Nike China’s “Find Your Greatness” Campaign
CLIENT NIKE
PRODUCT NIKE
ENTRANT WIEDEN+KENNEDY SHANGHAI Shanghai, CHINA
TYPE OF ENTRY MEDIA: Use of Media
CATEGORY Best Use of Social Media Marketing
TITLE FIND YOUR GREATNESS
PRODUCT/SERVICE NIKE
ENTRANT COMPANY : WIEDEN+KENNEDY SHANGHAI Shanghai, CHINA
ADVERTISING AGENCY : WIEDEN+KENNEDY SHANGHAI Shanghai, CHINA
MEDIA AGENCY : MINDSHARE CHINA Shanghai, CHINA
BRAND OWNER: Nike
AGENCY: Wieden+Kennedy, Mindshare, AKQA, Razorfish
BRAND: Nike
COUNTRY: China
MEDIA BUDGET: 10 - 20 million
AMBUSH MARKETING:
A marketing technique in which advertisers work to connect their product with a particular event in the minds of potential customers, without having to pay sponsorship expenses for the event. An example of ambush marketing might involve selling music merchandise just outside the grounds of a concert without the consent or awareness of the concert promoters, relying on association with the concert to drive sales.
PARASITIC ADVERTISING:
A type of marketing that promotes one product at the cost of lost sales for another product. Parasitic advertising often occurs when two products are close substitutes for one another. Firms generally attempt to avoid parasitic advertising within their own product offerings because it is not the most effective way of maximizing the return on ad spending.

THE BIG IDEA:
Honour the pursuit of greatness, not just gold.
Simply to inspire and energize everyday athletes everywhere to celebrate their achievements, participate and enjoy the thrill of achieving in sport at their own level.
THE TARGET MARKET: * China's youths (16 to 24 years old)

* Sophisticated, discerning and self-determined, and now having to navigate between traditional and modern culture and values.

* No longer take at face value the traditional perspective on success

* Being less focused on the outcome or result and instead placing value and importance on the experience or journey to get there.
THE BARRIERS: * China's 5000-year-old conventions of greatness

* China's youths live under this tyranny of outcomes and results, which places an incredible amount of pressure and expectation to succeed – while failure carries with it serious consequences (real or imagined).
In the context of sport, this fear of failure can be extremely intimidating, creating barriers to participation. In short, Kids find sports intimidating because of the fear of failure.

* Greatness began as a global communication. The challenge was then to take this global point of view on greatness and connect it in a powerful and relevant way to a whole new generation of Chinese athletes. So while the idea that greatness was a constructed lie placed beyond the reach of most of us had a universal aspect to it, in China there was a far deeper cultural context around greatness.
THE CHALLENGE:
To use the Olympics to crush the myth that greatness comes only with gold medals.
THE SOLUTION:
Redefine greatness.

THE EXECUTION: 1) A 17 day multimedia counterstrike on traditional greatness.

2) Integrated campaign that involved TV, print, OOH (“Out of Home”) and Chinese social media networks , and was spearheaded by a 24/7 social media command centre that enabled Nike to listen, interact and respond in real-time to the events of the Games.

3) Social media command centre staffed with writers, designers, strategists and community managers. wired it up with live feeds from the Games and online communities, tooled up with custom programs to power the whole thing, and operated around the clock to monitor the buzz and to react in real time to the events of the Games

