IMC Message Analysis based onIMC Perspective 3-1 (Belch and Belch)
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Discuss the outstanding creative work done by the Wieden + Kennedy agency. Find an example of
award-winning advertising W+K has created for companies/brands such as Nike, KFC, Bud Light, or Old
Spice. Discuss why this advertising has been recognized for its creative excellence. Students must
provide a minimum of 10 resources, not including students text book or biblical references.
Paper should be between 7 to 10 pages, not including the title page, abstract or reference page.
Lastly, students are expected to abide by and follow APA 7 formatting for this assignment.
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Consider the following outline for your paper.
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Title Page
Abstract
Introduction- summarize key take away your paper hopes to illuminate
Context for the ad
o Consider- brief description of the company, the product/service, the market segment,
the opportunity/threat, and the competition
The message behind the ad.
o Consider- What is the company really saying from this ad? How does this message
relate to the company, the service/product, and the time the ad was distributed. Most
importantly, what is it about that ad that motivates the target market? Why is the
message persuasive and how does it help connect your target market to the
company’s service/product?
Key Lessons learned
o Consider- What can agencies/clients learn from this case study? What messaging
principles can another company, like a local shoe company, utilize to reach their
target market, accomplish marketing and communication objectives, and enhance
their relationship with their consumers? How does one identify the right message, and
avoid getting lost in the clutter?
Conclusion- summarize key take-aways from your paper and provide a call to action.
Ch. 1 (value, marketing mix, sustainability, promotional mix, touch points, paid media, owned
media, and earned media, etc.)
Ch. 2 (market segments [geographic, demographic, psychographic, behavioristic, benefit],
market opportunities, competitive advantage, positioning, repositioning, brand identity, direct
and indirect channels, etc.)
Ch. 3 (clients, advertising agency, centralized system, decentralized system, in-house agency,
etc.)
Ch. 4 (consumer behavior, problem recognition, want, motives, hierarchy of needs, perception,
sensation, mnemonics, multiattribute attitude model, brand loyalty, cognitive dissonance,
reinforcement, situational determinants, etc.)
Ch 5.(communication, source, encoding, message, channel, WOM, buzz marketing, seeding,
receiver, decoding, field of experience, noise, response, AIDA model, standard learning model,
counterarguments, support arguments, elaboration likelihood model, etc.)
Ch. 6 (persuasion matrix, credibility, sleeper effect, attractiveness, identification, source power,
compliance, primacy effect, recency effect, one-sided/two-sided messages, refutational appeal,
comparative advertising, fear appeals, wearout, clutter, etc.)
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Key concepts to consider as you analyze these award-winning advertisements. (Please note- These
terms are important concepts you should know and be able to casually discuss in your paper. You do
not need to cover all of these terms, but you do need to know when they apply. The more you
appropriately apply, the better).
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Nike’s Dream Crazy
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Abstract
W + K agency is an advertising agency that specializes in the advertisement for its
clients. It has won several awards for its advertising efforts. This paper analyzes one of its
advertisements developed for Nike, termed as "Dream Crazy." In this advertisement, the
company employed successful strategies to ensure the client organization drove sales of its
products by appealing to consumers' psychological needs in its advertisement message. The
insights retrieved from this case study can help advertisement agencies tailor their
advertisements to achieve the goals of such investments.
Introduction
Established in 1982, W + K agency is among the world's largest independently owned
advertising agencies (Beer, 2019). With its headquarters in Portland, Oregon, this American
advertising agency has been attributed to several successes and awards in advertising. The
company has a strong commitment to developing provocative relationships between its client
companies and their consumers (Wieden + Kennedy agency, 2021). It uses several
communication strategies and knowledge of its market segment to develop advertisements that
appeal to its client company's consumers.
