Last
night we discussed how the need to belong to the tribe is a driving force for
all of us. After all, no one wants to
get eaten by a bear.
Marketers
have discovered that they can use the need to belong to persuade people to buy,
among other things, clothing that proclaims their allegiance to the tribe. But the question is whether that allegiance
can be extended to include products that are not directly linked to the tribe.
The
NBA has announced that this season they will allow teams to wear 2.5 x 2.5 inch
Nike swoosh patches on their uniforms.
The costs of the three year deals with the teams ranges from $24 million
to $60 million. Sounds like a good deal
for the teams. But what about Nike?
According
to NASCAR, their alliance with key sponsor Monster Energy has provided Monster
Energy with numerous marketing opportunities and opened up new channels of fan
activation for NASCAR. A win win for
both. (Janoff, 2017)
But
buying a $2.50 drink at a sporting event is a far cry from making a special
trip to the store to spend upwards of $60 on a pair of sneakers.
Meanwhile,
Nike just announced that their revenue was flat this quarter versus year ago,
with sales up +9% in China, but down -3% in the U.S. (Thomas, 2017) They also announced in June that they will
begin selling direct on Amazon for the first time. So perhaps they are gearing up for more NBA
fans from China?
So,
what do you think? Will the tribe buy in? Will wearing Nike along with team jerseys
become the new norm? If you are an NBA
fan, will the patches move you to buy?
Have you ever bought something endorsed by your tribe that wasn't
specifically designed to show your allegiance to them? If so, what did you buy?
Janoff,
B. (2017, September 26) Nascar Advice To NBA: No Such Thing As Too
Many Logos. mediapost.com. Retrieved
September 27, 2017, from https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/307840/nascar-advice-to-nba-no-such-thing-as-too-many-lo.html
Thomas, L. (2017, September 26) Nike's China sales are
booming, as demand wanes in North America. cnbc.com. retrieved September 27, 2017, from https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/26/nike-q1-2018-earnings.html
17 comments:
This topic is pretty relevant as I just had a discussion about the normalization of leather and fur in our society. My friend’s aunt is a vegan and advocate of wearing non-animal products. Her aunt feels more strongly towards fur than leather because she says that leather is used in so many products, from shoes to makeup, that it is hard to convince people not to use it. Fur on the other hand, has still not been widely adopted by our society as a social norm. Seeing someone walk down the street with a fur coat automatically reminds you of the animal - its visible. So I argue that just by wearing a product like a faux-fur coat for example, can influence others to want to buy the same item. Nike is competing with brands like adidas that have contracts with influencers such as Kanye West and Stan Smith, whose sneakers “Yeezys” and “Stan Smith Originals” have captured the masses. Personally, I have purchased items since moving to New York that I would have never bought back in San Diego. My style has changed as a result of living in the city and I argue that it is because of the people I surround myself with and the society around me. Therefore, Nike taking on NBA players will hopefully influence more people to into their brand.
Abraham Maslow hierarchy in psychology is a theory that argues that there are five stages of human needs that motivates our behavior. At the stage, three people seek love and belonging.
People desire some degree of acceptance into the tribe and although they may not buy everything that the team wears I think putting Nike swoosh will continue to help increase the sales of Nike products.
One of the problems that I think Nike is having is that every week there is a release of a new pair of sneakers. In the past when Nike spread the releases of new items apart, and the “sneakerheads” had to wait on line it had more of social significance to the product and a sense of loss if you didn’t remain online.
I think by putting Nike’s swoosh on items will influence people to buy new things with a Nike items because the tribe will be able to identify people that are not participating in the group. The old products without swooshes will be “dated.” It is a visual thing; people want to appear that their social status is that of the group as well. Not having the newest item with the swoosh may perceive as an income situation.
I think that this is a really interesting topic - it's interesting to see so many brands indulging in these product placement opportunities and spending so much money in it but never really have data to support if it is working. I think this can compare to bloggers on Instagram today in the sense that if the person I follow posts in a pair of jeans, is it organic and does she really like the jeans or is she just getting paid? It takes away from the product a lot I think. Bring it back to this example, if the basketball player is making multi-millions to wear Nike, does that mean he really cares about the product or just wants the money? I think we all fall victim to buying something that might not be totally "us" but we buy it to maybe become a part of a new tribe. For example, I Don't like Starbucks coffee but everyone hangs out and studies at Starbucks so I've been trying new drinks lately to see if there is one I like so I can "join the tribe." I think the Nike swoosh may work, odds are that audience is already into sports gear and the top options have always been nike, Adidas or Underarmour. I don't know if this tactic would boost sales in particular for one by too much. I definitely don't think the million dollar contracts pay off.
