company survive without connecting itself with the almighty cricket in India? Brands from colas to computers have been built through this much hyped sport. But strangely, Nike never did, that is till now. The world’s leading sports accessories brand always paid heed to promote itself as a comprehensive sports brand and this was very much evident in their advertising strategy. While speaking to 4Ps B&M, Sanjay Gangopadhyay, Marketing Director, Nike India elaborates, “We wanted to establish Nike as a complete sports brand and at that point of time all our ads were targeted to create awareness. We did not want to limit ourself with just cricket. Rather our focus was on how Nike can influence people.” So to establish Nike as an inspirational brand the ad-campaigns focussed on all the sports with the tag line ‘Just do it’. However, the strategy backfired and the global leader in sports accessories was stumped in India by Reebok who commands a whopping 40% market share as against Nike’s 15% (Technopak Advisors).So it was back to the drawing boards for the think-tank of Nike. Even though they might stoutly deny, but the fact of the matter is that the Indian market did prove to be a tough nut for the Nike marketers to crack. Affirms Dhunji S. Wadia, Managing Partner, JWT, “India posed a peculiar challenge to Nike. Though a global leader in sportswear, it was a late entrant in the Indian market. Its competitors, namely Reebok & Adidas, had a head-start over it and had built considerable consumer franchise. The Jordans, the Federers, the Nadals & the Rooneys also could not help Nike much in India as the brand’s traditional dominance in sports like basketball, tennis & soccer counted for little in this country where sport is synonymous to cricket.”
So, not daring to stay away for long, the swoosh finally swung in cricket’s favour. And in December 2005 Nike successfully stole the main show by becoming the official apparel sponsor of the entire Indian cricket team for a period of five years. However, the high point of Nike’s connection with cricket has been its first cricket-centric campaign, unleashed on the eve of the Cricket World Cup 2007. The core focus of the campaign was the celebration of gutsy cricket in India. Scenes of gutsy children playing cricket atop buses, in streets and other places, evoked strong emotions from the fanatic cricket fans. Explains Gangopadhyay, “The ad didn’t speak particularly about World Cup. It speaks about the passion of this sport and was aired at the time of World Cup. We didn’t want to come out with a ‘me too’ ad, which says go India, play India or any such think. We wanted to bring out the passion for the sport, which even a kid has and he will play cricket anywhere. The aim was to convey that cricket is in our heart and we just dramatised this to make it a memorable one.”
Adds
JWT’s Wadia, “No communication in recent times has captured the soul of India like the Nike ‘Mean Streets’ campaign. The campaign, which was developed to both announce and establish Nike’s association with cricket in India, not only succeeded in increasing brand salience, but broke all communication clutter. Nike got the maximum free media coverage amongst all brands.” What’s more, even after India’s hasty exit from the World Cup, while others were busy doing damage control, Nike continued to bravely showcase the ad. But what’s more bewildering is Nike’s apparent mis-hit in the T20 World Cup. Looks like Nike ran out of fizz in the first shot itself.Edit bureau: Angshuman Paul
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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