BA 584 Blog

Nike has mastered the art of online brand management by understanding the importance of their online brand reputation. Failure to understand the importance of this creates a situation where any negative review could derail a companies public image and lead to consumers losing trust in the brand. Nike employs a few different strategies that when put together create the success they experience today. Some of these strategies will be explored in the blog post today.

Nike Support

While Nike has their own Twitter handle (@Nike) they also have a separate account specifically made to handle customer issues. This handle is @NikeSupport and by having an account specifically dedicated to handling customer issues they are able to respond to them quicker. Also by having all the customers issues contained within one account a consumer is able to scroll through the feed and see not only potential solutions to a problem they may have, but also see how Nike resolves customer issues. This goes a long way in shaping public perception and increases the level of trust consumers have in the business.

The Tagline

Ask anyone what’s the first thing they think of when they hear the word Nike and I’d make a strong assumption their answer would be “Just Do It”. This tagline is both iconic and something that resonates with almost everyone. Also, this tagline helps to create a relationship between the brand and consumers as it is actionable and speaks to people on an individual level. A chef and a runner would both look at the tagline “Just Do It” differently, but both would still understand that it is Nike that stands behind it.

Empowerment

From ads to Twitter feeds, Nike does a lot to empower its users, mainly women. Equipped with their own Twitter page, @Nikewomen, and ads that depict women as powerful and competitive, Nike that they appreciate their women audience just as much as their men. This is valuable as alienating an entire demographic would most likely have negative repercussions, such as a reduced public image.

Community Building

The last thing I want to touch on as to why Nike has mastered online brand management is in their use of hashtags. Nike has a variety of hashtags that they employ, such as #nikewomen and #justdoit. These hashtags help to build a community amongst their users. As users are able to view and share posts related to the hashtag of their choice. This community and connection amongst consumers helps build the loyalty to the Nike brand. As that loyalty grows, the brand itself also grows. When those grow the community also grows as more consumers enter the fray. This cycle is a big part in Nike’s online brand management. During this cycle the other components, like Nike Support, can rotate in and continue to strengthen customer loyalty. All these components work together and show that Nike has mastered the art of online brand management.

Certificate Completed:

Social Media Certification via HubSpot

Time to Completion

~8 hours

Most Liked Part

I enjoyed the tests that you took as you progressed through the different modules. I felt that this helped reinforce what was just covered and also point out things I should review one more time before taking the exam. The short descriptions that showed after getting an answer correct was also helpful, as sometimes I felt that I chose the right answer but I was unsure why it was right. By having those descriptions I was able to quickly review why a given answer was correct and this made it helpful moving forward into the rest of the modules.

Least Liked Part

I actually liked all the content and set up of the certification program. The only thing I did not enjoy was how some of the videos were stitched together. There were times where the audio of the video would transition from soft to loud and back to soft. This meant that I sometimes had to rewatch some videos to ensure that I caught all the content that was being presented. This is a seemingly insignificant thing to not enjoy but I felt that this broke up the flow of the modules.

Disappointments/Frustrations

As mentioned previously the only thing that I have against this certification program is the way that some of the videos were edited. This is because for me I did not know what to expect going into and as such all the content for me was new and interesting to learn about. The only other thing that frustrated me at times were the guest speakers, sometimes I felt that they did not always flow well. This may have been a result as to how the videos were edited, but could have also been how they structured their content flow.

What I Learned

The modules presented a lot of new content for me. I learned a lot about different strategies, terminology, techniques, and thought processes throughout the different modules. A few of the biggest things I took away from this was centered around dealing with negative interactions, the different types of social media, and how different content can be used within social media. Another thing I thought I knew about but actually learned a lot from these modules was about influencers and the different ways they are compensated. I thought that all influencers were financially compensated the say way. It was interesting to learn that compensation can vary and include things like gift cards, payment per like or click, or even invitations to exclusive events with the expectation they do some sort of marketing tied to them being at the event.

Usefulness To Marketers

I believe that this certification program is useful to other marketers as social media is something that is growing in prevalence and is going to become a focal point of marketing efforts. There are a variety of social media, such as Twitter and YouTube, with each social media requiring different strategies and techniques to be successful on that platform. With this certification program one can learn about the nuances between the different social media platforms and how one can begin to navigate said platforms and hopefully be successful.

5 Point Scale Rating

Using a 5 point scale in terms of how likely I am to recommend this certification program to a friend I would rank this as a 4. I believe most of my friends should go through this certification program, even those who are not marketing students. This is because this program could even be helpful in running personal social media accounts or even just becoming more aware in how businesses are using social media to market towards them. From a personal user point of view, the ability to have a better understanding of how businesses market towards them allows more control in their own decision-making process.

Current Landscape

In terms of level of danger I would rate today’s model of online advertising as a 3. This is because while there are certainly dangers that exists in terms of user data and how privacy is approached, there are also steps being taken to reduce shady user privacy practices.

When reviewing the different articles one of the major events that happened that shows the danger of shady user privacy practices is the scandal that involved both Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. As the American Marketing Association article discusses, this scandal had some customers feeling uneasy about Cambridge Analytica ability to circumvent rules. There was also Cambridge Analytica placing in their fine print that they were harvesting user data through a personality quiz. This data harvesting did not only extend to the users who took the quiz, but also to all their friends on Facebook. As a result, while 305,000 people took the quiz, the estimated number of people who were affected through this data harvesting was 87 million. This is just one example of many different shady practices that happen in today’s model of online advertising. A model where user data is sometimes being harvested without the users knowledge. One other example is an article entitled, “The shady data-gathering tactics used by Cambridge Analytica were an open secret to online marketers. I know, because I was one” by The Verge. In this article it talks about how the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas wanted wands placed in their ceiling that would allow them to gather IMEI numbers without the users knowledge or consent, thus allowing them to send messages to the user.

However, today’s model of online advertising is also shifting towards a more protected model, one in which some of these shady user data practices are no longer being used and one where users are employing different tactics to protect their privacy. After the Cambridge Analytica scandal Facebook their “partner categories”, a product that allowed for third-party data providers to offer their targeting directly on Facebook. Users are also employing different tactics to protect their privacy, such as covering their webcam to avoid people using software to view people through their webcam without their knowledge. Some companies products also help protect user data through encryption, such as Apple iPhones encrypting messages between iPhone devices, such that even the service provider is unable to share those messages.

These two factors work to balance each other out and is why in terms of danger it would only rank as a 3. While there are dangers in today’s model, there also is a growing trend of users becoming more aware of how to protect their privacy and companies slowly changing their polices to reduce abuse of user privacy data.

Code of Ethics

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