Efflic Idnomo
Marketing: Current Affairs Campaign
October 28, 2013

To coincide with the release of the LeBron 11—the eleventh installment of LeBron James’ signature basketball shoes—Nike Incorporated has released an internet commercial named Training day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmWMz10Ftko. The commercial begins with a small group of children waiting for James outside his house on their bicycles. James joins them and together they begin a procession that has James cycle, jog, swim in the ocean, practice privately at the Miami Heat’s facilities and play pick-up basketball outdoors before returning to his home. Throughout the commercial, the number of people following James grows.
The commercial serves two purposes—it enhances James’ personal brand and introduces the LeBron 11. There is a great balance and contrast in the way the two aims are achieved and interwoven in the commercial. James’ personal branding is obvious while the messages geared towards selling of the shoes are more subtle. The portrayal of James is as excellent as it is effective. The superstar is portrayed as connected to his city and to the people living in it. The choice of the physical activities—cycling, swimming and jogging—allows the commercial to advertise some of the highlights in Miami, especially the weather and the ocean. The commercial also promotes socially-laudable messages like healthy living through exercise and environmentally-friendly ways of travel. Moreover, the cyclists all don helmets which promotes safety.
There are elements in the commercial that portray traits that make James a great basketball player and person. His competitive edge is apparent when he outduels one of his followers in a brief cycling sprint yet acknowledges the challenger’s efforts with a handshake. He then outsprints everyone to the ocean and joins a pick-up game after watching one of the initial participants dunk and hang on to the rim. After the pick-up game, James graciously offers his shoes to the challenger. His persistence and perseverance is also apparent when he is frustrated about not making a shot when practicing privately and pounds his hand into the wall in frustration, yet he tries again and again. These instances are great for James’ brand.
The marketing of the LeBron 11 is also impressive. The timing of the commercial comes two days before the start of the NBA season which is bound to keep the shoes in people’s minds as the season starts. The October release, a month in which breast cancer awareness is prominent, allows the commercial to prominently feature the color pink associated with the breast cancer cause and portray both James and Nike in good stead. More importantly, however, is the great targeting that the commercial does. The basketball market is primarily for teens and young adults and both figure prominently in the commercial as James’ followers. Moreover, there is a more-than-subtle attempt to include females in strategic times in the commercial which implicitly targets females yet does not blunt the affiliation of the shoes with males who are the main target market.
The commercial also shows the different shades in which the shoes come. There are two instances when the shoes are on prominent displays—when James tows the line before shooting a free throw and when he gives out a pair of his shoes away after the pick-up game. The shoes portrayed in both are of different colors suggesting the diversity in the product offering. The song played in the commercial complements everything well. It describes the hard process of becoming great at something and also includes the words “my shoes.” These lyrics simultaneously associate James with greatness and explicitly mention the product being sold.
The one thing the commercial could have done better pertains to the first aim of promoting James personal brand. While James is shown as involved with the people, he only does so on his own terms. Three specific areas convey this shortcoming: the opening of the commercial when the kids wait outside his house; the guard halting the entire procession as James goes to practice privately as everyone else waits; and the closure of James’ gates at the end when everyone is left out. The message of togetherness between James and the people could have been enhanced had James invited at least a few of the people into those private sessions or the scenes where everyone waited for him excluded all together. In my opinion, that minor oversight is the only flaw in an otherwise effective marketing ploy that both promotes James’ personal brand and effectively targets the intended consumers of the LeBron 11 .