Lefferts 1

Alexa Lefferts

ENC 1102

Prof. Campbell

29 March 2017

What Makes Nikes Advertisement Persuasive?

Introduction:

Just do it (Nike). When people hear this famous phrase immediately the brand Nike

appears in their heads, but what makes this catch phrase so memorable within this brand? How

does this specific company successfully advertise using different forms of rhetorical strategies?

The topic of advertisement is fascinating. Producers and consumers affected by advertisement

can be found everywhere in modern day society. It has the power to persuade peoples minds, to

manipulate peoples tastes, all through rhetorical writing and textual tools. These textual tools in

advertisement can include but arent limited to, persuasive writing, commercials, posters, social

media, and rhetorical imagery. Nike uses advertisement in this way, but shapes it to fit the

companys motives like a mold. Research has provided my reader with a better understanding of

why Nikes advertising is truly impactful.

Background to the Study:

My research is the study of what makes Nikes advertisement persuasive. In order to answer

this research question, I had to study first how Nikes advertisement effects people and what

techniques they use. Companies advertise to grasp an audience, implant ideas into peoples
 Lefferts 2

minds, and sell a product or idea. I chose to study this topic based on the fact that knowledge on

advertisement is important to multiple communities. Producers of advertisement, consumers, and

the public all benefit from knowing the effect advertisement has on them and how companies use

specific tactics to persuade. I specifically chose the company, Nike, because Nike has an

enormous, ongoing effect in the marketing community. Nike takes the lead dramatically when it

comes to persuading a worldwide audience. Nikes brand value lays at 27 billion U.S. dollars and

was considered the most valuable sports business brand worldwide in 2016 according to Forbes.

A company able to persuade this large of an audience has power, a power we should all know

and learn about for success in any persuasive endeavor. Knowing how advertisement effects the

company, the consumers, and the overall public is not only interesting but important. Through

my research, I have proven exactly what makes the famous company Nike advertise so

persuasively.

Secondary Research:

Multiple studies in the department of textual tools in advertisement have been created in

order to give those interested in the topic a better understanding. These sources can be used both

as a reference for future research, and awareness on the importance of how advertisement

persuades. In a descriptive scholarly journal entry written by Robyn Leboeuf and Joseph

Simmons, attitude functions within advertisement is discussed. They define attitude function as

how people react to the advertisement representing the company, as well as how products are

categorized and brands are portrayed. Symbolic effect versus utilitarian effect, within different

products and brands, was tested on multiple subjects. The diverse groups of randomly selected

subjects were tested over a period of time in multiple research studies to guarantee more accurate
 Lefferts 3

results. The study was conducted by giving the consumer two choices of products, one branded

and one not branded. The results concluded that branding made attitudes toward utilitarian

products more symbolic and attitudes toward symbolic products more utilitarian. Leboeuf and

Simmons state one of the benefits of knowing an attitudes function is that such knowledge

suggests how to change that attitude (353). Advertisement is a vast world with many

components that arent always obvious to the naked eye. To successfully advertise efficiently to a

diverse group of consumers, companies must understand the detailed ideas featured in this

research paper. These ideas help companies understand what directly eaffects the consumer, for

example the mentioned attitude functions. Brands, for example, Nike, use this valuable

information to shape their advertisement to the effect needed to persuade the most consumers.

In a more global view, David L. Andrews in the journal entry Nike Nations discusses

Nikes more specific advertisement techniques and the globalization of popular companies. Nike

conducts worldwide capitalism through its interconnected communication of sports and

empowerment. Sports, inspiration, and power are a universal language that can be understood

through multiple cultures if presented correctly. Andrews also explores the ideas of other

companies global advertising techniques and stacks them against Nike. These companies all

share similar qualities in their persuasive advertising. To secure a successful global presence a

company must work with local practices and principles from around the world to create a

multicultural, diverse marketing strategy. When the company reaches this goal of advertisement

they achieve a worldwide range of consumers to persuade. Nike, as well as the sports nation in

general, is becoming an accomplice of capitalist globalization. Andrewss piece could be used for

anyone interested in the study of capitalist globalization, specifically those oin the topic of sports

industries. He uses critical analysis to explain the similar techniques most successful
 Lefferts 4

advertisements follow. His piece has a main focus on Nikes globalization, using specific ad

examples from the company such as, Nikes Wayne Rooney advertisement. Through multiple

analyses on Nikes advertisement, the author proves that Nike masters the technique of appealing

to a wide audience of consumers and has become what is described as a Nike Nation. Nike is

successful in the ideology behind global and domestic advertisement. Both Leboeuf/Simmons

and Andrews research articles provide a better understanding of the vast world of advertisement

and the brand Nike.

