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‘Just do it’. Nike’s slogan says it all. The brand inspires the awakening of an inner athlete in each person. Despite Phil Knight and his coach, Bill Bowerman, initial proposal to offer trainers that would improve performance at fair prices, the name (Nike is the Greek goddess of victory) already showed the company’s potential to sell the hero image in their products.
It was consolidated mainly from the 1990s, with Michael Jordan and other sports heroes starring in the campaigns. At the same time, Nike began to sponsor official teams in a wide range of sports. Nevertheless, with the ads showing ‘ordinary people’ overcoming their limits the company achieved its best results in both sales and branding efforts. It became so popular that the name could be dropped for the “wham” (the stylized wings of Nike) and the world would know it was an ad or product from Nike.
In short, Nike is a classic example of the Hero in its constant quest to overcome limits and win. However, an archetypical brand is also susceptible to errors if you don’t know how to control its ‘dark’ side. If we think about heroes, from Greek mythology to comics characters, there is always a dangerous trace: arrogance. When he or she is obsessed with victory, tends to ignore the risks around and even take unethical attitudes.
That’s exactly what happened to Nike when slave labour allegations erupted in China about two decades ago. The company didn’t know how to deal with the scandal and take the right actions to clean up its image fast. Although it’s still one of the most valuable companies in the world, the association with exploited workers is remembered to this day. An episode to make any hero loses a trophy…
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