Source: black-history-month
I typically look at the websites of brands prior to writing a post. When brands fail to clarify the concepts behind their products, at that point I will create an analysis that allows for a discussion on marketing and branding. My business is built on my ability to help companies, and most recently students, to recognize the power of long form content development as a more consistent marketing strategy.
In my original analysis of New Balance, I panned the brand, because I didn’t research. New Balance’s PR team delivered the original page for their collection without any discussion of why and how their first BHM Collection was created. I have contacts at New Balance and I could have asked a few questions, but I didn’t. The brand has since adjusted the copy of the page and in every article I’ve seen since I wrote my original post about the BHM Collection every website is making sure to list that New Balance’s BHM Collection was created by this team and how this is a first in the industry:
In other words, I’m willing to be wrong if the outcome is the correct celebration of the designers and teams behind the products we wear.
This post is about Nike and their BHM Collection. Yesterday I was contacted by a peer of mine who went in on Nike and their collection. It was a very similar position I initially held on New Balance. What I realized was his anger and frustration was a symptom of the disconnected nature of big companies.
A design team sits with athletes to create a product. That design team more than likely never sits down with the marketing team. If they do, then that group probably never sits with the PR team. There are three different divisions that operate independent of each other when a product is made. This doesn’t include the CX/UX tech department who has to generate the design of the website. That’s 4 departments involved in the roll out of a product. When you factor in that a product is being created to celebrate Black History you have to consider that a team has to be put together for this isolated event.
My peer spoke about the design elements of the shoes created for Nike’s BHM. He didn’t speak about the people featured in the campaign around BHM. There is a reason for this. There isn’t a quick and straightforward way to track down the source link for this article. The story around why Nike built this BHM Collection is buried within its site. They created a compelling concept, they wrote about the concept and they even did something that I haven’t seen since Under Armour’s use of Saul Williams in a marketing campaign. They had Amada Gorman craft a poem for the Until We All Win mantra. Maybe it’s the MFA in Creative Writing in me that has an amazing level of respect for this moment, but at any point where poetry can be tied into sports I’m all for it.
The Nike campaign is taking a key cities approach to supporting African-Americans by utilizing community activist in Chicago and Los Angeles. The problem is the average person looking for information will probably never stumble on the news pages brands create. The average person will visit the website homepage of a brand after using a search engine. When that potential customer visits that homepage on Nike’s site they won’t find anything about the Black History Month collection. Nike has however added a wealth of information inside of their digital apps. When you scroll through the app the BHM Collection narrative is readily available.
There is always an inherent issue with commodifying culture, but me and my peers owe it to the people we reach to make sure we have all of the details even when the companies fail to make the details readily available. The design of the shoes around Nike’s collection is one thing, the meaning behind the collection is what’s most important.