Running head: MEDIA & MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS: NIKE WOMEN

Media & Marketing Communications: Nike Women

Olivia DeJesse
Loyola Marymount University

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Media & Message

Nike Women advertise their brand through a variety of methods. Their advertisements
sell a lifestyle rather than products alone. Print ads, television commercials and social media
are Nike Womens main outlets for marketing their message. Nike Women has minor and major
messages demonstrated throughout their media. For example, a minor message is that their
stylish athletic gear is a source of motivation. Nike Women understands that women, and men for
that matter, always seek an extra level of motivation. Thus, they create fit, chic athletic clothing
to give their consumers another reason for purchasing their clothing line. Furthermore, their main
message throughout their marketing advertisements are not only to empower women athletically,
(Hix, 2012) but to create a stronger self in all areas of life. Nike women challenges stereotypical
gender roles (Hix, 2012), because they advertise women to be strong physically and mentally,
rather than thin and dependent. This message is demonstrated through a few of Nike Womens
principle campaigns. Lastly, the main online media promoter for Nike Women is for the Nike
Women Marathon that occurs annually. Through Facebook, blog posts and a Twitter account,
Nike Women promotes their message online mostly from the Marathon event. Although the
marathon only occurs once a year, there is a frequent countdown and advertising given to this
marathon throughout the year, spreading the Nike Women lifestyle.
The first campaign, My Butt is Big, throws a curveball at stereotypical female body
images that are demonstrated in the media. The print ad not only accepts women with curves, but
empowers them by highlighting their curves as assets rather than unattractive or something to be
ashamed of. Highlighting curves rather than highlighting a lack there of, is a body image that is
rarely encouraged in the media. Rather, the common beautiful women in our media, are thin

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curve less models, and this is considered the norm. Nikes My Butt is Big ad challenges this
stereotype and promotes a healthy message for all women, not just those who are athletes. This
ad is frequently spotted in young womens magazines such as Womens Health or
Cosmopolitan.
In addition, Nike Women produced a Make Yourself Campaign in 2011 (Nike, 2011).
Nike ignited this movement to inspire and motivate women everywhere to achieve their goals
and become the best versions of themselves, whatever this may be: fit, proud, fast, healthy,
strong or beautiful. With these print and television ads, Nike promotes the message to women
that anything is possible, mostly in terms of fitness, by utilizing inspirational life stories and
fitness goals. This campaign is not to sell specific products but rather for the consumers to buy
into the Nike lifestyle, thus encouraging the Nike consumers to follow through by purchasing the
athletic gear. This campaign is most frequently advertised via television, however, it is less well
known.
Target Demographics
Nike Women mainly targets strong, fit, women in their twenties and thirties. They
advertise towards women who may not necessarily be a size zero, but are strong and athletic.
This is evident through their print and commercial advertisements. Their models are young
women in their twenties and thirties who are athletic and fit, in Nikes athletic clothing. Their
models are demonstrating what a Nike Woman represents. Thus, their target demographic are
those who aspire to fit this image. They may not already be a fit athlete, but if they desire that
lifestyle, then these ads are fitting for their goals. On the other hand, Nike Womens Make
Yourself Team inspires women everywhere to be their best self despite what characteristics

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those entail. Whether it is health, beauty or personal improvements, the Make Yourself Team
encourages women to become their dreams.
Furthermore, Nike Womens products are more expensive than other athletics brands. For
example, their running shoes average around $100 which means that their products are targeted
towards those who are in upper middle class or upper class, who can afford to spend that amount
on an accessory or clothing item. Those who are acquire more wealth than others typically
prioritize fitness as a part of their lifestyle whether it is to improve their social image, their
ability to afford expensive gym classes or desire for a healthy self. This is said not to stereotype
the affluent but rather to note that Nike targets women who are willing to purchase into a
lifestyle of fitness, fashion and to an extent, a high social class.
Nike Womens SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Nike Women has multiple strengths including a strong global presence, their own gender
division within a company, innovative products and their own branded marathon. In 2014, Nike
operated a total of 858 stores throughout the world (Statista, 2014). Nike has international branch
offices in 45 countries outside of the United States including Finland, Lebanon, Russia and many
others that increase their global representation (International Markets for Nike, 2009). Thus,
Nike is clearly represented internationally, increasing their product desire. Nike Women products
are not only sold at Nike. Other department stores such as Macys and Nordstroms sell products
from the Nike Women brand, thus increasing their product availability for consumers.
Additionally, not many athletic stores have their own gender division. Although multiple
athletic stores have an individual clothing line for men and women, they do not specifically

