Nike 'Here I Am' Slogan Woos Europe's Women
Nike has been marketing its 'Just do it' slogan since 1988. In Europe, it is trying out a new, softer catchphrase on young women: 'Here I am.'
The sportswear titan recently launched a new ad campaign in Europe aimed at selling more clothing to university-aged women.
Made by the Amsterdam office of the independent Wieden + Kennedy agency, the campaign includes five short animated cartoons about the life stories of five top European female athletes.
One shows tennis player Maria Sharapova overcoming doubts as she grows up and goes professional. 'You're just another pretty face,' critics say in the spot. 'You won't be agile enough. You won't stay on top for long.' At the end, the animated Sharapova morphs into the real Sharapova, who forms the 'I' in 'Here I am.'
The aim of the slogan and ads is to deliver the message that there is more to sports than getting fit or competing. 'It is about building self-esteem. Once you have taken part in sport, you have the confidence to say, 'Here I am,'' says Abi Findlay, a Nike account manager at Wieden + Kennedy.
The agency decided to use animation to make the athletes less intimidating. The idea for the slogan came out of research commissioned by Nike that found that university-aged women in Europe aren't as competitive about sports as men. The women also told the researchers that they enjoy the social aspect of exercise and yoga classes, and feel happier when they work out. The agency said that the research was done in Europe and that it doesn't have data on U.S. women.
To appeal to them, the agency's copywriters decided they needed a different slogan from the 'Just do it' message, says Mark Bernath, a creative director for Nike at Wieden + Kennedy. 'Here I am' promotes the personal benefit of exercise without being aggressive, he says. 'We want to make sure normal women can relate to it,' he says.
Nike executives liked the slogan because they thought it would be understood in English across Europe. (Though in parts of Italy it is being translated into Italian.) The company also wanted a slogan that wouldn't sound odd alongside 'Just do it.' 'When you are dealing with a pan-European business, you need a degree of simplicity and openness,' says Charlie Brooks, a Nike spokesman.
In the U.S., Nike doesn't have a slogan aimed at women. That is because advertising for Nike's women's line in the U.S. is handled by different Wieden + Kennedy offices. There aren't any plans to use the European campaign in the U.S., Ms. Findlay says.
In recent years, the agency, based in Portland, Ore., has been one of the hottest in the ad world, winning big clients such Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola, and leading an industry trend for big marketers to hire small 'hot shop' agencies to produce innovative ads. Nike is one of the agency's oldest accounts, and Nike Chairman Philip H. Knight and agency co-founder Dan Wieden have a close relationship.
Wieden + Kennedy has had big success with slogans for Nike before. Within a year of Nike's adopting its 'Just do it' slogan, sales were booming. Nike plans to continue using 'Just do it' for its overall brand and 'Here I am' to promote its Her Favourites line of women's clothing in Europe, Nike and Wieden + Kennedy said.
Underscoring how big marketers can use the Internet, particularly with younger consumers, Nike is paying for the spots to appear on Facebook, Bebo and other social-networking sites popular with young women, but doesn't plan any television ads.
Nike, based in Beaverton, Ore., has also booked time for the ads on video screens in gyms and university student unions across Europe, including the U.K., France, Italy, Germany and Russia, Ms. Findlay says.
Ms. Sharapova has appeared in Nike ads for years. But apart from her, Wieden + Kennedy chose athletes who aren't as well known, so their lives don't seem out of reach to ordinary women, Mr. Bernath says. Also appearing in the spots are Simona La Mantia, an Italian triple-jumper, Nicola Spirig, a Swiss triathlete, Nicola Sanders, a British sprinter, and Delphine Delsalle, a French judoist.
The sportswear titan recently launched a new ad campaign in Europe aimed at selling more clothing to university-aged women.
Made by the Amsterdam office of the independent Wieden + Kennedy agency, the campaign includes five short animated cartoons about the life stories of five top European female athletes.
One shows tennis player Maria Sharapova overcoming doubts as she grows up and goes professional. 'You're just another pretty face,' critics say in the spot. 'You won't be agile enough. You won't stay on top for long.' At the end, the animated Sharapova morphs into the real Sharapova, who forms the 'I' in 'Here I am.'
The aim of the slogan and ads is to deliver the message that there is more to sports than getting fit or competing. 'It is about building self-esteem. Once you have taken part in sport, you have the confidence to say, 'Here I am,'' says Abi Findlay, a Nike account manager at Wieden + Kennedy.
The agency decided to use animation to make the athletes less intimidating. The idea for the slogan came out of research commissioned by Nike that found that university-aged women in Europe aren't as competitive about sports as men. The women also told the researchers that they enjoy the social aspect of exercise and yoga classes, and feel happier when they work out. The agency said that the research was done in Europe and that it doesn't have data on U.S. women.
To appeal to them, the agency's copywriters decided they needed a different slogan from the 'Just do it' message, says Mark Bernath, a creative director for Nike at Wieden + Kennedy. 'Here I am' promotes the personal benefit of exercise without being aggressive, he says. 'We want to make sure normal women can relate to it,' he says.
Nike executives liked the slogan because they thought it would be understood in English across Europe. (Though in parts of Italy it is being translated into Italian.) The company also wanted a slogan that wouldn't sound odd alongside 'Just do it.' 'When you are dealing with a pan-European business, you need a degree of simplicity and openness,' says Charlie Brooks, a Nike spokesman.
In the U.S., Nike doesn't have a slogan aimed at women. That is because advertising for Nike's women's line in the U.S. is handled by different Wieden + Kennedy offices. There aren't any plans to use the European campaign in the U.S., Ms. Findlay says.
In recent years, the agency, based in Portland, Ore., has been one of the hottest in the ad world, winning big clients such Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola, and leading an industry trend for big marketers to hire small 'hot shop' agencies to produce innovative ads. Nike is one of the agency's oldest accounts, and Nike Chairman Philip H. Knight and agency co-founder Dan Wieden have a close relationship.
Wieden + Kennedy has had big success with slogans for Nike before. Within a year of Nike's adopting its 'Just do it' slogan, sales were booming. Nike plans to continue using 'Just do it' for its overall brand and 'Here I am' to promote its Her Favourites line of women's clothing in Europe, Nike and Wieden + Kennedy said.
Underscoring how big marketers can use the Internet, particularly with younger consumers, Nike is paying for the spots to appear on Facebook, Bebo and other social-networking sites popular with young women, but doesn't plan any television ads.
Nike, based in Beaverton, Ore., has also booked time for the ads on video screens in gyms and university student unions across Europe, including the U.K., France, Italy, Germany and Russia, Ms. Findlay says.
Ms. Sharapova has appeared in Nike ads for years. But apart from her, Wieden + Kennedy chose athletes who aren't as well known, so their lives don't seem out of reach to ordinary women, Mr. Bernath says. Also appearing in the spots are Simona La Mantia, an Italian triple-jumper, Nicola Spirig, a Swiss triathlete, Nicola Sanders, a British sprinter, and Delphine Delsalle, a French judoist.
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