Nike is an extremely successful brand and only continues to rise with its globalization. This

statement is back with multiple statistics and facts from trusted sources. Statista is a website

dedicated to the gathering of official surveys on multiple topics. The website is a trusted source

of information for researchers and is backed by scholars. Peter McKay, Business Librarian of the

University of Central Florida even stated, Statista is an indispensable resource for our students

and faculty for quickly locating key statistics and illustrate their research and teaching. The

specific section of this website focused on Nike is what was used in my research. In a statistical

study originally calculated by Forbes showing a ranking of sports businesses worldwide in 2016

according to brand value, Nike takes the lead dramatically. Nikes brand value lays at 27 billion

U.S. dollars and was considered the most valuable sports business brand worldwide in 2016.

Nike beat out the second runner- up, ESPN by over 10.5 billion dollars. The study proves Nike is

a successful company in the sports community. According to another 2014 survey by Statista on

most purchased sports brands, 49 percent of sports goods consumers bought a Nike product

during the previous year. Nike has constant business and earns their steadiness through proper

business management. The survey shows the consumer lifestyle of participants in the survey and

proved Nike was among the top brands consumed annually.

 Lefferts 5

Nike invests substantially in its advertisement to achieve this economic triumph. No

company in the world spends as much money on sports sponsorships as Nike, which has spent a

staggering total of $8 billion since 2002 alone, according to a CNNMoney analysis. In this study,

CNNMoney focuses on how Nike became the king of endorsements and advertisement. The

famous news company focused on economics completed a full report on this topic and attached

reliable statistics from Company Financial Reports to further make their statement. In an

interview with CNNMoney, David Carter, executive director of USC's Sports Business Group,

expands the idea that high profile athletes and celebrities are the faces of Nike. While Nike did

not give CNNMoney an exact report on their spending per organization, the company spends

millions on individuals like LeBron James and Tiger Woods to endorse their products, as well as

professional teams, leagues, and programs in all sports categories. With Nikes advertisement

using such a large amount of celebrity appeal, this spending is required for the companys

success. Nike knows its need for publicity and uses it to successfully coax consumers into their

monopoly. Nike invests substantially in its advertisement to achieve this economic triumph.

Methods:

Genres within Nikes Advertisement

One of Nikes most popular advertisement tools is commercials. A specific example I have

analyzed for research is a YouTube commercial on Nikes official account that promotes the

motivational idea of the company. Nikes overall goal is to motivate athletes and sell their

products. Through speech acts, the idea that words have actions included in them, this

commercial uses persuasive lexis to promote people to Just Do It (Nike). The commercial

titled Nike: Unlimited You begins with the narrator motivating ordinary people to become
 Lefferts 6

great athletes. These athletes are shown later in life doing what the narrator calls, amazing

things. In a comical plot twist, the narrator calls an end to the video, however, it continues with

these ordinary athletes, as well as world famous athletes accomplishing what would be

considered impossible things. The ideas presented in this advertisement get Nikes social fact

across of positivity throughout the athletic community by encouraging an Unlimited You.

The social facts of Nike appear all throughout the ideas displayed in this video. While

following the companys idea of inspiration to athletes they target pathos by using regular people

doing incredible things. They make the audience feel like anything is possible, which is the idea

the company is always trying to promote. To add, the video also features Nikes logo on all

products worn by the athletes and on the athletic equipment being used. They are selling

products while promoting athleticism which is the companys objective. Nike used the

constraints that come with the genre of videos such as, creativity audience attention span, and

following a specific objective, to create a project their audience would love.

