Social Listening

Social Listening-

I put this off all weekend and finally I thought to myself “JUST DO IT”! I will be analyzing Nike’s social media. I have always been a large supporter of Nike and thought it was cool Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, was born and raised in Oregon; just like me! I grew up in Autzen Stadium always hearing his name, mentioning his generous help for the University of Oregon. Everyone I know loves Nike. All throughout high school my friends and I were always rocking our white Air Force 1’s. I remember whenever we would hang out in large groups everyone would throw their shoes off at the door. And by the time you were ready to leave it wasn’t always easy finding your shoes. 

Nike isn’t known for just their Air Force 1’s, although they are popular. They are known for their athletic clothing, shoes and lifestyle wear. Nike’s value proposition is to make people feel confident as well as provide self-assurance, achievement, willpower and effort. Nike wants their customers to have a positive mindset on and off the field with their appearance. Nike is so big they have multiple different accounts on the same platform. For instance, recently on September 4th, 2023 Nike posted on their Instagram (@Nike) collaborating with their other Instagram (@NikeWomen) a reel of young women athletes spreading a positive message about doing things that make you happy. Doing things that aren’t technically “lady like”. In the video the girls are boxing, playing soccer, basketball, dancing, and skateboarding. They are laughing, making silly faces and expressing their personalities. As I browsed through the 480 comments, there were many positive comments from all kinds of people. (Photo pictured in the bottom right.) @Zameena commented “I wish I had this representation and message when I was a kid, this is so awesome!”.  @SimoneJackson.80 commented "the best shoot, so happy to be a part of this & this message” and lastly @5_11mama commented “Love this message!” In the video they are wearing Nike clothing and shoes yet, not once did they say “I feel confident and cool because I am in Nike”. They did the opposite; they showed a positive vibe that left a remarkable impression for their brand.

Throughout their Instagram they do post about new released shoes and their clothing. But they do it in a creative way. For example they might show the design process or it's just a video of someone enjoying the product. It's never a straightforward message of “Buy our shoes!”. Which makes them so cool, they aren’t shoving advertisements down our throats. They are creating ads that we want to watch. Their Instagram is also very appealing to the eye, in my opinion it's very aesthetic.

One thing I did notice was the lack of communication in their comment section. (Photo pictured in the bottom left.) After scrolling through multiple posts. I came across a collaboration with basketball star, Sabrina Lonescu. Where I found the first comment Nike had engaged with, oddly enough it happened to be with the Oregon football team (@OregonFootball) who has 608,000 followers. They simply commented 3 fire emojis and Nike liked the comment. Above the comment is @Coventry.Summer who has 52 followers and asked a question about their clothing. “Do u make trousers for girls with legs 31 inch and over”. This was a pretty broad question, and maybe not the right post to comment on since they were talking about basketball shoes. But a simple yes or no would have been helpful to that customer. It doesn't matter how many followers they have. If I was the brand manager I would have tried to answer the question and liked a few more comments, no matter how popular they are! 

Overall I still am a fan of Nike and their Instagram. Through this assignment I took my knowledge from class and noticed how Nike is trying to explain there value proposition and making there content remarkable. Not trying to sell their products.