Gordon added, “Even in the face of potential backlash, they support their athlete partners, and that’s an incredibly powerful statement to the athlete community.”
Impact on the Business
Nike stock prices immediately fell following the ad, dropping by 3 percent Tuesday.
Neil Saunders, the managing director of GlobalData, a data and analytics firm, called the Kaepernick ad “commercially imprudent.”
He said, “Nike’s campaign will generate both attention and discussion, which is, arguably, one of its central aims. However, it is also a risky strategy in that it addresses, and appears to take sides on, a highly politicized issue. This means it could ultimately alienate and lose customers, which is not the purpose of a marketing campaign.”
Others say that with $34.5 billion in 2017 revenue, the company doesn’t need to worry about losing some customers. Allen Adamson, the co-founder of marketing firm Metaforce. He said, “What you stand for is almost as important as what you make. It’s a polarized marketplace. No matter what you do, you offend some people. They’re focused on what they stand for, and if that upsets some users, so be it.”