Another genre Nike uses to get their rhetorical points across is motivational posters

featuring world famous athletes. A specific, analyzed, example is the Simon Biles poster. Famous

Olympian gymnast, Simon Biles stands with her back facing the camera with her face turned to

the side in a profile view. Down the back of her Nike brand sports bra has the catch phrase Just

Do It (Nike) embroidered. She looks sweaty with her hair tied back as if she just finished a

routine or workout in the gymnasium you can slightly see in the background. On the side of the

poster in bold, white letters reads, Dont forget to be the best you (Nike). Nike uses the genre

of posters successfully in the genre set through the appeals of ethos and pathos. Nike uses

credible athletes on the covers of these posters to capture the audiences attention while also
 Lefferts 7

making the audience feel more trusting of the company since these famous athletes promote it.

People of all demographics see these athletes, hall of famers, and famous celebrities promoting a

company that makes them the winners they are, encouraging the idea to people that if they stand

behind the brand Nike they too can be winners, making Nike the undercover role model behind

the one featured on the poster. Pathos is targeted through inspirational quotes to catch the

audiences emotions and inspire them to do great things along with the companys slogan Just

Do It (Nike) to add familiarity to the companys name. Furthermore, products are worn by all

athletes on these posters to further sell the company to the audience. Together, these rhetorical

components in the poster genre come together to further enforce the successful community of

Nike.

My last analytical example is Nikes website. Nikes website has an array of merchandise

categories within it. They have multiple links leading to sub-categories ranging from mens,

womens, and childrens merchandise, Nike athletic gear, and more. They arrange their products

in an organized fashion on the website making it easier to communicate with their audience and

help customers find what they want. While selling products in this manner, they still promote

their vision of positivity within the athletic community they are a part of. They complete this

goal by using motivating slogans and quotes that follow the companys social facts on each page

of the website. Since Nikes website is the most direct genre for purchasing products, the rhetors

must make sure it follows Nikes intended rhetorical situation flawlessly. Nikes website

promotes communication in the online community by offering links to Nikes social media. On

these social media sites is where the audience can find other genres in Nikes specifically

designed genre set. The website holds the genre set together and presents the ideas and products

of the company in an organized way, allowing the website to be considered the backbone of the
 Lefferts 8

company. It presents Nikes merchandise in an orderly fashion for consumers to purchase, offers

links to multiple resources sponsored by the company, and advertises using multiple techniques

efficiently. It creates an organized online world designed directly by Nike for consumers. Nike

has a wide range of genres that work together as a genre set to advertise. Nike specifically uses

three main genres to persuade the audience. My textual analysis of these specific examples of

advertisement tools shows what makes Nikes very distinct advertisement choices so effective.

Survey

Focusing on Nikes genre set and utilizing my findings through secondary research, both

a survey and interview were created. My sampling group had to be diverse in order to produce

nonbiased research results and also possibly build counter arguments. In an anonymous online

survey a diverse group of people, including nearly all demographics above the age of eighteen,

were asked a simple question with three answer choices. I created this online survey to find what

the general public prefers when it comes to Nikes advertisement. Knowing the preferences of

the people in this random survey shows the exact method of advertisement that is most

persuasive in Nikes advertisement genre set and moves my research closer to answering my

main research question of what makes Nikes advertisement so persuasive in general.

Participants were asked which of the following is the most persuasive genre of Nikes

advertisement methods? They were then given the three general examples of Nikes

advertisement, commercials, posters, or the official website to choose from.

Interviews

Through interviews, as a researcher, I was able to gain deeper intellect on what persuades the

general public when it comes to advertisement. My sampling group had to be diverse in order to
 Lefferts 9

produce nonbiased research results and also possibly build counter arguments. The community of

Nike is a diverse group, the company is worldwide and its advertisements must appear to people

across the globe. Therefore, my research would not be effective unless it covers a wide range of

people. My ten interviewees included five women and five men. The races included three White

Americans, three Hispanics, two African Americans, one Asian, and one-halfone half Native-

American one-half White American. Their ages ranged from 19 to 79 years old. I asked each of

my ten diverse interviewees the same three questions. The questions included, What is the first

thing you think of when the brand Nike is mentioned?, How does Nikes overall message make

you feel?, and In your opinion, why is Nikes advertisement methods so persuasive?

