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Ever since 1988, when Walt Stack ran across the Golden Gate Bridge in Nike’s first commercial, Just Do It has been the tagline and philosophy that propelled Nike to become an iconic global brand. Now almost 40 years later, Nike is aiming to remind a new generation what Just Do It actually means. The brands newest campaign is called Why do it?, and it takes aim at the pervasiveness of cringe culture, which often frames earnest effort as uncool. Those three words mean so much to us, but we can’t just be holier-than-thou about it, says Nike chief marketing officer Nicole Graham. We have to make sure that those three words are resonating with each generation. Narrated by Tyler the Creator, the new campaigns marquee ad features LeBron James and Caitlin Clark, Philadelphia Eagles Saquon Barkley, Real Madrid and Brazil soccer star Vini Jr., skateboarder Rayssa Leal, and more. As these athletes line up shots, attempt moves, and push themselves, Tylers voiceover asks: Why do it? Why would you make it harder on yourself? Why chance it? Why put it on the line? With so much at stake. With so much room to fail. Why risk it? Why would you dare? Seriously, why?! You could give everything you have and still lose. But my question is, what if you dont? That last question is a valid one, and one Nike is looking to answer itself as it battles recent sales dips, and defends its top dog brand status among teens as competitors like On and Adidas continue to gain market share. Carlos Alcaraz [Photo: Nike] Competing with cringe Cringe has become a defining attitude associated with Gen Z. It takes traditional self-conscious uncertainty and injects it with the steroids of social media and meme culture. This is where Graham sees an opportunity to put new meaning behind Nikes holy words. Fear of failure and fear of trying, and terms like, Don’t be a try-hard, You’re so cringe, are all reserved for anyone who is showing passion for something, she says. So we wanted to take those three words and make sure were contemporizing the values of what they mean. Tara Davis-Woodhall [Photo: Nike] Asking “Why Do It?” is using the language of the brand to create new meaning, turning cringe on its head, and showing that earnest effort is actually not cringe at all. It has never been about a trophy or a win. It has always been about celebrating those who are brave enough to do it. It might mean just take the step out there. It might mean just lace up for the first time. It might mean trying to make the team, she says. We felt like it was time to just remind people to just take the step out there. Rayssa Leal [Photo: Nike] Shifting gears The Swoosh has been working on a major turnaround for the past two years, trying to reverse losses inflicted by a failed shift to direct-to-consumer back in 2021. Graham was named CMO in late 2023, and Elliott Hill was named new CEO in September 2024. In June, the company reported that 2024 Q4 sales dropped by about 12% to $11.10B from $12.61B a year earlier. Nike has said that 2025 would be a transition year for the company, and its stock is up by almost 2% year-to-date. Graham says this new campaign is just one part of a broader global effort, as the company shifts back to dividing itself into teams focusing on specific sports. Under former CEO John Donahoe, Nike’s strategy to grow its lifestyle business was to segment its business by womens, mens, and kids. The company announced on August 28th that it expected to layoff about 1% of its corporate staff, as a result of the realignment. Shreyas Iyer [Photo: Nike] I see already how quickly that success can happen, and the momentum right now is insane, she says. The running team was the first, and then the football team, now basketball and cricket. We have made this large company feel very, very small and intimate, so I’m incredibly excited and optimistic. Going deep on each sport is the lens through which the brands overall philosophy is filtered. Thats where this new campaign comes in. That attitude is meant to have what Graham calls three different gears: Showing up at live sports, being a part of big sport moments that are important to fan sub cultures, and being present in the communities where consumers live and play. This translates to everything from major leagues, to putting on local events like the recent One Global tournament in NYC or the Mamba League Invitational in LA. Or having fun in big moments, like taking the cupcakes out of Columbus bakeries to show that the Ohio State vs. Texas football game wasnt an easy, early season cupcake game. Nike has to be at the global stage, but we also have to be at the street corner at the same time, says Graham. You can start your new year with a cupcake, or you can put it all on the line. Texas and Ohio State know their choice. pic.twitter.com/Z8bArQq0WK— Nike Football (@usnikefootball) August 29, 2025 Everyday greatness Why Do It? has great potential to both combat the impacts of cringe. It could also help Nike create balance between celebrating the giants of sport and highlighting the heroics of the everyday athlete. After all, Walt Stack wasnt a household name. Some of Nikes most creative work hasnt featured a single pro athlete. For every Its Gotta Be The Shoes there is Jogger. The latter, narrated by Jude Law, is a 2012 spot that is just a kid jogging along an empty road. No hype soundtrack. No eye-catching visuals. Just the sound of shuffling feet, and a masterclass in advertising copywriting. Nike has always done an incredible job of intertwining everyday people into the fabric of its epic sports stories. With Why Do It? the brand has an opportunity to tap back into the emotions involved in trying a new sport, or lacing up day-in and day-out when no one is watching. We have to make sure that we’re heroing our biggest athletes and making them feel accessible, but we also have to take accessible individuals and make them feel like heroes, says Graham. We need to always be playing that balance.
