Nike’s Just Do It: Advertisement and Communication Models Essay

Introduction

Advertisement is a form of non personal communication of which the main purpose is to create sales. It also promotes sales of ideas, services and goods to corporate or the general public. There are several forms of advertisement which include print media, television, radio and the internet. The role of advertisement is communication with the consumers, persuasion of the consumers and it also contributes to the economic growth of the country (Barthes 2003, p. 16).

There are several factors to look for when placing an advertisement which include, age, gender and class of the targeted group of audience. The cost of the advertisement also affects the kind of advertisement one place (Barthes 2003, p. 16). Advertisements have a lot of impact to the general public and as such the corporate world is moving to advertise their products especially new products brought into the markets in any of the forms mentioned above if not all (Barthes 2003, p. 16).

Thesis statement

With reference to the given question, this paper will discuss the main theories of how advertising works. In addition to that, this paper will analyze a current advertising campaign and apply a theory will be most appropriate.

Discussion

Nike is a United States company that deal with footwear, clothing, sportswear and sports equipment. The company launched an advertisement campaign that was dubbed, “just do it”. According to the directors of the company, the “just do it campaign” was launched in 1988 after a meeting was held between the directors of the company and a group of employee who were selected from a couple of its branches all across the United States of America (Saussure 2011, p. 27).

In a statement by one of the employees who attended the meeting, the main theme of the slogan was born when one of the attendees of the meeting shouted “YOU NIKE GUYS, YOU JUST DO IT”, and as such the slogan got a name.

After the launch of the campaign, it did not do very well in the marketing industry compared to its rivals Reebok. It was until 1997 when the campaign became a major milestone in the marketing industry which translated to the sales of products worth over 9.2billion dollars by then end of the year (Saussure 2011, p. 28).

AIDA Communication model

This is a communication model that involves the attraction of consumers. This is where consumers and customers of your products are attracted to the type of advertisement that is placed by the companies. By attracting the consumer, the advertisement will be able to pass the intended message to the consumers and customers (Freeman 2000, p. 10).

The other aim of this communication model is the interest of the consumers. The specific companies must be able to incorporate the interests of the consumers which are to be reflected in the advertisement. By this, the companies will be able to attract the attention of the consumers to the advertisements thereby passing the intended message. In addition to that, this communication model must be able to reflect the desires of the consumers and customer in the advertisement (Freeman 2000, p. 15).

The advertisement must be able to incorporate the customers’ desires in that it must have the standard of the consumers and must reflect their needs. By an advertisement being able to do this, it will be able to pass the intended message to that consumers and customers (Lewis 2007, p. 15). The advertisement must also give an action that the target consumers and customer must be able to accomplish when wanting the advertised products (Lewis 2007, p. 15).

The advertisement must give an action that the specific companies intended the customers to take (Narula 2006, p. 36). For example if the advertisement is about a website, the advertisement must tell the target group of customer and customers how they will be able to visit that specific website and give the procedures (Narula 2006, p. 38).

LAVIDES AND STEINER Communication model

This communication model involves the process of awareness. By this, the advertisement must be able to alert the consumers and customers of the existence of the product. In addition to that, the advertisement must show the specific consumers and customers the knowledge (Bollig 2006, p. 45). This is where the consumers and customers have to be shown the features and uses of the product that is being advertised by the companies (Bollig 2006, p. 42).

Another thing about this model is that, the customers and consumers must show a favourable attitude towards the advertisement for it to be able to pass the intended message. The other feature of this communication model is that, the consumers and customers must develop a preference for the product that is being advertised over other products from different companies.

For the advertisement to be effective it must be able to convince the consumers and customer to purchase the specific product that is being advertised. It must also make sure that the customer makes the actual purchase (Bollig 2006, p. 46).

DAGMAR Communication model

This communication model involves the awareness of the consumers and customers to the products being advertised. This is where the specific advertisement must be able to make the customer aware of the product that is being advertised by the companies. The advertisement must also be comprehensive in that it makes the consumer and customer fully aware of the product that is being advertised (Drewniany 2010, p. 21).

