The Collegio Pittsburg's student voice since 1916
Related Articles
Nike’s future is only looking up, so stop burning your shoes and socks, it’s immature and practically pointless.
Monday, Sept. 3, Colin Kaepernick announced that he would be the new face of Nike’s 30th anniversary campaign. “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything. #JustDoIt” were the words used along with a headshot of Kaepernick. Following the tweet came quick backlash from disagreeing audiences to Nike’s decision, starting the hashtag “#BoycottNike”.
Though the next day, Sept. 4, Nike stock dropped $1.72. The stock has reached a high of $85.85 per stock with a low of $84.43, and maintained its market cap at around $136.50 billion as of Sept. 19, and it hasn’t even reached October yet.
Nevertheless, stock drops are an everyday pattern for most stock. In fact, in June 27 of this year Nike’s stock was selling at the low $71.17 and has since raised $13.26. Adding to that, Nike and the NFL resigned their deal for Nike providing all of the NFL’s gear, extending the deal into 2028, potentially looking to keep it’s same worth of $1.1 billion.
Now, if numbers aren’t enough, there’s also discussion of demographics and consumer research. In a Sprout Social study researching brands and their action in taking a stand for social issues, they found that brands speaking up was better for marketing as well as gaining long-term customers.
“… 61 percent of respondents say it’s important for brands to take stands on social media specifically… The good news is two-thirds (67 percent) of respondents already feel brands are credible when speaking out on social and political issues on social media… These findings are supported by the fact that people are more likely to have positive emotional reactions than negative ones after brands share a stance on social media. In fact, three of the top five emotional reactions people say they are likely to have in response to a brand taking a stance are positive.”
So why are some consumers burning shoes? The answer is that it’s due to the new market overtaken by those who temporarily are upset by what a company is doing, leading protests, but come back for a buy down the line when the tensions have cooled.
According to an Edelman study, buyers are those who are younger, yet gross high numbers of money each year. They are what they call “belief-buyers” who base their purchases on what the brand believes in and if it agrees to theirs.
“They’re young. The majority of millenials (60 percent) are belief-driven buyers, as are more than half of Gen-Z (53 percent) and Gen X (51 percent)”
With Nike’s demographics ranging from the ages 38 years and younger, this is its exact target audience, making it clear on Nike’s intentions of pleasing it’s consumers.
So to all those who think they’re spooking Nike by are burning your already purchased shoes, give it a rest. Nike is only looking up from here.