Like any sort of sporting
competition, you want to be better than the rest. I know personally that I
strive to be the best athlete I can and be better than the competition. Hall of
Fame athletes such as Ted Williams, Wayne Gretzky, Serena Williams, or Dan
Marino were able to separate themselves from the competition, by being a true
standout athlete. If you hear any of those names the first thing that pops into
your head is probably describing who amazing they are and really how they were
different than all the rest. Like every Hall of Fame Athletes, Nike has also
been able to go above and beyond the competition and be the true standout
company. When you hear the word Nike you usually don’t think about the Greek
god but you think about the brand Nike. You see the check symbol anywhere your
brain as a consumer is now hardwired to think about Nike apparel. Nike has
successfully implemented their branding all over the world. The company’s use
of the check symbol and the brand name itself “Nike” is the forefront in sports
apparel and equipment. 
Nike is famous for its slogan “JUST
DO IT” a short yet powerful statement that Nike promotes all over their
products, websites, social media, and commercials. The slogan provides an insight
into Nike’s brand personality of hard work and determination. In marketing; a Brand
personality is a set of human characteristics associated with a brand name.
Obviously your Nike socks don’t give you determination or demand hard work but
Nike is setting a link between the two with technology such as storm-fit or
thermal-fit. It’s trying to show athletes that if you want to perform at the highest
level, and separate yourself from the competition, you need to be determined
and hardworking WHILE WEARING NIKE. This is a genius marketing tactic because
it puts the personality of the brand into the mind of the consumers’ and if the
consumers like the personality then they will buy the brand. 
In the add shown below you see
professional athletes, such as Rob Gronkowski or Paul George, from all
different sports wearing Nike apparel. All sorts of different features and
clothing such as the Nike thermal fit leggings or the Nike “Therma-Sphere”
jacket and of course the Nike socks and shoes. Nike has taken the strategy of
Multiproduct Branding. This is when a company uses one name for all its
products in a product class.
If you were to walk down a street and see a person
wearing a Nike shirt and say “oh that’s a really nice shirt” and the person
would hopefully respond and then say “thanks, its Nike.” The person didn’t say
oh its dry-fit or oh its some strange name. Nike uses the brand name with all
their products because Nike is so well known. Having and wearing Nike in the
sports world represents that you have the best money can buy. Now whether that
may be true or not is irrelevant because Nike has put into our minds that Nike
is the best and all the rest are just not as good.
Nike has created a brand empire
with one name, one slogan, and one symbol that has revolutionized the sports apparel
and equipment industry. This is the Big Picture!!
