Nike Goes Grassroots

Nike is one of the many large marketers who are starting to stray away from glossy print ads and celebrity-driven campaigns to focus directly on consumers. More and more runners are taking up Nike's newest venture, nike+. People are keeping details of their running on the web as well as making friends from across the world with similar interest and discussing training tips and products on its forum branch of the site.

Last year, Nike spent just 33 percent of its $678 million on ads with television networks and other traditional media companies. That’s down from 55 percent 10 years ago, according to the trade publication Advertising Age. Even though campaigns' budgets are growing from year to year, more and more companies such as Nike will be setting the trend in utilizing non-media ads such as services for consumers, like workout advice, online communities/forums, and local sports competitions.

With the internet becoming a consistently more prominent outlet for advertising, I wouldn't be surprised if some companies stopped advertising on TV all together, because television advertising that can only be seen at certain time periods...consumers have access to the internet 24/7, making an online ad that much more effective at a much lower cost to the company.


TV spot for nike+:


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