I have to start by saying I’m don’t follow the NBA and neither do I identify as a basketball fan. However I always associated basketball fans with Nike. So I think Nike has been the brand of their tribe for years. Now I don’t know how adding a larger logo onto the jersey, will translate to new sale.
In my opinion the fans that are willing to dress to show their loyalty to the tribe are already doing so. Those who aren’t already probably won’t be moved to buy by a larger patch on the Jerseys.
As for buying something that was endorsed by my tribe but was not specifically designed to show my allegiance to them? I most definitely did, in fact have been doing it for years.
I buy a particular supplement brand, because I identify with their sponsored athletes.
The interesting part is that my supplement choice wouldn’t make me any less or more part of the tribe because no one really knows, what supplements you are taking.
Adam N.
Hi everyone. In my personal opinion, I think the tribe will buy in. Nike invests money into NBA team because they know NBA has many audience and fans. It’s a kind of advertisement, they put the Nike swoosh patches on team member’s uniforms. They think if the audiences or fans notice it, they may buy Nike’s merchandise. It’s a way to show their loyalty to the team. If some audiences or fans start to buy Nike along with team jerseys, more and more people will buy it. Actually, I am a NBA fan, I will buy it absolutely. I want to support the team I like and also the players. Take myself as an example, I like Taylor Swift and her songs. However, she cooperated with Elizabeth Arden to create fragrance that belonged to her. I bought the perfume at that time, but I also willing to buy other products of Elizabeth Arden. Actually, Taylor attracted me into this brand, but I fond that other products also very good. Such as, green tea body lotion, facial cream or serum. Buying perfume is nothing to do with Taylor’s songs or albums. However, celebrity charm sometimes works well in marketing.
Name: Jinjin Lu
Hi class!
Hope every enjoyed their weekend.
To be honest, I am not quite sure if the tribe will buy in. I think there would be a different effect if Nike sponsored one individual – Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, or Nick Young for example – on the Golden State Warriors.
I say this because we, as consumers, usually idolize the star player(s). Let’s use Steph Curry as the example. If Curry decides to partner with Nike (as opposed to Adidas or Under Armour, etc.), we as consumers wonder why. Why Nike? Because he had the choice, we tend to mimic that choice.
However, in this instance, the entire will be wearing the Nike swoosh; there is no choice. As consumers, it seems to be less enticing. Overall, I do not think that the patches will move consumers to buy.
In my opinion, Nike should have saved that chunk of money and instead stuck with one individual, star player on the Golden State Warriors.
I also agree with Joelly’s comment, “I have purchased items since moving to New York that I would have never bought back in San Diego” (See Post). I actually purchased a pair Timberland boots for winter here in the city because I saw Rihanna wearing a pair. I do not even like the shoes. I never wear them, and to be honest, I think actually got rid of them. That said, it is interesting to see how our purchasing decisions shift as celebrities endorse certain brands/products.
I look forward to reading your comments below. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!
Best,
Grace
In my opinion, the tribe will follow because of the hyper-aggressive, saturated, brand oriented capitalist society which we live in has imprinted in us the need to buy in order to belong. The average NBA franchise is a $1.36B operation (Heisel, 2017). There is clearly no real purpose behind this strategic alliance other than already rich individuals finding ways to further enrich themselves. The blocks of 4 minute commercials will not change despite the Nike logos added to jerseys. Profit primacy prevails. According to some additional reading I found on the subject (http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-heisel-nba-ads-on-jerseys-20170929-story.html) the NBA was the logical choice for this strategic alliance because its consumer base skews younger and they are less inclined to be aghast at the sight of logos adorning their favorite team's jerseys. Look at the manic hysteria everytime the newest (or retro/oldest) pair of Jordan sneakers are released. The truth is, we as a society have come to love brands. I did once buy a kitchen product from the Nutribullet line that turned out to be a "use it once and watch it collect dust" purchase. According to the health enthusiasts credo of certain blogs I visit, I felt that I needed to have that item in order to have an optimal experience.
