Analysis of Nike Advertisement with Colin Kaepernick Essay Example

The advertisement I have selected is a Nike advertisement with Collin Kaepernick’s face. For those who don’t know, Collin Kaepernick was the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 until 2016. During his time with the 49ers, Kaepernick was a solid quarterback who put up respectable numbers, he even brought the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2013. However, Kaepernick is most known for initiating “the knee” during the Pledge of Allegiance. He took a knee as a stand to end racial injustice and fight for reformations with the police. This made him a target and eventually forced him to end his career early due to all the hate he received. When he first entered the league in 2011, Nike signed Kaepernick but never utilized him or his ideas until 2018. That was when he had his own line released, various sneakers, and became the face of Nike’s activism movement.  

Assessment:

The sponsor identity is very visible and shown in the advertisement. With the words “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything” and Collin Kaepernick’s face on it, it is easy for the consumer to understand the message. The caption fits Kaepernick spot on because he had it all as a quarterback and saw that there were wrongful activities going on in his community and took his voice to inspire others to do the same. 

Initially, this will not inspire a typical consumer to go out and buy Nike products. This ad favors more of the “tell” side rather than the “sell” side, and that’s alright. This advertisement is telling the consumer that Nike aligns with Kaepernick’s values and morals. This makes the ad appeal to a certain population and makes Nike memorable for sponsoring such a polarizing figure. However, to all the consumers that share Kaepernick’s values, they will be more inclined to buy Nike over Adidas knowing that Nike supports the face of change. 

As stated, there is not a whole lot of selling taking place within the advertisement. However, there is a clear call to action: Take a stand for what is right even if it means losing the world. That is what Kaepernick did and that is what Nike, and Kaepernick, are trying to achieve with this message. With the black and white picture and simple text, and Kaepernick’s expression, the consumer can feel the intensity and level that is displayed. 

The text is short and sweet and meets want the brand wanted to do. Nike has always been known for having epic pictures with minimal text on them, this one being no different. It plays into Nike’s character while revealing a controversial and heavy message. Achieving this quality of work is often hard to accomplish with a single picture but I believe Nike executed this to the best of their ability. 

Nike and their marketing team did a very good job on their level of detail. Kaepernick is symmetrical, the words fit evenly on his face, the text is easy to read, and the hits of white to show the pureness that was conveyed with this message. All of these traits are desired by consumers when looking at advertisements. 

Nike is being unforgivingly clear with who they intend the target market to be: People who agree with Kaepernick and those he has inspired. As stated, there is not much selling going on here, however, the ad shows that Nike aligns with Kaepernick and his fan bases’ ethics. This got Nike a ton of publicity; plenty of white supremacists were burning Nike’s clothes after this happened and switching to other brands. In doing this, Nike gained more brand equity amongst activist, another segment of their target market. 

The loudest advertising strategy shown here is the celebrity endorsement portion. However, I would also make a case for the bandwagon theory because this advertisement was everywhere; on the news, on buildings, all over social media. It pretty much divided consumers and those who endorsed the advertisement pushed for more Nike while those who were turned off by the ad left Nike for other brands. 

Conclusion:

Nike and Collin Kaepernick took a risk on a controversial topic, and they won. This advertisement and Kaepernick’s actions spurred the conversation about political reforms. This advertisement was much more than just a pair of shoes, it was about doing what is right and pushing for change no matter what the price be. This hurt Nike with those that disagreed with Kaepernick, but it ended as a victory because it united activists everywhere to speak out and push, just like Kaepernick. Nike would also be able to capitalize as Nike became one of the leading corporations to push for change. In the consumer’s mind, this inspires them to speak out and doing it in their Nike Air Force ones.