“Just do it. But better”
Sustainability.
This word and its synonyms are becoming more integrated into daily conversation more and more as the young professionals begin to enter the labour force.
This raised awareness of sustainability in turn creates demands for more socially and environmentally conscious business practices and consumer products, shifting a company’s trajectory to take a more eco-friendly approach.
8 million tonnes of plastic waste
An average of 8 million tons of plastic waste is deposited into the oceans annually, and this figure is expected to increase to at least 22 million tons in the next decade.
In light of this rising threat, Nike plans to launch a new sub-brand of consumer products, dubbed Nike Renew® to counter the global plastic problem that not only maintains the same design and style our fans have come to love, but will not compromise our performance-supporting quality that forms the backbone of our brand.
Nike Renew® will ranges from various styles of footwear and clothing, and is aimed at youth and young millennials at diverse activity levels. We want to make sure there is something for everyone, avoiding the ‘one size fits all’ approach that has failed us in the past.
As such, our outreach strategy will focus on social media marketing on three main platforms:
- TikTok: Downloaded 2.6 billion times worldwide since December 2020, averaging 1 billion monthly active users
- Instagram: 1 billion monthly active users, averaging at 500 million daily
- Twitter: 199 million daily active users as of 2021
Our approach will centre on creating engaging content that emphasizes emotional branding, evoking strong responses towards the global plastic waste issue, inspiring and empowering them to take action with Nike (name).
We will also explore influencer partnerships and celebrity brand deals to increase our target market on the above listed platforms. As we have valued customers in all corners of the globe, we will need to highlight diversity in our marketing campaigns and create content that appeals to various populations.
Additionally, we will launch promotional events, such as exclusive sneak peaks and contests to build off of the buzz we generate from the engaging content we have created. Simultaneously, the Nike team will do our part to contribute to and support environmental initiatives, making sure to keep these actions in the public eye.
Main Goals
Long term:
- To reach 2 million followers on TikTok in 7 months (from 1.6 million)
- Reduce GHG emissions by 10% within 12 months
- Reduce global plastic pollution by 10% within 12 months
Short term
- To reach 1.8 followers from 1.6 followers on TikTok in 3 months
- Increase average viewership of each video to 30,000 in 4 months
- Begin implementing sustainable manufacturing practices in over half the factories to reduce Nike’s ecological footprint in 6 months’ time
- Begin collecting plastic waste from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to recycle in 1 month
- Reduce the mass of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by a quarter in 4 months
Strategy Plan
- Check the competition.
While the attention drawn to eco-friendly consumer products is a relatively recent phenomenon, this is not a new concept. Adidas’ line of sustainably produced clothing and footwear was only the start of their pledge to only use recycled plastics by 2024.
Their selling point was to not only advocate for environmental issues, but to also promise their customers the same high quality products synonymous to their brand. This unwavering brand loyalty with the added emphasis on sustainability is the principle our marketing campaign centres.
2. Content marketing.
This is when we launch engaging content containing strong emotional imagery, educating our viewers on issues of sustainability and pollution.
In addition to educational content, big and small influencers will be producing content of their own featuring our message, brand, and our product on their social media platforms. This helps reinforce our message that our product and values are for everyone, and anyone of any background can join the movement against climate change.
While we must keep our brand image consistent with this content, it should carry a more serious and urgent tone to demonstrate Nike’s environmentally-conscious values.
3. Publicity and humanitarian efforts
Nike will sponsor various green initiatives all around the world, making sure to capture a wide range of environmental services.
These include environmental cleanups, ecological preservation, and green entrepreneurial ventures. We can also create an application process or contest where we supply grants to empower green organizations or entrepreneurs to successful applicants.
Another effective easily publicized approach is the sizeable donation of Nike Renew® footwear and clothing to developing and disadvantaged cities or countries, adding another philanthropic area to our branding image.
4. Promotional phase
In this phase we will launch promotional events to boost engagement for our product lines, such as exclusive sneak peaks to Nike members and ambassadors, celebrity athlete sponsorships, as well as Nike giveaway packages.
Marketing Analysis
Various social media platforms provide users with analytical tools to measure engagement of your content, which is an important tool to determine the effectiveness of our marketing approach.
We will measure the performance during the marketing campaign with our targeted social media platforms’ inbuilt tools in alignment with our goals:
- Instagram Insights
- TikTok Analytics
- Twitter Analytics (Dashboard)
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
We will measure the progress of our outreach strategy and assess our marketing performance with the following key performance indicators:
- Average number of views and likes per post
- Quality of interactions per post: how much time is spent on the post, number of shares, comments made per viewer
- Unique visitors per month on the Nike Renew® website
- Conversion rates on the Nike Renew® website