Today The New York Times has an incredible article taking a closer look at the marketing machine at Nike.  The article highlights the shift of the company’s view of advertising, and how those big ad dollars are now being used for consumer campaigns that are more on the PR side of life, all with an online footprint of some sort. 

Here are some great highlights from the article (or get the whole story here):

• The global director for brand connections, Stefan Olander, summed it up best, “We want to find a way to enhance the experience and services, rather than looking for a way to interrupt people from getting to where they want to go.  How can we provide a service that the consumer goes, ‘Wow, you really made this easier for me’?”
• Last year, Johnson & Johnson decided to boycott the so-called upfronts, an annual event when advertisers get together with television executives to negotiate for commercial time. In August, General Motors said that 2008 would be the last year for its longtime sponsorship of the Olympics. In May, A. G. Lafley, the chief executive of Procter & Gamble, told financial analysts that the company would spend less on traditional media and more on its Web site, in-store advertising and promotional events.
• Today, however, many Nike ads are shown only on the Internet. Wayne Rooney, the British soccer player, is currently featured in a series of online videos for Nike. In 2005, Nike placed a 2-minute, 46-second clip of the Brazilian soccer player Ronaldinho online, instead of on TV. The video has had more than 17 million views on YouTube and became so well known that some television networks like Sky Sports and the BBC showed it in their news coverage, free.  (A great PR hit!)
• “We are all concerned about when DVR penetration has reached critical mass and consumers have been trained to skip all advertising,” said Lee Doyle, chief executive for North America at Mediaedge:cia, an agency that buys ad space. “That’s the world we’re all afraid of.”
• Nike even calls the third floor of its New York store the “Nike Running Club.” There, runners can map out running routes, receive training advice and attend an evening speaker series — all free, even if they trot in wearing Adidas or Brooks sneakers.  The company pays 5 coaches and 17 pacers to lead runs three times a week in Central Park. Nike running-gear sales clerks are expected to join in. The goal is to use the club to endear people to the brand and to provide opportunities for them to try products. The group — 131 that night — sprinted out of the store’s 57th Street entrance, up Fifth Avenue, past the Plaza Hotel and into the southeast entrance to Central Park. Their footwear was varied: some wore New Balance, Saucony, Reebok and Adidas. But Nike dominated, and anyone who saw them jogging would surely notice the Nike swoosh on most of their shirts. The group, though sweaty and of varied athletic abilities, flashed by — turning heads of passers-by and other runners.  A human billboard for Nike.