Social Listening

 

I chose to write about Nike because as I was watching the start to the NBA playoffs I couldn't help but notice how many shoes worn by players were Nikes, as well as the iconic swoosh on the jersey of every team. When I scroll through twitter or “x”, I still don’t know anyone who calls it x, I see a lot of people posting about Nike shoes. Whether it’s about Nike shoes they already own, shoes they want to get, or Nikes they’ve seen somewhere on tv and want to know what the name of the shoes are.

@8flavs tweeted “ Thoughts on Kyrie being left off the Olympics team, and also the politics of Nike and Team USA  basketball selections which is something Gilbert Arenas alluded to why Trae Young doesn’t get called up.

8/12 man selected are Nike/Jordan Brand athletes.”

He is one of many people recently on twitter implying that nike has somehow corrupted the US mens basketball roster committee and made it so Kyrie Irving didn’t make the roster. In this case Nike didn’t respond and I agree with this decision because there’s no actual evidence they had any say in the mens US national team roster and to even respond would just be giving value to an otherwise valueless comment attempting to slander the Nike brand.

@nikefreak23 tweeted at Nike “@nikestore when are the Force Zoom Trout Turf 9's releasing?” to which nike responded “ Hey Micah, no news to share on a release of a turf version at this time. Keep it locked to http://Nike.com for the latest. If it's of interest, meet us in DM with your size and location, and we'd be happy to recommend available cleats! ”

This was a great job of responding by Nike because while it may not have been the answer  that @nikefreak23 was looking for it was a clear answer that showed Nike was listening and that they’d be willing to further help him find cleats that would work for him.

@BoseApruva tweeted “Something I really enjoy about being a dad and husband is wearing matching shoes! “. Nike replied to this post with “Style is hereditary”.

 

I liked this reply because it was a humorous response and also showed engagement with everyday customers not just their professional athletes.

Nike's value proposition is Just Do It. More than one specific product, Nike is promoting their brand on social medias. They promote greatness and being the brand that provides the attire for greatness. Nike definitely uses lots of storytelling throughout their social media. One recent example was their Instagram post unveiling the new signature shoe for Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker. It was a very cinematic video telling the story of Booker's life from a kid to now NBA stardom. Another video posted on their instagram page starts with an announcer listing every achievement Caitlin Clark has earned while calling her name as a starter, the video is captioned “ it takes a once-in-a-generation player to break a record that stood for generations.   Congratulations to @caitlinclark22 - the new owner of the all-time NCAA scoring record”. This goes along with their storytelling as they want to make you feel like you’re living in a time when history is being made.. When any Nike athlete achieves a feat in their sport Nike has a clever post usually containing a photo of the athlete with a quote followed by a swoosh on top. To me these are very smart because many times I see friends repost these photos to show what the athletes they’re fans of have accomplished and this is giving nike earned media.

If I were the brand manager for Nike I would try to engage more with social media users, not just only responding to  people when they reach out. I would try to create some sort of social media challenge or trend where people can and want to get involved, almost like the ALS ice bucket challenge. I’m not sure what I would name it but I would try to start a challenge or trend where people post their favorite Nike shoes and tag Nike, or post somewhere they’ve run while in their Nike running shoes. I would try to get people more involved by making posts and being a part the trend to create a sense of community for their customers while also getting free earned media. Overall from this assignment I learned how important storytelling is to Nike in its marketing on social media and that Nike is pretty dang good at social listening and responding to its customer base and people who ask questions on social media.

Marketing in the News Today

I've decided to write about AT&Ts new "Connecting Changes Everything" ad campaign. The reason I decided to write about this series of ads from the telecommunications company is the fact that two of the four ads featured professional golfers, a sport I'm very interested in, and have been playing throughout and premiered during the Masters this week. The article I found on AdAge by Sarina Sanchez opened my eyes to some of the highlights to these advertisements and not just what made them funny. Sarina's article mentioned how the advertisements highlighted new advancements of AT&Ts existing technology and highlights new and upcoming tech from the company, While showing the importance and impact of tech on daily life. She also wrote that the goal was to balance the storytelling during the masters with two ads featuring golfers and two lifestyle pieces. AT&T's value proposition is "Creating Connection, Delivering Value" and their purpose is to create a connection for you and the rest of the world.  

   

    In the first ad of the series Rose Zhang is seen juggling a golf ball on her iron while making calls to her family, attending online lectures, watching videos, etc. The Ad shows that with the help of her connectivity with AT&T she can juggle her life as student and still have the ability to travel and be successful on the golf course. The second and my personal favorite ad from the series features comedic actor Ben Stiller hitting wayward shot after wayward shot eventfully finding himself way off the golf course sporting long hair and a beard, and finally deciding to call in the big guns while opening his phone and placing a call to PGA star Jordan Spieth who is known for his incredible talent just off the green. The advertisement shows the call going from Ben Stiller's phone up to a satellite in space and bouncing off it toward's Jordan Spieth's phone where he answers and starts to give Ben Stiller some advice. This ad was showing off a the new and still in the works technology of satellite calling. AT&T was wanting to show that with this new technology you won't have to worry about where you are in the world that they will connect you to others, even from in the middle of nowhere. The following two ads showed the necessity to technology in order to have equal opportunities in education today, promoting the money AT&T has committed to help people have access to necessary technology and one ad showing a family running their business on AT&T wifi showing the necessity to a strong and stable internet connection in which the company can provide. The ad series provided an answer to the problem of how to call and connect with others when you're somewhere you currently wouldn't have phone service by showing the solution of the future of Satellite calling. 

    Personally I found the campaign was unique because they found a way to make a telecommunications company seem relevant to golf and golf fans, and even the two ads not featuring golf were relatable to golf fans as one featured heavy 80's themes, a time when majority of golf fans spent their childhoods, and another featured themes a family a theme just majority of people can relate too. One critique I would have for the campaign is that they are only commercials showing on television, if I were to make a change I would make shortened versions of the ads and promote them on social media platforms.

Article:  https://adage.com/article/marketing-news-strategy/att-masters-2024-campaign-stars-ben-stiller-jordan-spieth-rose-zhang/2552386?adobe_mc=MCMID%3D37389769073785240452316963514431309194%7CMCORGID%3D138FFF2554E6E7220A4C98C6%2540AdobeOrg%7CTS%3D1713139649&CSAuthResp=1%3A%3A5860821%3A150997699%3A24%3Asuccess%3AF5DE4B6A7A8B0B935BB0F21FA126DBA6

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About Me

Hi there! I'm Carson Daniels, I was born and raised in Salem Oregon. I graduated from Sprague High School where I played basketball, tennis, and water polo. Currently I'm majoring in Business administration. I chose to take BA223 because not only is it a required course for graduation in my major but I'm also interest in seeing if it's a subject I would like to pick as an area of focus. I'm very passionate about sports! I enjoy watching basketball ( men's and women's college), football, golf, tennis, just about every sport. For the Last three years I have worked at a golf course in Salem, starting outside as a cart boy to now working inside in the Pro shop. Since starting working I've gained a lot more interest and knowledge in the area of Golf. Golf is about the only sport I still play ( Although very rarely in an actual competitive capacity) and I really like traveling and playing new courses in places like central Oregon, Palm Springs/ La Quinta and most recently Frisco Texas where I Played a course at the PGA Headquarters.