Category:
E-Commerce
Small businesses are committing more money to marketing this year than last, but surprisingly few have any confidence that their investment is paying offeven as more report using new tools like artificial intelligence to help boost their efforts. The latest State of Small Business Marketing report from Constant Contact finds that just 18% of small business owners are very confident that their marketing is effective, down from 27% in 2024. Thats despite the fact that 37% of the more than 2,500 businesses surveyed said they had increased their marketing budgets for the year. Small businesses feel optimisticand under pressure Small businesses are under real pressure to see positive results from their marketing, but many feel like they are doing more without getting more back, said Smita Wadhawan, chief marketing officer at Constant Contact, in a statement. Overall, the report found that the majority of small business owners in the U.S. are most likely to say they are not confident at all that their marketing efforts are producing results. The findings stands somewhat in contrast to the most recent NFIB Small Business Optimism Index: It found that small business sentiment in the country increased last month, with many owners expecting positive business conditions and opportunities in the coming months. AI may be case for optimism Those using AI may be faring slightly better when it comes to their marketing, however: The report found that nearly half of all the small businesses in the study are using AI to some extent in their marketing efforts, including using the tech to help with copywriting, emails, and creating visual content for social media feeds. And while some 50% of small businesses in the U.K. and Australia and New Zealand are deploying AI, only 37% of U.S.-based firms arethe lowest percentage of any country polled in the report. That finding syncs with other reports into how American businesses are using AIor perhaps more accurately, not using it. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Technology Engagement Center (C_TEC) recently released a report that found 44% of small businesses in the U.S. used generative AI in some fashion. Tech and financial services companies, unsurprisingly, had the highest levels of adoption. How to bridge the confidence gap So why arent more firms using AI to help reach more customers? Some possible explanations for the low adoption rate are a lack of expertise or guidance in using the tools, or a failure to see how, exactly, AI might be useful in a given setting or organization. Yet interest in AI and spending more on it to help with marketing is only set to grow among small business owners, despite the confidence gap. Small business owners are working harder than ever, said Wadhawan, but without the time, expertise, or data to guide them, many are still guessing about what will resonate with their customers.
Category:
E-Commerce
Nick Cleggs stint as Metas president of global affairs ended earlier this year. Now, in his book How to Save the Internet, he outlines what he thinks needs to change in tech. The reception hasnt been kind, with some calling the book baffling and unsatisfying. But buried in the otherwise thin prose are a few surprising anecdotes and arguments. Clegg once sparred with his deputy in MMA Mark Zuckerbergs reinvention as an MMA enthusiast is well documented. Less known is how he encouraged his senior executives to join him. Marks commitment to MMA is so strong that he insisted one morning, during a management offsite, that some of his most senior executives join him for a training session, Clegg writes. Thats how he ended up on the mat, straddled by his deputy Joel Kaplan (who would later replace him), in a manoeuvre apparently known as the Domination Mount, which Clegg admits was too close for comfort. Politics accounts for just 6% of the Facebook feed Clegg makes a spirited, if not always convincing, attempt to address the claim that Meta has harmed public interactions and polarized politics. Most people dont really use social media to engage in politics, he writes. Political content, he claims, makes up less than 6% of what people see on Facebook. If you want to assign blame for political discourse, he suggests, look instead to X (formerly Twitter). Social media has changed democracy According to Clegg, social media has transformed democracy, but it hasn’t destroyed it. Undoubtedly it has [changed democracy], he writes, describing it as a disruptive and messy change. He argues it will take time to understand the full implications but insists there are benefits alongside the well-documented problems. Clegg suspended Donald Trumps account in 2021 One underexplained section covers Metas response to Donald Trumps role in the January 6 Capitol riots. Trump was banned from Facebook apps, a decision later reversed after his suspension ended. Trumps support for those protesting at the Capitol, and his refusal to condemn the violence of the insurrectionists, was tantamount to inciting further violence, Clegg writes, adding that Mark Zuckerberg made clear that the decision would be mine. Clegg ultimately chose to suspend Trumps access to Facebook and Instagram. How AI will change our world Clegg thinks generative AI can help address the Wests stagnating productivity. The implicit promise of capitalism is that the next generation will be better off than the last, with hard work rewarded by economic security and decent public services to provide a safety net when tragedy or misfortune strikes, he wrote. That promise, he argues, has broken down: younger generations are overworked, underpaid, and overstressed. Clegg believes AI can help. Im not suggesting AI is a silver bullet that will suddenly reverse decades of gradual decline, he wrote. But the developed world badly needs a productivity boost. Clegg wasnt a fan of the AI Safety Summitor AI doomers Clegg recounts his experience at the AI Safety Summit in Bletchley Park in November 2023, attended by Kamala Harris, Rishi Sunak, and Ursula von der Leyen. Clegg claims he told a story about a hypothetical woman, called Mrs. Miggins, who lived just down the road from the summit. He writes: I can guarantee, I said, that shes more terrified of AI now than she was before this summit started two days ago. Little surprise, then, that he also dismisses doomsday scenarios of AI domination. Were merely in the foothills, debating the perils we might find at the mountaintop, he writes.
Category:
E-Commerce
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