Ad featuring Trump critic Colin Kaepernick fills Nike's coffers
The controversial advertising campaign featuring football player and Trump critic Colin Kaepernick appears to be paying off for Adidas' rival, Nike.
In the current quarter, which saw the launch of advertising featuring the former NFL star, sales are expected to grow in the region of nine percent, as they have in the past three months, the world's largest sporting goods manufacturer said on Tuesday.
"We have returned to strong, sustainable growth in North America even faster than we expected," chief financial officer Andrew Campion said after presenting the figures. The new "Just Do It" advertising campaign has found strong resonance, Nike CEO Mark Parker emphasized.
Calls for boycotts worried investors
The signing of the football player, who has been sharply criticized by U.S. President Donald Trump, as an advertiser had recently made investors nervous. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback sparked a nationwide debate in 2016 when he took a knee in protest of police violence and racism against African-Americans during the national anthem in the stadium. He was joined by other players. The practice has been sharply criticized by Trump repeatedly. After Kaepernick's advertising work for Nike was announced, there were initially calls for a boycott on the Internet.
Core target group reached with campaign
According to research by Thomson Reuters, however, the campaign temporarily drove sales up by around 60 percent. According to analysts, Nike scored with the campaign precisely with the core target group in the USA. Some experts had already predicted that the advertising with Kaepernick would strengthen the sports company's irreverent and rebellious image. Nike advertises with the quote, "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything." The former NFL star is no longer under contract with any of the 32 teams in the NFL Football Association.
In the first fiscal quarter ended at the end of August, the increase in sales to around ten billion dollars also drove profits up by 15 percent to 1.1 billion dollars. Nike shares nevertheless initially came under pressure after the close of the stock market. Analysts were disappointed, among other things, that Nike left the forecasts for 2019 unchanged despite the successful advertising campaign. (SDA)