THE MEDIA PLAN:
Channels Used - Branded content, Internet - display, Internet - general, Internet - search, Newspapers, Online video, Outdoor, out-of-home, Print - general, unspecified, Public relations, Social media, Television, Word of mouth and viral.
In terms of channels and touch points, overall approach was to have a voice in the places where greatness during the Games was being talked about the most. TV was a key medium that allowed Nike’s voice to come through during major Olympic moments. While in terms of print, working with the daily newspapers allowed Nike to be extremely tactical in terms of the context in which its messages would appear. Online , Nike worked with key digital partners in terms of display and video, to again ensure that it could deliver content and messages that could work in sharp counterpoint to all of the traditional headlines surrounding sporting greatness. This enabled Nike to initially establish its point of view, and set a foundation from where it could present it. China's social media channels were where Nike could add deeper meaning and dimension to our communications, and really spark off engagement and dialogue with our audience. Sina Weibo was the platform to make this happen, spearheaded by Nike's own Sina Weibo community channels.
SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS:
Nike in China
Strength
* Brand name * Leading sports brand in China
Weakness
* Expensive prices of products
Opportunities
* China’s nationalism and patriotism * Differentiation by featuring amateur athletes as opposed to professional athletes * Diversifying product line to expand Nike as a fashion brand
Threats
* Global arch-rival Adidas * Local brands, Lining and Anta * China’s nationalism and patriotism
China in general:
Strength
1) Available lower cost labour 2) Available technically competent workforce 3) Favourable national, provincial and local governmental incentives for foreign investors providing employment and export opportunities to China 4) Stable investment environment compared to many other countries 5) More joint venture partnerships with foreign companies improves the knowledge base, quality and pricing, by increasing competition
Weakness
1) Work environment of the last 50+ years has given the older workforce a “mindset” work attitude rather than one of adaptability and the development of skills 2) Despite Government attempts to eradicate them there are still too many counterfeit products produced and sold 3) Without a reliable local Chinese partner the supply chain into the domestic market and to factories is too long to manage 4) In the imaging supplies industry there is a ready willingness of suppliers to sell compatible infringing products without any attempts to redesign
Opportunities
1) Despite rampant intellectual property infringements, there is today better awareness and acceptance of intellectual property rights and this will continue to improve in future 2) There are more standards being introduced and adopted in all industries in China * product safety, performance and environmental 3) As the industrial infrastructure including banking continues to improve, the secure ability to reinvest profit into China is becoming a comfortable reality
Threats
1) A lot of bad publicity of accusations of dumping, quality and safety issues which are reflected in global customer perceptions 2) China needs to avoid becoming a victim of its own success – inflation, rising operational costs, instability resulting from growing disparity in wealth regionally and demographically 3) The growing attraction to investors of other areas in Asia as strong alternatives, with lower costs and similar advantages
THE RESULTS: 1) Starting with only a few thousand retweets and comments, this quickly climbed to tens of thousands and culminated in Nike dominating online conversation at crucial moments throughout the Games, and our audience eagerly anticipating our response to key events and moments. Made it onto Sina Weibo's hottest topic list over three times, and garnered more engagement and buzz online than any competitors by order of magnitude.

2) Became a cultural phenomenon across China. News reports talked about it to a nationwide audience. Sports commentators quoted it during the events. Celebrities and influencers from across the region got involved and helped to amplify it, and people across China made it their own. The 'Greatness' campaign inspired countless user-generated memes, shares and comments online, demonstrating how quickly audience got behind the message spread. Other brands started to try and copy Nike’s tactics, and even counterfeiters got in on the action by copying our campaign slogans onto T-shirts to sell online.
In short, what resulted was one of the most successful social media campaigns that China has ever seen. The audience rallied behind Nike's message, creating a groundswell that became a cultural phenomenon, spreading through countless online user generated memes on the news, sports commentary, and through a host of celebrities and influencers.

The real success of the campaign was that in the 17 days of the Games Nike managed to challenge the myth of greatness, helping Chinese kids to see that it's within their reach, too.

