Nike eyes marketing moment at the Olympics, as industry execs sound off on the brand’s challenges
The Olympic Games is undeniably a major brand marketer moment. And lately, marketers have been eyeing everything from women’s sports to Formula One races as opportunities for growth, making sports marketing more competitive than ever.
Still, brands are throwing money at the games, including the likes of Powerade, Reese’s, Old El Paso and, of course, Nike. The athletic retailer in particular has already shelled out nearly $143 million in advertising dollars from January through May this year, even before the Olympic Games start, according to data from MediaRadar. That figure is up 10% year over year from the $130 million spent during the same period in 2023.
Nike, which didn’t respond to comment on this story, told Reuters that this year’s Olympics were its “biggest” spend yet. In 2021, Nike spent an estimated $39 million on advertising during the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, per MediaRadar’s data.
The Olympic moment comes at a time that is all too critical for a brand like Nike, which some industry experts say is pressured to improve its standing among consumers after seeing a dip in sales as of late.
The 60-year-old retailer faces challenges on more than one front. Full-year revenue (the fiscal year ended May 31 for the company) was up just 1% to $51.4 billion compared to $51.2 billion in 2023, per the company’s earnings report. Meanwhile, fourth-quarter revenues were $12.6 billion, down 2% on a reported basis and flat on a currency-neutral basis, per the report. Nike’s digital sales have also been lagging, dipping 3% year over year from the third quarter of fiscal 2023 to the third quarter of fiscal 2024, marking the retailer’s first digital decline in nine years. Nike is said to have invested too much, too quickly in its direct-to-consumer business, which has become a scapegoat for its poor performance, as ModernRetail reported. In the face of financial headwinds, the company has gone through a series of layoffs to cut costs.
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