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Posts Tagged ‘advertising campaign’

World renown cyclist Lance Armstrong is all over the recent Nike advertising campaign . Why is it that celebrity or athlete endorsements work to sell products? Well, in the case of Lance Armstrong and Nike, the answer to that question is simple. The Nike slogan for many years has been, Just Do It. Anyone who is familiar with the life of Lance Armstrong is aware of the fact that along with being a multi-time winner of the Tour De France Bicycle Race, Armstrong survived stage 5 cancer and many horrendous chemotherapy treatments. As his biography states and as his friends will testify, it was only when it became physically impossible for him to stand, that he did not get on his bike. Up until that point, he would get himself on his bike, even if a short ride around the block was all he could get his body to do. Lance Armstrong just did it. It is this kind of respect and admiration that affects public opinion. Lance Armstrong is the kind of person that an advertising department for a particular company’s services or products looks for when they are looking for someone to represent those services or products. Nike sells athletic equipment, so it is no surprise for them to launch television ad campaigns which feature him on a bike. What is brilliant about this campaign is that they have tapped into the human mind and soul. Many people put off working out or participating in sports, stating that they don’t have time at the end of the day, or that they are too tired from work and the kids and the excuses come one after the other. Who can really come up with an excuse, when footage of Lance Armstrong riding his bike up a mountain in the pouring rain is used, and his voice is heard saying Just Do It. He doesn’t have to say…I did.  The public knows, and it is this subtle brilliance in advertising that is so effective with the current Armstrong/Nike campaign . And it is the reason that this campaign illustrates that with the right celebrity, endorsements made by public figures can be successful.