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advertise a specific lifestyle and inspiration towards each gender. For example, Adidas has a
mens clothing line and a womens clothing line, yet Womens Adidas is not a specific branding
image compared to Nike Women. Rather, they advertise Adidas as one unified brand with the
only gender differences being the clothing style. This makes Nike Women a strong competitor
compared to other athletic clothing brands, especially for young female adults, because their
purchases resonate with a new and improved attitude towards fitness and their individual
branding image. Having their own gendered division in a popular athletic clothing company with
a clear message is Nike Womens greatest strength.
Furthermore, Nike Women has an innovative product line. Their clothing line is modern
and simple with an urban twist. They produce simple designs that are easily recognized, yet they
bring a sense of creativity to their stylish clothing line with a bright color pallet and newly
introduced patterns. For example, many of their womens leggings are neon colors or have
graphic designs. The colors and patterns stand out amongst a sea of grey and black leggings from
other brands. Since Nike is already a popular brand, their female consumers continue to buy into
their products during their trials of creativity.
Lastly, Nike Women is strong in their publicity. They have their own annual marathon
every October called Nike Womens Half Marathon in San Francisco, where all proceeds
support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Although men are also welcome to run the
marathon, the marathon promotes fitness, strength and empowerment for women, promoting a
healthy representation of Nike, especially in the United States. As mentioned earlier, this
marathon is frequently publicized online and through word of mouth.
Weaknesses

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Although Nike Women is a brand with various strengths, they also have their weaknesses.
A few of their weaknesses include their faced accusation on their code of ethics and limit in
popular products. Nike, as a whole, has ...faced allegations or labor and wage laws with
employees and In Pakistan and Cambodia there have been allegations for child labor and poor
working conditions (Nike SWOT Analysis, 2012). These allegations obviously hurt Nikes
image and challenged consumers to consider their ethics on child labor, when purchasing Nike
products. Thus Nike took a toll from these accusations because consumers realized where their
products were actually originating from and the conditions in which they were made. These
accusations clearly hurt Nike Womens profits. In addition to these allegations, the Nike Women
market is heavily based on their footwear (Nike SWOT Analysis, 2012). Thus, if there is ever a
decline for Nike footwear, the company faces a huge issue in profit.
Other weaknesses that Nike Women faces are through their advertising. First, they do not
have a high level of diversity with their models. Although I mentioned their ability to highlight
curves, that is only done through one means of advertising. The rest of their models on their
website and other print advertisements, show women who are incredibly thin yet muscular,
beautiful, and young. Thus, they do not demonstrate a variety of women to fit the Nike
Woman.
Opportunities
There are many opportunities for Nike Women that are demonstrated through their
strengths, such as messaging towards the feminist social movement and creating a stylish athletic
clothing brand. First, Nike is empowering women during the third wave of feminism. This is
beneficial for them as a company because the feminist movement is very popular currently, and

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since Nike is placing a special emphasis on female empowerment and needs, most women who
fall under their target demographic react positively to their media and message. Thus, they are
taking advantage of a current social movement by capitalizing on an emotional level and
producing accordingly.
Another opportunity that Nike Women has is that they created a fashionable clothing line,
which is demonstrated through their strength of innovation. Many women enjoy wearing
workout clothes outside of the gym similar to men (Warner, 2005). Nike Women has created a
line that is wearable at school, casual work settings and other environments in addition to the
gym. Thus, women feel that they are investing more with their Nike Women purchases than just
sweaty gym clothes. Therefore, even if sports participation slowly dies down, women will most
likely still purchase Nike Women products because they can be worn for other purposes. With
these opportunities available to Nike Women, their company can still flourish over time despite
threats that they may face.
Threats
One threat, according to Nikes CFO Don Blair, is that sports participation in the United
States is declining (Farris, 2012). Since Nike is an athletic company rooted with a firm belief that
sports can create a positive social change, this is detrimental to their company. With a decline in
sports, it is possible that less people will be motivated to purchase Nike Women shoes or athletic
gear specific to each sport. Additionally, there are numerous competitive brands for sports shoes
and garments that could decrease Nike Womens market share (Bhasin, 2013). For example,
Lululemon is a predominately womens athletic clothing brand. Women purchase athletic
garments for a similar reason to Nike Women: a sense of fashion in addition to athletic gear.