WHY SOCIAL MEDIA IS IMPORT TO BUSINESSES:
Reduced cost.
If properly implemented, social initiatives can help reduce costs. Social media provides businesses with the means to increase customer service, saving costs and increasing customer satisfaction.
Increased revenue.
Engagement with social consumers allows for increased direct communication with consumers. These consumers can then influence others, shaping opinions and in turn expanding the customer base, driving new business.
Brand building.
Developing a social forum around your business helps to increase awareness of your brand as well as build brand value. Build up your brand through social media initiatives, increasing perceived value in products and services. This is how you will beat your competition.
Comparing Social Media with Traditional Media
So, why is social media becoming as important, if not more important, than traditional media. Traditional media, as in newspapers and television programs, is still a popular and viable forum for advertising and impacting consumer behavior. But, the reason social media is becoming more and more important for businesses is the ongoing, worldwide conversation through social media. With social media, consumers and businesses are more informed with real-time information and continuous social feedback, making informed decisions and fewer mistakes in their decisions.
Social Media and Trustworthiness
Social media is becoming increasingly important in the development of business reputations and branding. Online and social media change the behaviors and decisions of consumers rapidly. For your business’s reputation management, having a well-crafted, well-managed social media presence is key to having a successful business in the 21st century. Social media is growing in trustworthiness, and even though traditional media is more often used for trustworthy information right now, social media is rapidly taking over as the best way to change opinions and start discussions.
Another big benefit to businesses using social media is the young demographic. More and more people 65+ are using social media, but the majority of social media users who are impacted by social media marketing are young people. They use it more often and trust it more than people who grew up trusting traditional media. This is a great way for businesses to positively impact young people through social media, keeping them as loyal customers for the long term.
As more and more young people use social media for information, the impact and trustworthiness of traditional media will decline. Right now is the time for businesses to get on the social media bandwagon.
Humanizes Your Brand
Copying and pasting marketing lingo into social media just doesn’t work. You have less space to do it and the environment is completely different. Social media gives your business the opportunity to reach out and actually connect with your audience. No Stuffy corporate policies. Real one to one relationships.
Builds Your Sphere Of Influence
Your sphere of influence is the people in and around your brand that you interact with. There will always be key people of influence in your niche so spend some time getting to know them, watch and learn how they engage their audience and then start engaging with them. When you manage to develop a relationship with these key people of influence it impacts on your sphere of influence, people will see it and this too will help build your credibility online.
Your Competition Is Using It
Companies are paying a lot of money to advertise and grow their brands in social media. That suggests that using social media for business is working. If you aren’t already, then you should be.
Your Target Audience Is Using It
Provides Great Brand Exposure
If your brand can really embrace the nature of social media, through providing great content and engaging and interacting with your audience in a manner that leads to building a great community that people want to be involved with, then your brand will get a great boost.
It’s The Next Generation Of Word Of Mouth Marketing
What better way to interact with new potential clients than via people who have already experienced what your brand has to offer? When your social media presence starts to generate conversation and reactions such as; likes, shares, tweets, pins or whatever else it maybe then you get their approval. This social recommendation is visible to that persons individual following and acts as a great gateway for their friends or family to get to know more about your brand.
Provides Transparency
Social media is an open book. If someone likes you then great, everyone can see it. If someone doesn’t like you and mentions something negative about your brand or experience then this too is available to the community.
Many successful businesses that leverage social media use this as an advantage to show how switched on they are by replying and finding a resolution and closing that loop. This shows to the watching community that your business has integrity and values interaction, criticism and debate and more importantly knows how to deal with it.
Opens Up Conversation
The users of your brand or experience are the best people to learn from when it comes to making things better. By invoking questions about the usability of your experience you will get an understanding as to what clients are looking for. You will also be able to gauge how to improve things in the future. Social media for small business success is truly about listening as opposed to marketing!
Conversations act like a magnet; when one starts people prick up their ears and take notice. This can have a knock on effect where more and more people jump into the conversation. This could help to get your content and brand spread wide and far.

Aids Customer Service
Many businesses face the same questions time and time again when it comes to customer service. Use your social media outlets to answer those questions. By doing it this way you can highlight to your community that you are available but also get other people within the community to provide answers and support to new members who have perhaps experienced the same issues themselves.
Brand Exposure
Everybody wants to expose their brand to a larger audience. The more targeted people who are aware of your brand, the greater the chance you have of turning those into leads, paying clients and brand advocates.

In conclusion, using social media for business today is as important as learning how to use email for business 15 years ago. We need to embrace social media; the possibilities it brings and the challenges it presents in order to remain profitable and, most importantly, relevant in an ever increasing social world.