Results:

Genres within Nikes Advertisement

In my research, I discuss how Nike specifically uses three main genres to persuade the

audience. These include commercials, motivational posters featuring celebrities, and Nikes

official website. Through analysis, Nike has a shared set of expectations and context of the

companys rhetorical situation, which they meet continuously, and follows either a textual or

social interaction pattern in every genre they produce. These genres while different in detail,

carry out a similar theme. All three genres represent Nike in a positive, inspiring way while

presenting products and branding in a subtle way. Nike promotes its products and ideas through

several genres working together as a genre set successfully and proves its unity within the

marketing sports community.

 Lefferts 10

Survey

In my survey focusing on the preferred genre method used by Nike to advertise, out of the

thirty-six -people surveyed over 57 percent chose commercials as Nikes most persuasive

advertising technique. Motivational/Celebrity endorsed posters received over 34 percent of the

votes and the website came in last receiving only a little over 8 percent of surveyors. My results

from the survey, although the survey conducted was on a smaller scale in contrast to other

researchers results being compared, were very similar. The average person prefers commercials,

the most visual tool, compared to Nikes other advertisement techniques. Commonly, companies

use a more visual representation of products or messages they want to portray to catch their

consumers eye. Nike uses these statistics to their profitable and persuasive advantage as

discussed in my secondary research.

Interviews

Interviewees were asked the three questions mentioned above in the same order. Most of the

answers to the first question were Just do it, sports, or shoes. These are obviously reoccurring

themes played throughout Nikes advertisements. The next questions answers on the emotional

effect Nike gives were more personal depending on who specifically was asked. The overall idea

I received from these different answers is that Nike motivates these people. The brand Nike is a

sign of inspiration and emits positivity within the athletic community. The results from this

question further proved my research on what ideas successfully persuade people into supporting

Nike. Last, my interviewees all had very similar ideas on what makes Nikes methods

persuasive. Some answered with simply the brand name Nike has created; demonstrating attitude

function. Others referred back to the ethos and pathos effect the company has had on them with
 Lefferts 11

answers like, Nike inspires people to work towards their goals in the commercials. Another

similar answer I recorded was Seeing great athletes promoting the brand makes people feel like

they can be athletes too if they buy Nike products. All interviewees had similar answers to the

three questions being asked. This study justified that Nikes advertisements emit the idea that any

person can be a winner. These randomly selected people, from all different demographics, felt a

similar positive impact the brand Nike puts out. The results from these questions further proved

my research that the idea of reoccurring themes, positive impacts, and personal connections

successfully persuade people into supporting Nike.

Discussion:

Based on my results, Nike uses a combination of repetitive rhetoric ideas, ideal visual

representation, and emotional effects to effectively persuade their audience. Nike continually

repeats the same message to their audience through textual content. Multiple previous studies

have been conducted to prove this point. Nike has extreme success in its visual representation of

the ideal life style catching consumers eyes. Furthermore, Nikes advertisements overall create a

lasting emotional effect on consumers. The three modes of persuasion, ethos, pathos, and logos,

can be seen throughout Nikes advertisements genre examples. My research and the results that

followed prove these statements to be true.

Previous research has been conducted on the topic of persuasive advertisement in an article

featured in the Journal of Marketing Research by Robyn Leboeuf and Joseph Simmons. They

discuss attitude functions and create awareness on the importance of how advertisement

persuades. Using specific examples, as well as their own experiments, the researchers provide

proof for their statements and conclusions. I used this valuable information as a background of
 Lefferts 12

ideas that are used to persuade in the marketing world and to justify my results from my own

research. I also reference Nike Nations by David L. Andrews. This article provides more specific

information on Nikes advertising techniques and company globalization. Andrews takes an in-

depth look into examples of Nikes advertisement around the world and shows his audience how

a company will adjust their advertisement technique to persuade the audience of their focus at

the time. Last in my preliminary research, I focused on statistics from reliable sources, including

both Forbes and CNNMoney, to further back my own studies. Together, this research creates a

textual foundation for further research on advertisement within Nike.