In addition to that, the advertisement must also be able to emotionally connect with the consumers and customers to make them able to prefer that specific product from the others that are being advertised. Also at this stage, the specific companies must be able to know whether the products being advertised are actually being purchased by the consumers and customers (Drewniany 2010, p. 22).

ATR Communication model

In this communication model, the advertisement must make the consumer and customer aware of the use of the product and how it works. The advertisement must also show how the trials of the specific products have gone and how they are fairing on (Jones 1998, p. 12).

The advertisement in question must also be able to reinforce the faith of the consumers and customers towards the product that is being advertised and it must show how the specific produ2cts are suited for the specific consumers and customers (Jones 1998, p. 12).

ATRN Communication model

This being the last communication model, the advertisement must make the consumer and customer aware of the use of the product and how it works. The advertisement must also show how the trials of the specific products have gone and how they are fairing on (Fowler 2007, p. 68).

The advertisement in question must also be able to reinforce the faith of the consumers and customers towards the product that is being advertised and it must show how the specific products are suited for the specific consumers and customers (Tellis 2004, p. 29).

How one of the communication model applies to the advertisement chosen

The communication model that may most suit the advertisement chosen, is AIDA Communication model because when Nike launched the “just do it ” campaign, they intended to attract the consumers and customers to the advertisement. When one hears a slogan that says “just do it”, one is attracted and must look to see what it is talking about because it has that appeal that attracts the attention of everyone.

Nike also incorporated the interests of the consumers and customers when they came up with the slogan of “just do it.” In this I mean, when Nike decides to put that slogan in their campaign, it targeted all age groups of people in that they were able to take the interest of the people of all age groups and incorporated them in one advertisement that will be able to be viewed by all the consumers and customers. Nike also attracted the consumers and customers through the advertisement which was able to pass the intended message to the consumers and customers.

Nike was also able to incorporate the interests of the consumers and customers which were reflected in the advertisement. By this, Nike was able to attract the attention of the consumers and customers to the advertisements thereby passing the intended message. In addition to that, Nike was able to reflect the desires of the consumers and customer in the advertisement.

The advertisement also incorporated the customers’ desires in that it must have the standard of the consumers and must reflect their needs. By the Nike advertisement being able to do this, it was able to pass the intended message to that consumers and customers. The advertisement must also give an action that the target consumers and customer must be able to accomplish when wanting the advertised products. The advertisement must give an action that the specific companies intended the customers to take.

Conclusion

From this analysis, it is clear that the use of advertisements is the most effective because it helps in the passing of the intended message to the target group/audience. Also we see that the use of distinct colour in the advertisements is very effective because by this we see that when one uses the bright colours, they attract the human eye and in the process passing on the intended message to the target group/audience.

The use of more than one language, topology and colour techniques in advertisement is also very important because it helps in the passing of the message intended more effectively as compared to the other types of advertisements.

Advertisements also promote sales of ideas, services and goods to corporate or the general public. There are several forms of advertisement which include print media, television, radio and the internet. The role of advertisement is communication with the consumers, persuasion of the consumers and it also contributes to the economic growth of the country.

References

Barthes, R (2003), Mythologies, John Wiley and Sons, London.

Bollig, B (2006), Formal models of communicating systems, Oxford University Press, London.

Drewniany, L (2010), Creative Strategy in Advertising, Columbia University Press, New York.

Fowler, D (2007), How advertising works, Cengage learning, London.

Freeman, D (2000), Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching, Oxford University Press, London.

Jones, P (1998), How advertising works, Cengage learning, London.

Lewis, J (2007), Typography: Design and Practice, Jeremy Mills Publishing, Huddersfield.

Narula, U (2006), Communication Models, John Wiley and sons, London.

Saussure, F (2011), Course in General Linguistics, Columbia University Press, New York.

Tellis, G (2004), Effective advertising, John Wiley and Sons, London.