The Genius of Nike’s ‘Dream Crazy’ Campaign Starring Colin Kaepernick
The below is an extract of a research essay on Nike’s advertising campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick and its contextual basis. To read the full essay with sources please contact the author using the contact page.
Nike’s campaign narrative is of a courageous dreamer who is battling the odds to see their vision of the world materialise. This is in tandem with Nike’s current and older tagline of ‘Just Do It’, which in part, is a clarion call to be more motivated, healthy, fit, and achieve greatness through sport. In this sense ‘Just Do It’ and ‘Dream Crazy’ contrast yet complement, as the former is an imperative, while the latter is aligning itself to social justice personalities seeking a more equitable world. This bandwagoning supplants Nike’s need to engineer a narrative, but instead, places the weight of the brand behind the brand ambassador. This thematically contextualises Nike through its associations.
Nike’s brand image is one of a journey, where the products allow for self-actualization. One can become a leading athlete through Nike products. The uniqueness of Dream Crazy’s concept is one of context and co-authoring, regarding Colin Kaepernick, and the corporation’s demographics.
The campaign’s specific narrative is that of a personal and professional journey of Colin Kaepernick, an American sportsman in the NFL, who took a knee during the national anthem prior to a game in Aug 2016. Although his protest initially went unnoticed. It was on the third week he began to gain media attention where he commented;
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”
Colin Kaepernick
His protest was in response to ongoing police brutality against the black community in the United States, but more specifically from the death of Mario Woods, some eight months prior to his actions. It had also coincided with his efforts to build a grassroots organisation aimed at empowering Black and Brown communities, named Know Your Rights Camp.
Kaepernick’s stand for civil rights led to a nationwide debate in America on the involvement of politics in sport and what is deemed appropriate behavior. Such was the intensity of the debate, there were calls to suspend him from the sport. The NFL neutrally supported his actions by saying “: “Players are encouraged but not required to stand during the playing of the national anthem.”. Pressure on Kaepernick increased when President Trump labeled his actions as “unpatriotic”, Kaepernick later said;
“.. If they take football away, my endorsements from me, I know that I stood up for what is right.”
Colin Kaepernick
Soon after, Kaepernick withdrew from his team’s contract. Acting as a free agent, his Nike sponsorship contract came up for renewal in Jan 2018 and it was announced that he would be starring in Nike’s 30th Anniversary campaign. Judging by the timing of this event and Nike’s apparent delay in renewing Kaepernick’s brand contract, one can surmise that Nike was not hesitant to renew but instead surveying the media/news landscape.
While the general public was divided on these actions, Nike’s customer demographics were divergent, with a majority of 18 to 34 years olds feeling the moral message, topic recency, and social issues were appealing. Compared to the general US population, Nike’s customers are more ethnically diverse, more likely to be urban, and likely to be liberal in their politics see Figure 1 below.
Figure 1
(Graphic and data from YouGov, 2018)
Through the use of several athletes, the short-film reiterates the notion of breaking the status quo through action. Serena Williams is featured, who is well-known to have overcome the disadvantages of living in a lower economically classed neighbourhood in Compton, New York, to become a world-class tennis player. Nike’s transition to social justice is admittedly controversial as spoken by Phil Knight, the founder of the company:
“It doesn’t matter how many people hate your brand as long as enough people love it. And as long as you have that attitude, you can’t be afraid of offending people. You can’t try and go down the middle of the road. You have to take a stand on something, which is ultimately I think why the Kaepernick ad worked.”
Nike CEO and Founder Phil Knight
Phil Knight’s comments were referencing the performance of the ad, not the ethical stance the company had on justice or freedom. Given Nike’s history of using sweatshops in developing countries to make premium-grade sports apparel, it does lead the avid skeptic to ponder the motivations for using this narrative, given the company had previously used questionable labour practices for decades. In light of this, there are two interpretations, the first being the company has reformed and now seeks to be a force for good, or alternatively, the company has identified a belief strongly held by its customer profile, and so, seeks to cater to that belief. If the latter is true then it would suggest that the commodification of the social sphere would be the next brand battleground.
The short-film successfully highlights the inequality that is met by certain communities within the United States, it also points to a potential grassroots activist seen through Kapaernick, where followers can be drawn to. Through this, the brand emanates positive, humanistic tones that can attract its core clientele, but naturally draws ire from the wider public.
Communication techniques
The phrase ‘Dream Crazy’ is grammatically incomplete, and its meaning is implicit to the internal group, but not explicit to the external group. This could, at least in part, explain the general public’s dislike for this campaign as it’s immediate meaning may not be understood. If the phrase is transformed to be grammatically complete while also merging its decoded meaning and ‘Just Do It’, it would become ‘Follow your dreams, for no matter how crazy, they can come true”. That said, the use of the adjective crazy to describe dreams when ‘one’s wildest dreams’ is more commonly collated is an interesting twist.
The video, however, moves away from these ideas of the perfect olympian and instead shows people who are now considered to be marginalised for one reason or another. Images of a skateboarder, a legless wrestler, a hijab-wearing boxer, and an NFL player with one hand. All the while, the phrase, ‘Believe in something even if it means sacrificing everything’, uttered by Kaepernick. The direct support of the marginalised, humiliated, dismissed, which culminates to create a spur to action to break the status quo and challenge accepted norms and values. In this way, the ad is challenging accepted values.
Co-creational techniques
In the case of Dream Crazy, Nike managed to reverse the campaign design process where it matched its objectives, narratives, and strategy to an existing social narrative. In this way, Nike is not the lead author of the narrative but a community member who is supportive of a wider social justice issue. In this way, Nike’s activism for equality appears more authentic, grassroots-driven, and the communication symmetry between the company and its customers is more equal. The firm appears to hear the concerns of its customers and goes on to support causes near to their interests. This has resulted in the firm being an extension of its customers’ values, and effectively shorthand identification for socio-political issues. This strategy is highly effective and is a showcase for corporate activism.
The immediate backlash to the campaign on social media had worried investors, with Nike’s share price falling in the first few days after the campaign was released. Many posters on Twitter had created the handle #JustDont or #BoycottNike to oppose the company’s campaign, with some even posting videos of them destroying or burning Nike branded products. As time passed, it became apparent the divergent views of the public and from those on social media and so the company’s share prices subsequently rose. Despite this initial negativity, the campaign grew.
Months after the campaign, the hashtag #DreamCrazy is still being used on Twitter to describe people who are breaking convention or the status quo in their field. From a co-creational perspective, the concept is one that can be applied throughout society where people feel underrepresented, disenfranchised, and working their best to make their life, and that of others, more equitable.