One of its clients is Nike which is a leading sport apparel manufacturing company. In this
paper, I am going to review one successful advertising campaign known as ‘dream crazy’ that W
+ K agency successfully ran for Nike, allowing it to win several awards, including one show
pencil where it won ten gold pencils, two silver and four bronze among other for best of
discipline honors in creative effectiveness, print and outdoor, social media and integrated
(Dimitrioski, 2019). The paper will outline a brief context for the advertisement to create a
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company's background and a description of the marketplace. After that, it will illuminate Nike's
main message through dream crazy advertisement and how it successfully appealed to the target
audience. The following section will elucidate key lessons learned from this advertisement
before concluding the paper.
The context for the advertisement
Nike is a universal brand famous for the development of sports shoes apparel and other
sporting equipment. It is the leading producer of sports apparel in the sports shoe industry, with
the brand name associated with high-quality products. The company was established in 1964,
initially known as blue ribbon sports. It officially acquired the name Nike in 1971. It currently
has its headquarters in Oregon, Portland (Nike, 2021). It prides itself as the largest supplier of
athletic shoes and apparel, among other sports equipment.
It has a wide variety of product portfolios, including sports equipment, Street fashions,
and collectibles. The company primarily makes athletic shoes, shorts, jerseys, base layers, and
other sports material for different sports, including tennis, soccer, basketball, track and field, and
ice hockey. Nike also produces street fashion clothes, Including airmax running shoes, Air Force
ones, baseball caps, air jordans, among other clothes popular with American youth fashion and
hip-hop fashion. The company also has collectibles with a pair of Nike shoes being sold for $
437,500 in an auction.
Nike belongs in the sportswear industry in which it is among the largest players.
According to Statista, the global sportswear market was valued at 353.5 billion years dollars
(Shahbandeh,2021). Many people have begun being fitness conscious, which has placed a
demand on the market, with many manufacturers working to fulfill consumers' needs. Besides
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fitness, contemporary fashion has resulted in the rise of Streetwear that encourages consumers to
include sportswear as a style.
Given its wide range of product portfolio, Nike states its market segment as ‘all athletes.'
However, it segments its market further to undergo target marketing. Considering demographic
variables, it mainly targets consumers between 15 and 40 years of age. It targets both male and
female athletes (Ng, 2018). However, it has recently increased its production of women's
products to provide for the fast-growing women's athletics segment.
As per geographic variables, it markets to different regions globally according to sports
that such regions participate in. For example, in the United States, it primarily focuses on
baseball and American football, while in the European region, it focuses on soccer. In Australia,
it focuses mainly on rugby while it places more attention on cricket in India. On the behavioral
front, the company targets the development of consumer loyalty. It also focuses on making its
consumers feel athletic. Finally, considering psychographic variables, Nike targets persons with
sports enthusiasm, lifestyles, and personalities. Its main aim is to foster attitudes toward
sportsmanship.
Nike has an opportunity to leverage information technology within the core with business
strategies to achieve a competitive advantage. Given recent advancements in IT, the company
can develop innovative ideas to improve processes within the organization and develop
marketing strategies. For example, it can employ 3D printing to customize its shoes, thereby
improving consumer satisfaction. Social media marketing can help the company penetrate the
online market, thereby increasing its market share.
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Nike's main threat is its competitors copying its unique approach, thereby rendering its
unique value proposition to consumers useless. Because of intense competition in the sportswear
industry, novel and even existing companies may copy Nike's strategies to attain a competitive
advantage. With its unique value proposition copied, the company will lose its strategic
advantages.
As initially stated, the sportswear industry is competitive and continues to value
innovation to fulfill consumers' needs. Among the competitors of Nike is Adidas, established in
1949. Both companies have a strong brand name and have been in the market for a long thereby
setting it up as its main competitor. Both Adidas and Nike have had approximately the same
annual revenue generated from their products' sales in the past five years. Also, both companies
invest heavily in the advertisement of their products. Other competitors include New Balance,
Puma, Reebok, converse, fila, vans, and gymshark (Business Strategy Hub, 2021).
