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When Advertising Boosts Morale

By: Dwayne W. Waite Jr.

Brand loyalty is something that every organization wants. The idea of having a consumer who will choose your brand regardless of what the other brands are offering is one that business owners drool over. In some industries, creating that loyalty is easier than others. In the commodity market, creating such a concept is nearly impossible. What about the fitness industry? In the past few years the fitness industry has been boosting its efforts to control certain niches of the fitness community. The efforts have recently exploded, from Reebok and Crossfit to Asics and Track & Field and New Balance and running. These brands have attempted to establish brand loyalty through associating themselves with certain activities, and promoting themselves to people who engage in those activities. Not a bad concept, but is it the most effective?

We think they are on the right track, but there are two brands that are ahead of the curve.

First, let's take a look at Nike+. Nike is encouraging those who use Nike+ shoes and accessories to join its communities and track activity. According to its website, over 3.5 billion steps have been taken and counting. Along with that, Nike+ tracks calories burned, Nike+ fuel used, goals hit, achievements, and miles run all on its website. Members of this community get to add their numbers to the community and be counted with the thousands of others using the same gear. Also on the site, members can challenge friends, share running routes and workout routines, and compete with anyone on the site.

Next, let's take a look at Under Armour's newest campaign. It is called "What's Beautiful" and its goal is to have a competition amongst female athletes, and have them join a community of female athletes where they must complete 19 challenges in order to win prizes. The women must state a goal they want to accomplish, and the competition is set up to not only push themselves, but to push, compete, and encourage the other women athletes around them. The competition is supposed to last for 9 weeks, but we have a feeling that the community will far outlast the campaign.

These two examples are slightly different than the activities we mentioned in the opener. These two brands are creating actual online communities that are center around their brands. CrossFit, although it got a boost from Reebok, was already there. Asics had the track and field market before it started its national campaign. But the "female athlete" and the "Nike+" community are examples of how brands can create positive communities. When brands can foster competition, enthusiasm, self-improvement, and other qualities, loyalty to those brands can be very easy to cultivate.

When advertising boosts morale, and makes people give to something that is bigger than themselves, that is when brands can build loyal communities.

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About the Author

Dwayne W. Waite Jr. is partner and principal at JDW: The Charlotte Agency, a marketing and advertising shop in Charlotte, NC. He enjoys consumer behavior, economics, and football.

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