How Nike reconnected with youth culture
Nike's global success and superstar-laden campaigns had left young Londoners feeling increasingly disconnected from the brand. So, Nike ditched the celebs and made London's youth the stars of their advertising.
Context
Nike's products were always popular with London's youth. But this audience increasingly didn't feel connected to the Nike brand. Nike’s superstar influencers - a staple of their advertising - simply weren’t connecting.
“Nike will always be big, but we can’t see, touch or feel the brand anymore”
Objectives
- Increase brand preference amongst young Londoners
- Improve brand affinity scores amongst young Londoners
Insight
What makes a Londoner are the difficulties they’ve overcome.
Strategy
Nike needed to show young Londoners that they understood them and their city. So they demoted the celebs and made real kids the stars of their new 'LNDR' campaign. Using these new influencers’ own channels to launch the campaign, the likes of AJ Tracy and Mo Farah followed their lead.
Outcome
After the campaign launched, London searches for Nike products were up 93%. Most importantly, the brand boosted their “Understands the community I live in” statement scores amongst Londoners.
Eventually, Nike were forced to stop running the campaign after they lost a trademark dispute over the use of 'LDNR'.