Find Your Greatness

I absolutely love the Olympics!

As a runner, as a fan and as a world citizen … the Olympics are a radiant flower that blooms for only 3 weeks every 4 years.

The true blessing, as an American, is that this 3-week festival of competition and world-togetherness offsets and provides a distraction from our own American, poo-slinging political environment.

But lets focus back on the Olympic competition.  Not between the USA and China, not even between the finely honed athletes, but the competition of sports apparel brands.  As a marketer, I’m as enthralled by the Nike/Adidas competition as I am in the marathon competition between the Kenyans and the ... ahhh … well … OK, they really don’t have competition.

Here’s a link to Nike’s Find Your Greatness campaign.

Quick question:Is Nike an official sponsor of the London Olympic Games?

Answer: It doesn’t really matter!  But no, they’re not. 

Last week, Ad Age reported that an online survey found that 37% of those surveyed identified Nike as an Olympic sponsor (compared to 24% for Adidas, a real sponsor).  Add to that, in the last week, Find Your Greatness landed as #1 on the Viral Chart with 4.5 million views compared to Adidas’ 2.9 million views with their Take the Stage campaign.

In short, Nike has hijacked the London Olympics.  Without mentioning the games or paying the $40 million+ sponsorship price tag.  They did it by focusing solely on emotion.  They’ve tapped into the consumer’s reality.  One I’ve related to since I first started running in 4^th grade … I’ll never be an Olympian, but I love being an athlete!  I’ll never compete internationally, but I can’t listen to the National Anthem without picturing myself on a podium.  Admit it, most of you know exactly what I’m talking about … and Nike identified it … put it into words and images … and made us feel it!

So, what can WE do as marketers without Nike’s marketing budget or rock star ad agencies?  We can learn from their strategy of tapping into emotions.  It sounds idealistic, but the truth is that emotions sell better than product or price.  Take Find Your Greatness, for example.  We’re not selling shoes or shorts, but our financial consumers want to find their greatness at home, right?  They can’t buy a car, move into a home, pay for groceries, hope for retirement or insure their property without us. 

How can you help your community find their greatness?

Take care and enjoy the remainder of the games.

Eric