The message behind the advertisement
Dream crazy was aired in 2018 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of “just do it," Nike's
tagline. In the two-minute advertisement, former National Football League player Colin
Kaepernick narrates a special message to athletes not to give up on their dreams. The
advertisement, which ends with a quote, “Don’t ask if your dreams are crazy, ask if you’re
crazy," enough uses inspiring stories coupled with inspiring quotes of athletes who have shown
true sportsmanship and resilience to achieve success the history of the global sport.
The advertisement uses athletes that have been strategically picked out based on a
common denominator. All of the athletes in this advertisement have leveraged platforms that
have been granted to them by sports to overcome systemic limitations that they were subjected to
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by society. The advertisement helps to sensitize the general public on societal issues, including
racism and gender discrimination.
Colin Kaepernick had been dismissed from his team because of alleged ‘rebellion’
towards the national anthem and was seen as anti-American. Nike's choice to star him in the
advertisement caused controversy, with many critics burning Nike shoes in protest (Zanger &
Coffee, 2018). However, the advertisement proved successful, with many activists coming
forward to loud Nike for its involvement in rectifying societal misconducts.
The advertisement employed pathos, logos, and ethos strategically to appeal to
consumers and pass a message of the company. Ethos has been used in the dream crazy
advertisement to touch on ethical matters in society and present Nike’s ethical standpoint (Irwin,
2021). The incorporation of different athletes from different backgrounds, including all-time
champions like Serena Williams, who is of African American origin, communicates Nike's
standpoint as a company that supports all athletes without discrimination. In this way, it
established its ethical credibility and appealed to consumers of this demographic characteristic.
The advertisement also employs pathos to appeal to the emotion of consumers. The
advertisement shows people of different disability statuses and those who have faced systemic
operation coming out successful because of their resilience. The grayscale background and
background music help create a mood of painful memories that blend to create an emotional
appeal to consumers.
Nike also employed logos in this advertisement by reasoning out issues with the target
consumer. Considering the logical appeal, it asks consumers, ‘are there dreams worth sacrificing
everything for?’ By providing a rationale for not giving up, providing examples of athletes who
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have undergone systemic depression but still used sports as an avenue to rise through societal
injustices, it proves a point to athletes and all other non-athletic consumers that their dreams are
valid, thereby creating a common ground between itself and the consumers (Sangha, 2019).
The advertisement relates to Nike on several fronts. The main message being passed
across in their dream crazy advertisement is that all dreams are worth fighting for, and no matter
how crazy one's dream seems to be, the determination and hard work that one puts into achieving
one dream will be the ultimate source of their success. Nike believes in athleticism and therefore
appeals to all its consumers that a belief in oneself ensures one meets one goal.
Athletics is based on the philosophy that success comes with continuous practice,
determination, and discipline. By Nike relating to athletics' main message, it communicates its
concern for their success in developing quality products that helped them in their journey
towards meeting set objectives. Aside from focusing on athletes, it also focuses on consumers
with non-athletic goals. For example, it appeals to all consumers that their dreams are not crazy,
but their determination matters. More specifically, it communicates that people should not focus
on others' negative opinions, but only on their dreams, working hard towards achieving them.
The advertisement using inspiring stories coupled with inspiring quotes and using
reputable athletes like LeBron James and Serena Williams, among others, motivates the target
market, mainly athletes, to believe in their dreams and put hard work into achieving them.
Because of the company's association with a high-quality product, and most of the athletes
pictured in the advertisement using the company's products in practice or participation in their
respective sports, Nike develops its credibility as a company that helps the success of athletics.
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It portrays itself as a company that produces high-quality sportswear that athletes can use
in their journey towards success. The message persuades athletes not to give up on their dreams
but to work towards achieving them diligently. Athletics associates success with winning a game
or a sporting event. The advertisement has used athletes who are considered the greatest of all
time in their respective sports to showcase how determination led to such individuals' success.
