In 2012, when Nike Australia wanted to focus on women's running they approached US Sydney about finding an event to sponsor. But in looking at the events and sponsorship opportunities available, I quickly realised that if Nike were serious about getting into women's running, the last thing they should do is sponsor someone else's event. They were Nike after all.
So I persuaded Nike to change tack and create an owned event that not only cemented Nike in the minds of women's running in Australia, but became a global Nike running platform that was exported to markets around the world. As a bonus, we received a Cannes Lion and a few strategy and media awards to boot.
A great example of always remembering who you are as a brand and how to make a statement in a market you want to dominate.
The Nike brand was strong within the running market, but Asics had a slight edge in shoe sales, especially female shoes. Although Nike always designed shoes specifically for women’s feet, it had never communicated exclusively to females in Australia. According to research firm GfK, even though Nike was the top consideration for female runners, Asics was seen as the running specialist and the brand most likely to be recommended to others.
Nike needed to find a way to connect with female runners and get them talking about Nike.
We started by speaking with young females who took their running seriously and it became apparent running appeared to be an individual pursuit dominated by men. Women had a tendency to run alone, often left to overcome their fears and achieve their goals by themselves. This seemed at odds with women’s natural inclination to discuss and share experiences.
The big insight was that young women runners lacked something fundamental to the female psyche: a forum to communicate, achieve goals and conquer barriers together.
Thus an idea was born: create a community for young females bound by a passion for running.
The strategy was to use real female runners as the primary channel to promote and grow the community - a significant departure for Nike from elite athlete-led communication in Australia. Channel imperatives employed were:
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Physical running communities – created for authenticity,
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Digital communities – necessary to match young female social behaviours,
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Mobile interactivity – essential given high usage by runners, and
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Advertising – placed in female worlds, not running worlds, shattering the male-dominated norms.
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‘She Runs’ was one of the most successful campaigns of 2012. It the power of a culturally connected idea – one that built a community, shifted brand perceptions and ultimately changed how people talk about the product while exceeding KPIs:
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A community of 54,762 female runners was built (83% more than KPI),
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98% of the digital community,positively engaged with Nike (40% more than KPI), and
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90% of runners surveyed via Facebook intend to run the race again this year (13% more than KPI).
Nike didn't commission research to gauge a shift in brand preference, but sales targets were hit and key shoe styles sold out. We set out to shake up running for women and ended up sparking a movement that unleashed a powerful, thriving community – a community that’s still running today.
