Nike's "Here I Am" Campaign Targets European University Women
Nike recently launched a new ad campaign in Europe with the tagline "Here I am" that is "aimed at selling more clothing to university-aged women," according to Aaron Patrick of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The aim of the campaign, via Wieden & Kennedy (W&K), Amsterdam, is to "deliver the message that there is more to sports than getting fit or competing." W&K Account Manager for Nike Abi Findlay: "It is about building self-esteem. Once you have taken part in sport, you have the confidence to say, 'Here I am.'" Patrick notes W&K "decided to use animation to make the athletes less intimidating." One ad for the campaign shows Sony Ericsson WTA Tour player Maria Sharapova "overcoming doubts as she grows up and goes professional." Critics in the spot say things to Sharapova like, "You're just another pretty face." At the conclusion of the ad, the "animated Sharapova morphs into the real Sharapova, who forms the 'I' in 'Here I am.'" W&K Creative Dir for Nike Mark Bernath said of the slogan, "We want to make sure normal women can relate to it." Nike execs "liked the slogan because they thought it would be understood in English across Europe," although "in parts of Italy it is being translated into Italian." Nike also "wanted a slogan that wouldn't sound odd alongside 'Just do it.'" Findlay said that there "aren't any plans to use the European campaign in the U.S." (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/11).
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