Tennis has always had its share of
loudmouths, some of the more memorable being Ilie Nastase, Jimmy Connors and,
of course, John McEnroe. But for its most "significant" tennis
campaign in years, Nike is bringing out the most loquacious and vociferous
loudmouth of them all -- Don King. Tennis will never be the same.
Nike tonight kicks off its "Grapple in the Apple" campaign behind
next week's U.S. Open with a boxing-match-style media event featuring Mr. King
and the sport's No. 1- and No. 2-ranked players, Rafael Nadal and Roger
Federer, respectively. The two have met in the finals of the last two Grand
Slam events, the most recent of which was an epic five-set, four-hour battle
at Wimbledon in July, which many have called the greatest tennis match in
history.
And in this corner ...
Never one to miss an opportunity, Nike, which has endorsement deals with both
players, is looking to capitalize on the attention this rivalry has recently
brought to the sport by touting a potential finals showdown between the two at
the U.S. Open as a heavyweight prize fight. The players have even been given
boxer-type nicknames: Roger "The Magician of Precision" Federer and
Rafa "Matador of Spin" Nadal.
The sneaker giant would not disclose the cost of the campaign but described it
as the most significant tennis campaign it has done in quite some time.
Ken Dice, Nike's VP-U.S. brand management, said tennis has always been an
important part of the company's global brand but the focus of its efforts has
more recently been on tennis enthusiasts.
"But coming out of this summer's tennis activity, our feeling is it was
time for Nike to take that approach and make it a little broader," he
said. "We may be seeing two of the best players ever go at it in a way
that tennis hasn't seen in a while. And it's time to see how that transcends
from the most loyal tennis fan to [all other] sports fans or anyone who
follows pop culture. The underlying idea is that we make sure all of New York
knows about this. We are asking them to pick a side, and hopefully people will
get engaged and start talking about it."...
Win or lose, its good PR
"We're keeping our fingers crossed that they do meet -- that's the whole
point, and we honestly think that they will, especially the way they have been
playing lately," Mr. Dice said. "[But] even if they don't, it will
be a great moment for Nike, tennis and these two players and the city of New
York."
Eric Wright, VP-research and development, Joyce Julius & Associates,
which specializes in measuring the impact of corporate sponsorships, said the
campaign will ensure Nike gets seen during the tournament.
"Those ads serve a lot of purposes, and one of them is ensuring that
[Nike] doesn't get shut out of the tournament," he said. "I suppose
you run the risk of a little egg on the face if they don't have a great
performance, but we're still talking about that Amex deal all these years
later. We're still talking about the brand -- it's not in the greatest way,
but it's still generating buzz all this time later."