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Lululemon markets much less than Nike Women but receives a similar amount of attention.
Their focus is less focused on female empowerment but rather, largely focused on personal goals,
which is something that will not come and go as social movements do. In addition to these
threats, Nike Women faces another threat as an international company. Since Nike Women is a
global brand they buy and sell using a multitude of currencies which is a common threat to
global brands, because they could be losing money at the expense of different currencies
(Bhasin, 2013). Overtime, Nike Women could be losing income because of the differences in
currencies throughout all of the countries that they market and sell in.
Integrated Marketing Communication Plan
Nike Women already brings in an incredible profit and they are a well marketed company
with global recognition. In order to further this profit, my marketing goals include keeping
innovation as a priority in their products, empower younger generations of women, (not just
those in their twenties and thirties) and raise awareness of the Nike Womens marathon.
Nike Womens style uses bright colors, simple designs and the infamous Nike swoosh
logo. This style has become more popular amongst college students and young adults. Although
their style is simple, it is also a popular trend, especially amongst their target demographic.
However, once this trend dies down, they will need to discover a new creative style that keeps
their consumers engaged. For example, Nike Women originally focused on running shoes as their
main source of market, but began using leggings as their most significant marketed product once
leggings became a well known trend. If these athletic leggings that are being worn for every day
use, in addition to athletic wear, were to lose their popularity in the next few years, Nike Women
will need to refocus their clothing line towards a new clothing piece such as running tops.

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One way to regain this innovation would be to create a line of running tops that connect
directly to technology. For example, Nike Women could create a running top that tracks your
mileage so that you dont have to carry your phone or pedometer while you run. This idea is
complicated yet innovative and would provide runners a new and trendy piece of clothing. This
innovation would need to be developed within the United States in order to avoid child labor
accusations from other countries.
Furthermore, I would market more towards younger generations. Female empowerment
does not just begin in a womans early twenties. It is something that should be instilled in every
young womans mind. So, I would create programs such as the Nike Womens Make Yourself
Team that use athletes to inspire their consumers daughters or younger sisters. For example, I
would send WNBA athletes to advertise Nike Women clothing to all girls elementary schools,
middle schools and high schools throughout the United States, initially, and then brand it
forwards internationally. The WNBA women would sport Nike Women gear while promoting
female empowerment at sports games or as guest speakers. This would encourage young girls to
understand Nike Women from a younger age, and aspire to be like their Nike Women role
models as they grow older. Thus, their loyal customers would not just be fans of their products
in their young adult life, but start as young girls and continue that lifestyle for a longer period of
time.
Therefore, by encouraging female empowerment to young girls before they reach their
twenties, they will grow up with this mindset of supporting Nike Women as a company and other
women in general. They will not support female empowerment as a phase that they were taught
about in school, but rather live this motto throughout their life. This idea would strengthen Nike

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Womens message even further, and with the increase of technology and social media being
introduced at a younger age, Nike Women would also gain more promotion.
Lastly, I would raise more awareness for the Nike Women Marathon. This event not only
promotes Nike Women products, but again, it promotes their lifestyle of empowerment and
becoming everything that you did not know you were capable of. In October 2014, the Nike
Women marathon had about 25,000 runners (Nike). Although this is a high amount of runners
and the marathon is highly recognized in the running community, they hardly advertise for the
event and their website offers very little detail to the event. There is plenty of information online
regarding the event but Nike Women does not take advantage of their media outlets to promote
this event beyond the running community or those who are already marathon runners. Therefore,
the main route for hearing about the event is through word of mouth. I would promote the event
throughout each month not only to increase the amount of runners who sign up, but to raise
awareness of the cause that Nike Women supports thus increasing a positive branding image for
Nike Women.
One way that I would promote the Nike Women Marathon more would be through their
Facebook page. The Nike Womens Marathon has its own individual Facebook page that is
separate from Nike Womens site page. However, the marathon Facebook page only posts
pictures or facts about the race either a few weeks prior or post the actual race. Hence, they have
little interaction throughout the year about the marathon, unless it is nearby. I would have past
runners post motivational stories about their race experience or how they experience increased
their love of Nike Women as a whole company.

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In addition to the Facebook page, I would also add more stories and pictures to the
marathons website. Currently, the site is very blank with only a countdown to the marathon and
a spot for registration. However, the site offers no advice or information regarding the actual
event. There may be interested runners who are passionate about signing up for the race but are
unaware about the details or how to donate to LLS. Thus, a lack of information on the website
would discourage them. However, if there were pictures, stories, and more information regarding
the event, the site would be more inviting and encouraging for interested runners.
Through these interactions on Facebook and on their website, I think that the marathon
would receive more publicity. They clearly do not have an issue about having enough runners
sign up for the race, however, more publicity would help others donate towards the cause or
support those who are running, and finally, it would raise support of the Nike Women movement.
With these integrated marketing and communication plans, I believe that within the next
five years, Nike Women can become a stronger, more innovative and supported company. Nike
Women has an abundance of strengths as a social movement and as a company as a whole. the
entirety of Nike, however, faces ethical issues due to their faced accusations. With the new
innovations, Nike Women can overcome these accusations and move forward.

References
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www.marketing91.com/swot-nike/
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Hix, L. (2012, November 27). Marketing to Women that Connects, Example 10: Nike. Retrieved
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Warner, F. (2005, May 16). Nike Changes Strategy on Women's Apparel. Retrieved November
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