LAST CHANCE:

Seven passes left to attend the Digiday Publishing Summit

SECURE YOUR SEAT

Worth Reading: Nike’s Media End-Around

Nike has long been the epitome of the brand marketer, creator of iconic campaigns like “Bo Knows” and “Just Do It.” But for years now, Nike has shifted away from the top-down traditional media approach. The seminal moment in this can probably be traced back to 2007, when Nike Marketing Chief Trevor Edwards declared in The New York Times, “We’re not in the business of keeping the media companies alive.” Translation: We can build direct connections with consumers. Nike’s walked the walk, according to a Fortune feature article, cutting TV ad spending 40 percent over the last three years. Nike Plus was the shining example of that. Now Nike is doubling down on the Plus approach with Nike Digital Sport, which has given birth to the ambitious FuelBand, a wristband that collects all manner of data relating to the wearer’s activity.

The reason for the shift is simple: Nike is going where its customer is. And its core customer, a 17-year-old who spends 20 percent more on shoes than his adult counterparts, has given up television to skip across myriad online communities. Not only does Nike think it can do without the mega-TV campaigns of old, it says the digital world allows the brand to interact even more closely with its consumers—maybe as closely as it did in its early days, when founder Phil Knight sold track shoes out of his car in the 1960s. That’s a major change, Nike CEO Mark Parker explained to Fortune during a recent interview in his tchotchke-filled office in Beaverton, Ore. “Connecting used to be, ‘Here’s some product, and here’s some advertising. We hope you like it,'” he says. “Connecting today is a dialogue.”

Read the full Fortune article on its website.

 

More in Media

More money is flowing into creator marketing — just not directly to creators

Creators’ strategy regarding holiday marketing spending has shifted significantly, according to Collective Voice’s Holiday 2025 Creator Commerce Report. Sponsored content, once the lifeblood of creators’ brand revenue, is no longer the centerpiece, with 70 percent of creators saying traditional sponsored posts will make up less than a quarter of their holiday content. 

Fortnite advertising friction: creators say brands are wasting money on custom maps

As ad dollars pour into Fortnite, creators warn that advertisers may be overspending. Five Fortnite creators and talent managers told Digiday that they believe brands are overspending on the platform by focusing their efforts on custom-branded maps, rather than integrations into pre-existing popular experiences.

Overheard during the Digiday publisher town hall

Revenue optimization, dealing with DSPs and SSPs and AI were top of mind for publishers during Digiday’s virtual town hall event.