Nascar sponsoring logos in a lot of sports gear is vital for their sales, however I believe it has become intrusive and deceiving. When signing a sponsor, it becomes more than just a logo but a type of “quality relatonship” (Janoff, 2017) you want your brand to be associated with. I believe that brands will be able to connect and increase their costumers because of the loyalty of the sports fanatics. The necessity to feel they are part of the tribe makes them follow the brands that seem to have a connection with their teams. Their need to belong shapes and is the steering wheel to their consumer behavior. Personally, sponsoring has a he impact in my purchase behavior. I have bought many things, including beauty products and food that I see athlete’s use. An example would be my decision to buy Kellog’s because Simon Biles was in their campaign. I bought that cereal because I wanted my morning to be as energetic and healthy as the one of an athlete. Also, it is ridiculous to say but, I felt some time of pride.
Also as a side note: Nowadays, by entering into the e-commerce compaines are facilitaitng and increasing it’s market. For that reason Nike has changed it’s strategy by partnering with Amazon Inc.
Hi everyone,
I think the tribe with buy. Because of the huge impact on NBA, young people would follow their favorite players' sports equipment. Usually, the star series shoes are the most popular shoes and can be sold out very quickly. Also, wearing Nike shoes is a signal to tribe that we belong to the same group, and an effective connection can be built. Probably, younger generation are more likely to follow the trend.
For me, it is interesting to know that Nike is targeting the Chinese consumers. From what I know, a lot of friends would buy Nike shoes not only because they are comfortable, but also because it makes them look fashion. Personally, I think Nike can add some traditional Chinese elements on their shoes to attract more Chinese.
Siqi Xu
First of all, I don't think NIKE can attract more Chinese customers through selling directly on Amazon. The reason is that Amazon is not the first option for most Chinese people to shop online. In order to expand the China's market, if I'm the decision maker of NIKE, I will focus on the teams with Chinese players and create a series of products for them.
Wearing swoosh patches is a great method to advertise the brand since audience are able to clearly see the brand's logo. But I'm not sure whether it can inspire more people to buy the products. As a LeBron fan, I will purchase products that are relevant with him, such as shoes and shirts, but I don't really care about the brand of these products. I think people are willing to buy the things that their idols have. It's the rule that NBA players should wear he team uniform, and they cannot determine the sponsor of their clothes.
Shixiong Yang
Yes, I do believe the tribe will buy in, with the reasoning of loyalty to their sports teams. I’m personally not a huge basketball fan. However, I do know that Nike can no longer rely on just the superstars such as Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan to carry on the legacy as the cool and hip thing to wear. The new and upcoming superstars such as James harden and Steph Curry has signed with company’s such as Adidas and Under Armor. In fact, Last year’s finals MVP (Kevin Durant) used to be signed with underdog Under Armor when he was still with OKC.
I do not believe the increase in sales will be that big though. Just because the Nike symbol is already on everything nowadays. So even though I feel like it might affect people subconsciously to make them want to buy more Nike products. I don’t believe the impact will be that significant since Nike has a huge market share in anything related to basketball already.
As for me and to buying things that show loyalty, I do it all the time for Ohio State Football gear (all Nike BWT). Again, I just buy it to show my love/pride for the team. It doesn’t matter to me if the guys wear Adidas. But they wear Nike. So what sense would it make for me to wear Adidas Ohio State gear if the team doesn’t even wear it? Additionally, I have never seen an Ohio State product without the logo on it. So all their products show an allegiance to that tribe.
I think it is a really smart way for Nike to market themselves, and I think fans will buy in. The belonging to a certain tribe really affects us in many different ways in daily life. After watching NBA players wear certain jersey, the fans who really love those players, will try to duplicate that style, and try to support their teams. As long as few people in a certain tribe start to wear those jersey with Nike Logo, other people will follow the trend. Especially for basketball games, different teams will sit on different side. You don’t want to be the only one who doesn’t wear the same like others. I bought something just endorsed by my tribe as well. I am not a hat person, but all of sudden this summer, my friends start to wear those Balenciaga caps. It is just an ordinary white cap with black logo, but it is the trend. More importantly, everyone is wearing it. I don’t like the cap, but in order to fit in the group, cause I don’t want to be the only one when we sit together take “sister” pictures is different. The sense of belonging is pushing me to do certain things.