Beginning my own research, I focused on the analysis of three major genres within the

companys advertisement. These genres include a commercial, posters, and Nikes official

website. I dissected each advertisement method, revealing distinct details that differ the genre

from the rest but also makes the genre set as a whole alike. Through analysis, I reveal Nikes

marketing strategies, including rhetorical appeals, a reoccurring theme, and a concealed

persuasive message. In a Through survey I created following this genre analysis, I focused on a

wide range of demographics to prove which of these genres is the most persuasive. My results

concluded that commercials were the most persuasive according to my data, further proving

previous research conducted on the company. The audience prefers more visual advertisement

which Nike takes full advantage of. Through visual representation, Nike creates an ideal

atmosphere featuring what society views as ultimate health, beauty, strength, and power.

Last, I conducted a set of interviews with on a very diverse group of people. The

interviewees answers were similar in my study and revolved around previous ideas proven

through research and data. The interviewees answers portrayed the emotion of hope and
 Lefferts 13

inspiration. Nike uses these emotions to persuade their audience into believing anything is

possible for them if they follow the companys motto. Nike does this through slogans and

motivational phrases that my interviewees mentioned during their interview. My results prove

that emotional effect is one of Nikes top methods in persuading people through advertisement.

My research works together to answer the research question of what makes Nikes

advertisement persuasive. My preliminary research helped prove the importance of this study

and provided a textual background for further research I conducted. Analysis of the genre set

Nike uses in advertisement, as well as my survey based on this set, showed specific examples of

how the company persuades a large audience using visual, rhetoric methods. The interviews

conducted showed the emotional effect Nike creates on its consumers and overall, tied all this

together through the answers from my participants. Together, it is proved that Nikes

advertisement is indeed persuasive and they use a specific, unique set of techniques in order to

complete this task.

Conclusion:

In summary, an accumulation of methods and tools is used to persuade people through

Nikes advertisement. The community works hard to produce genres that work together fittingly

and follow Nikes social facts to guarantee success in the community as well as to avoid

members rejecting the methods used. The famous community persuasively promotes its company

through multiple writing modalities and tools. Both secondary and primary research connects

these ideas and proves them to be correct. With a wide research topic, there is still questions that

can be answered in further research to further close the gap of why Nikes advertisement has
 Lefferts 14

become such a phenomenaa phenomenon in our society. An idea to be considered for further

research includes a more in- depth look into if the advertisement strategies researched in this

study are equally effective across demographics. Another research topic to further close the gap

can be a similar study on another famous brand to gather information to compare to Nikes

advertisement. Although there is still questions that can be answered on this topic, as there is in

any researchable subject, it is now proven in an understandable way that Nikes advertisement is

persuasive to a large audience because of their specific technique as discussed in my research.

Nike flourishingly emphasizes their communitys motivational beliefs to a wide group of

consumers; defeating demographic borders and reaching all types of people.

 Lefferts 15

Citations:

Andrews, David L. "Nike Nations." The Brown Journal of World Affairs 14.2 (2008): 41-53.

Jstor. Web. 15 Feb. 2017

Bender, Joshua. "Topic: Nike." Www.statista.com. The Statistics Portal, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

Isidore, Chris. "How Nike became king of endorsements." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 5

June 2015. Web.16 Feb. 2017. <http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/05/news/companies/nike-

endorsement-dollars/>.

Leboeuf, Robyn A., and Joseph P. Simmons. "Branding Alters Attitude Functions and Reduces

the Advantage of Function-Matching Persuasive Appeals." Journal of Marketing Research

47.2 (2010): 348-60. Jstor. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.

Nike. 2016 Nike, Inc. Just Do It. http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/.

Nike. "Nike: Unlimited You." YouTube. YouTube, 04 Aug. 2016. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.

Peng, Daven, and Lodovica Biagi. " Statista - The Statistics Portal for Market Data, Market

Research and Market Studies." N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2017. Quote By: Peter McKay.

Nike. Simon Biles Poster. Facebook.com. August 11, 2016. Web. November 11, 2016.