This helps connect the target market to the company's products based on motivation to achieve
their dreams.
Key lessons learned
From this case study, advertisement agencies can learn to use controversial societal issues
to shape the cause of their advertisements. This case study enlightens advertisement agencies that
focusing on a wide societal perspective and tailoring advertisements to meet clients' physical
needs, and psychological needs can help in successful advertisement campaigns. Dream crazy
topped on consumers' emotional, logical, and ethical needs to drive sales of its products.
Advertisement agencies are challenged to widen the scope of their advertisement not only
to the product but to finding strategies to tie their advertisement to societal issues in a clever way
that will show the company's commitment towards corporate social responsibility and concern
for the well-being of its consumers, thereby gaining approval of consumers. By showing concern
for its clients, such advertisements will enhance a positive relationship between consumers and
manufacturing companies.
A company identifies the right message for its advertisement by considering its business
objective and envisioning process. For example, Nike’s objective is to provide for the athletic
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needs of its consumers. W + K agency aims at creating strong and provocative relationships
between client companies and their consumers. The advertisement developed by W + K agency
for Nike communicates both its goal and its client. It puts the client at the center of the
advertisement, communicating how the company's product helps meet the needs of the consumer
and show the benefits of using the company’s products. In this case, the advertisement outlines
how athletes using Nike and not giving up on their dreams attain success ultimately. By offering
this message and showing concern for athletes' well-being, Nike can avoid getting the message
lost in the clutter.
Conclusion
Advertisement messages are supposed to appeal to consumers and persuade them to buy
products being marketed. This paper has analyzed how W + K agency, using the dream crazy
advertisement, helped Nike increase its product sale. The organization used pathos, logos, and
ethos to appeal to consumers' psychological needs, thereby developing provocative relationships
between Nike and its consumers, prompting the purchase of its products.
By understanding the needs of consumers and developing a wider scope of advertising
content tailored to answering some of the consumers' needs, it is possible to prompt them to
purchase products being advertised. Advertising agencies can learn from the dream crazy
advertisement to place consumer needs at the center of all advertisements, thereby provoking
consumers to buy such products.
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References
Beer J. (2019). Wieden+Kennedy just keeps doing it. Retrieved from
https://www.fastcompany.com/90288664/weidenkennedy-just-keeps-doing-it
Business Strategy Hub, (2021). Top 20 Nike Competitors & Alternatives. Retrieved from
https://bstrategyhub.com/top-nike-competitors-alternatives/
Dimitrioski Z. (2019). Nike Wins Best Of Show And Wieden+Kennedy Wins Agency Of The
Year At The One Show. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zarkodimitrioski/2019/05/14/nike-wins-best-of-show-and-
wiedenkennedy-wins-agency-of-the-year/?sh=294a885d7915
Irwin M. (2021). The New "Just Do It." Retrieved from https://www.trainor.com/blog/the-new-
just-do-it/
Ng C. (2018). Market Segmentation - Nike Case Study. Retrieved from
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/market-segmentation-nike-case-study-chris-ng/
NIKE, (2021). ABOUT NIKE. Retrieved from https://about.nike.com/
Sangha B. (2019). Just Buy It: A Critical Analysis of Nike’s ‘Dream Crazy’ Advertisement
Campaign. Retrieved from https://medium.com/swlh/just-buy-it-a-critical-analysis-of-
nikes-dream-crazy-advertisement-campaign-169190f14a89
Shahbandeh M. (2021). Size of the activewear market worldwide from 2020 to 2026 (in billion
U.S. dollars)* Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/613169/size-of-the-
global-sportswear-market/
Wieden + Kennedy, (2021). Retrieved from https://www.wk.com/
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Zanger D. & Coffee P. (2018). 10 Campaigns That Show How Wieden + Kennedy Impacted
Culture in 2018. Retrieved from https://www.adweek.com/agencies/10-campaigns-that-
show-how-wieden-kennedy-impacted-culture-in-2018/
