Nike & Nissan Looks Beyond Big Media to Reach Their Audience

The Wall Street Journal profiles two companies who are looking beyond big media to reach their audience:

  • Nike’s efforts to influence the influencers, and expand their marketing dollars beyond traditional advertising in the media:

    “The question is, how do you not let your size become a disadvantage? How do you keep an edge, a crispness, a relevance?”

    “One answer, for many marketers over the years, has been to divine the future — to find the most cutting-edge, trend-sniffing individuals and set them loose to formulate new ideas, new products. Such “coolhunters,” as some types are known, scour the globe’s streets, stores, clubs and hidden haunts picking up clues as to what’s hot, what’s next. They then interpret their findings to help companies better resonate with their core audience.”

    “Unlike ads that plaster the sides of buildings with the towering image of superstars like LeBron James, one of Nike’s top basketball endorsers, these projects seek to get under the consumer’s skin in far less obvious ways.”

  • Nissan’s motto for the release of a highly anticipated sports car is: “If we advertise, we fail.”

    “Instead, Nissan developed a massive “viral” campaign aimed at building buzz by spreading the word through a wide range of product-placement arrangements in videogames.”

    “Nissan’s tactics signal a shift in how the auto industry is spending its massive advertising budget. While this type of stealth marketing is on the rise in all industries, car makers, with their edgy television commercials and glossy magazine ads, have tended to stick to more traditional media.”

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