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Marketing to the Right Crowd: Nike’s Corporate Social Responsibility with Minoritized Groups


From burning sneakers to countless sponsorships of athletes like Lebron James and Serena Williams to the apparel of millions, Nike is at the forefront of society and continues to make billions of dollars. Utilizing important sports figures and social movements, Nike has found endless ways to use the accomplishments and plights of others for the sole purpose of making money.
Historically, Nike has been a prominent brand, famous for performance and prestige, but Nike also has been known for improper treatment of employees and being socially engaged for the sole purpose of money. Nike tends to target three demographic groups in their marketing: black individuals, women, and Native Americans. The three groups present different levels of effective social engagement for the corporation as Nike has failed to meet appropriate use in marketing of such groups.
Multiple studies and articles, including Sanders, Phillips, and Alexander (2017), have found the N7 campaign to be highly effective in connecting Native American communities with necessary workout opportunities while spreading awareness for the health complications countless Native Americans face. Other campaigns focused on women and black individuals have fallen short in expectations to empower such individuals. For women, in studies like Helstein (2003), Nike fails to be proactive in empowering women and markets gendered roles, creating barriers for women while simultaneously being portrayed as champions for gender equality. Black individuals see similar portrayals and an retroactive response in Nike’s marketing, according to Hayhurst and Szto (2016).
Nike’s decision to utilize Colin Kaepernick marks an important precedent for the future of the Fortune 500 company. This controversial former football superstar and social activist is the ideal face of the movement because Kaepernick has sacrificed his career to stand (or kneel) behind his stance on black oppression and police brutality. Supporting such a figure is a major step in improving Nike’s social engagement and shines a positive light on the future…. except the company continues to be the major sponsor for the National Football League (NFL), the current opponent of Kaepernick’s. By fully supporting both sides to this national conflict, Nike desecrates the positive portrayal of Kaepernick’s kneeling movement.
Nike continues to follow their historical approach of supporting social movements, until they affect the bottom line. Nike sits in the optimal power position to make real change but hides behind their mountains of profit and fails to heed their own advice: “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.”






Burning Nike Shoes by Wile E Coyote https://www.forcbodiesonly.com/mopar-forum/threads/f-nike.42511/
Running Nike Shoes by giphy https://media.giphy.com/media/xTiTnwyufCBTD7C69q/giphy.gif
#TakeAKnee by dakrólak. https://dakrolak.wordpress.com/2017/09/24/takeaknee-taketheknee-protest-animated-gif-by-nikkolas/
Kaepernick and Nike by Anna Boyle http://thetartan.org/2018/9/10/sports/scommentary
"Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything." https://www.sohh.com/colin-kaepernick-lands-new-nike-campaign-believe-in-something-even-if-it-means-sacrificing-everything/

Comments

  1. nsiedeDecember 1, 2018 at 12:35 PM

    I think this post takes a really interesting critical approach to the situation. What do you think Nike (or other companies) should do to make good on its marketing claims?

    ReplyDelete
  2. hannahkosloskiDecember 3, 2018 at 11:33 PM

    While I am always up for a critical analysis, I do think it is important to recognize the background of an organization first. I think it is important, and a direction for further research, to see what actions (if any) are being taken by employees to create an actual social change. Is it possible that there are employees and branches of the organization interested in engaging in diversity and social justice beyond an ad? Is there a corporate idealism that is blocking that progress? Again, I like your corporate/capitalism critique, I just wish there was more or a background that would be established with such a large claim. That being said, I also know our assignment was 400ish words, and there was only so much time to write and research, however, it is worth mentioning.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousDecember 4, 2018 at 5:26 PM

    I really enjoyed your approach to this issue and just would have liked to see a little more background on Kaepernick's motivation and Nike's history with social justice. It would be interesting to analyze why Kaepernick chose to be involved in the campaign. He had been pretty quite when it comes to interviews and media concerning his activism. If the research shows that Nike is mainly motivated by money and not the issues at hand it makes me wonder why Kaepernick would align himself with the campaign. I know that Kaepernick has invested his own money in several social justice charities even after leaving the NFL. Yet the NFL seems to have no interest in his activism and Nike seems to just be interested in him for the monetary gains. It seems like Kaepernick is the only one interested in making an actually difference.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousDecember 4, 2018 at 7:44 PM

    I have been buying Nike gear for the longest time and they are one of my favorite brands based off of their merchandise and it was rare that I ever looked into the company itself. I found this presentation really interesting to see because of that and I could see the positive and negative sides of the company. I agreed with your presentation that they are making big steps by supporting athletes that are trying to make a change in the world and they are making risks to do so. I also liked how you discussed what they are doing for people who are in need. My one critique of the post was that the moving graphics were somewhat distracting while reading and I liked the color they added but I personally got a bit distracted by them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Lily OlsonDecember 6, 2018 at 11:57 AM

    As I study marketing, I tend to criticize what is presented to me on an everyday basis now. That's why I think your research on Nike is so important from a marketing stand point. They have large claims that show that they stand for some social justice issues, but then there is a disconnect between their actions. It would be interesting to see what other companies are like this, and which ones can use their power to commence change. Also I love your gifs in this post.

    ReplyDelete

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