For companies with an established brand it can be beneficial for the company to coincide its mission with that of a social issue. This mutually beneficial mission is good for the company, because it can improve the brand equity of the company. Brand equity is the added value of brand for consumers and stakeholders beyond the functional value of the products produced under the brand name (Kerin, 284). This partnership is also beneficial for the social problem, because it increases the public's awareness of the social issue. Through the combination of efforts the hope is that there will be increased awareness for both the company and the social issue.
NIKE, Inc. has utilized the power of its brand to promote awareness of the capacity of girls to enable global change. The Nike Foundation along with other partners including NoVo Foundation and the United Nations Foundation created a collaboration known as The Girl Effect in 2005.
The mission of The Girl Effect is: "Change the world for girls and enable girls in their unique capacity to change the world" (Girl Effect).
In order to support the values outlined in their mission the Girl Effect has established the long term goal of providing 250 million girls living in poverty globally with access to the assets that they need to reach their full potential (Girl Effect).
The Girl Effect provides the empowerment of girls as a tool for overcoming global poverty. The Girl Effect in many ways functions in a way that is similar to the ripple effect. If you act now and educate and empower girls you are not only improving the quality of life that those girls are able to lead, but you are also empowering the children that those girls may someday have. The Girl Effect establishes that change starts with a girl.
By connecting their brand to this social issue Nike is able to promote the empowerment of all women and girls. Empowering girls provides those girls with the tools to change the world. Through the empowerment of girls globally Nike is able to develop a brand personality that is associated with empowerment, strength and endurance not only in the athletic market segment, but also expanding into the female market segment.
Nike associates it's brand with the empowerment of women not only through its continued support of The Girl Effect, but also through advertisements meant to emphasize the power of girls and women. Nike is able to expand their target market to include women and girls and by doing so the company is able to expand its product mix to include a product line that is specifically intended for women and girls (Kerin, 250).
The collaboration of the marketing mix and social issues is not only good for the development of brand equity, but it is also good for the moral development of the world. Connecting a brand with a social issue is one approach that can be used to promote social change through marketing.
Works Cited
"The Girl Effect." The Girl Effect. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2015. http://www.girleffect.org/ .
Kerin, Roger A., Steven W. Hartley, and William Rudelius. Marketing. 12th ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education, 2015.
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