#instagmra

“Worth should outshine color.” In February of 2017, Nike launched its new campaign worldwide: Equality. So what is the Equality campaign? To put it simply, it encourages people to take the same respect and fairness they practice on the sports field and practice it every day. It basically uses the power of sport as its base. Our community we live in deserves us taking action to reflect this equality and Nike set the example to follow. The first step they took to do this was partnering with organizations like Mentor: The National Mentoring Partnership and PeacePlayer International. So now let’s take a look at the anchor of this campaign which was a short film release don YouTube that features Nike athletes like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Serena Williams. It’s only about a minute and a half long but it’s powerful and it does the main thing I want to focus on today: STORYTELLING.

 This simple and short video tells such a powerful story and greatly conveys what the Equality campaign is all about. No boundaries. Equal everywhere. Equality has no boundaries. This is what Nike wants to tell us and they tell us this so very well. Now why am I focusing on the story? Elementary, my dear friend. It’s simple. Berger’s 6 Principles of Contagiousness tells us the six main types of successful content marketing. My previous posts have focused on a couple other principles within this. Anyways, the Story element is just like how it sounds. You don’t just want to SHARE information but you want to TELL A STORY. Captivate your audience and make them want to learn more! What do you want to say? Take that and elaborate it into a compelling story that will travel across the interwebs worldwide as a story everyone wants to hear. Remember when I talked about Coke’s marketing strategy? What does that revolve around? If you said storytelling, give yourself a pat on the back. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, go back and read one of my first post on the Coca-Cola 202 marketing strategy. They excel at storytelling and follow a strategy more companies should follow.

 Ok, back to Nike. So this campaign is featured on both their Equality website and on social media. Nike has 74.8 MILLION followers just on Instagram so if they’re going to tell a story, they better do it well. And with a following that large, they have the potential to tell a story to change the world (maybe I’m exaggerating but you get what I’m saying). This campaign is all about telling the story of Equality and conveying that through numerous platforms and mediums. Just like their Equality section of their website states “The Equality message is powerful in any language. Watch the movement take center stage with the world’s best athletes.” Overall, their Instagram is all about storytelling. It’s something they excel at and one of my favorite things a company can do when it comes to content is not focusing always on the product but on the lifestyle they represent and the lifestyle of their customers. While this isn’t want this post is about, they also follow other principles as well as they create emotional content extremely well.

A post shared by nike (@nike) on Feb 16, 2017 at 11:29am PST

This post on Instagram is one of the first that revolves around this campaign back in February. “We step onto the court as equals. Judged only by our performance. New Orleans sets the stage for All Star Weekend @nikebasketball. #EQUALITY #nike” It’s short, it’s simple and it get’s the message across while telling the story they want to tell about Equality.

 Here’s another post with the caption “The bond between players should exist between people. Thank you, New Orleans. #EQUALITY #nike” That phrase right there is what this campaign is all about and honestly, I believe we should be practicing on a daily basis. Whether you’re an athlete or not, practice that equality and respect to everyone as we are all one community in this world as we fight the inequality and injustices faced every day. Nike is such a large, worldwide brand that they must be careful as to what messages they want to get to the world as EVERYONE will see it. Remember this. Remember what they want to tell us. Take action and practice it. Because we are equal.

 Peace,