Quite honestly, I don’t think that the tribe is going to “buy in” in terms of wearing Nike gear along with their basketball jerseys. I personally think that people, especially those who are fans of sports do not put much effort into wear an all Nike outfit. It is very unlikely that it will become the norm to match with whatever company is sponsoring your team. As Grace stated in her comment, fans usually follow what their favorite player is doing rather then the team they are on. With that being said a tribe would buy into what their favorite player is wearing then what the team wears. For example, Steph Curry fans would buy into his sneakers (which are produced by Under Armour) instead of any given Nike sneaker since they don’t necessarily sponsor him.
I really don’t think that the patches will not move me to buy anything anything Nike related, one of the reasons being that, I feel like Nike has been releasing a lot of sneakers which I don’t find worth the money anymore. In high school when I was picking out my game day cleats, I decided to switch over to metal cleats instead of regular rubber ones I used in middle school. All the upper classmen had a pair so I decided to get myself a pair as well.
When I was reading this article, it reminds me of a show that I watched this weekend. In that show, there were two Kobe fans and they were competing on who knew more about Kobe. One of the fans said that he purchased every sneakers that Kobe purchased. That kind of reminds me of what this article is talking about. I think the tribe will buy in for 2 reasons. First, the power of impression and subconscious. In my Psychology class, my professor was talking about subconscious and he talked about the advertisement board on the highway. When a person was driving and he saw the advertisement of Nestle coffee on the advertisement board, when he arrived at the rest area and he wanted to have some coffee, there was a great chance that he would choose Nestle. Can we apply this idea to Nike’s buy in? When the basketball fans go watching games and they intentionally or intentionally notice the Nike, when they are going to need some sport appeal, Nike will pop up. Second, the power of celebrity. It is very common to see that fans follow what their idol’s purchased. So when the fans see their favorite basketball players are wearing Nike, they would follow. I myself experience that before. When I notice a fashion blogger that I like wears a skirt from a certain brand that I did not heard of before, I will google that brand and buy that skirt. With the reasons above, I believe the tribe will buy in.
I think it's always a good strategy for companies to let celebrities to wear, use and advertise for their product. People are more likely to buy a product if their famous celebrities advertise for it. On the other hand, many customers want to buy some products like team t-shirt to express their tribe and pride. Therefore, I believe wearing Nike along with team jerseys will become the norm.However, I never bought anything like sports team t-shirt or university t-shirt to express my tribe, and I never bought anything that were endorsed by my tribe. I think these products are just a symbol and I don't want to give them more free advertisement.
Absolutely there will be buy in from the Nike symbol being displayed on NBA players. It is very easy for adults to say "oh no, I don't care about that" But the kids are very easily persuaded and persuasive. They see it and they want it; their friend gets it, they want it. Then dad sees son wearing it, and he wants to be the cool dad so he buys Nike too and before you know these trends take off across generations! If Nike didn't think it was going to increase sales they wouldn't bother to do it.
Evani mentioned Under Armor above and that is an excellent example. I remember when Under Armor first came out and anybody that was somebody wore it. (Athletes) I was the team manager for my high school football team and the top players HAD TO HAVE Under Armor. Following suit the guys who never played a single game also bought in to the trend. They wanted to feel like the best, they wanted to fit in as much as they could. Surely, a player who never plays did not need to spend $60 on breathable football gear but still they made their parents invest in it.
I do believe people will 'buy in' in order to become part of the tribe. Although I agree, within American popular culture, people often follow the individual players, the Lebron's and the Michael Jordan's. I do not think we should underestimate one's allegiance to their team. The same way for a young male audience to watch 'the most interesting man in the world commercial' and aspire to be him, an even younger skewed male audience is watching basketball games and aspiring to be like the players they see. If the team wins it makes the Nike swish on the players shirt more appealing to the consumer. Nike released an official Olympic sneaker in 2016, it was worn by the track stars and its colors were used in their soccer cleats. Throughout the games, "Revenue jumped 8% to $9.1 billion, while net profit increased 9% to 73 cents per share" (Fortune, 2016). People do purchase gear based on what their team wears, so it's an effective marketing ploy. I believe the idea is deeply ingrained in our culture, if we consume what they have or wear, we can be just like them. My club soccer team bought the same cleats as the American Women's National Team after the last World Cup, I'm not sure if we subconsciously thought it would make us better players or we merely wanted to be included in elite tribe of female athletes.
http://fortune.com/2016/09/27/nike-olympics-sales-boost/
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