The Jordan brand showed how sports could unify people behind athletes though the power of marketing (“How Michael Jordan’s Nike Deal Changed Sports Marketing Forever”).
Nike wanted to innovate advertising by capturing Jordan’s true character. His products were directly tied to him and his beliefs, which was very powerful for consumers. Nike wanted an athlete that would stir up emotion and that the public would love, and that person was Michael Jordan. Consumers stood behind the Jordan brand because they felt a connection to him as an athlete (Willigan).
“Michael Jordan had the internal fire of a great athlete and an accessible personality – one the consumer could either relate to or aspire to possess” (Davis 87).
Consumers aspired to be like Jordan because they related to the values and personality conveyed in Nike ads (Davis 85). This caused consumers to believe they could be like Jordan by buying into his brand. The innovative advertising of Jordan was exemplified in Nike’s line “Be Like Mike” and in the notion of the jumping man icon who transcended boundaries. This ad shows how Jordan was an athlete fans could connect with and aspire to be like (“How Michael Jordan’s Nike Deal Changed Sports Marketing Forever”).
Gatorade’s annual revenues increased from $681 million to over $1 billion after the release of this commercial (Cortsen).
This type of marketing strategy of connecting the athlete to the consumer was one that many took from Nike’s campaigns with Jordan. It was an award winning tactic that allowed fans to connect to athletes and promoted the athlete’s products and brand. The strategy shows how the Jordan brand impacted the marketing of sports.