One More Imus Comment....Promise
Sometimes customer satisfaction, loyalty, retention, acquisition and all that cool stuff we like to measure and plan for gets washed out by pure emotional advertising that connects. The Imus incident allowed what I believe to be the best practitioner of mass media to show its true colors. Nike has hit with a print and online campaign that turns this whole mess into a positive conversation. If you haven't seen it, part of it reads: "Thank you, ignorance. Thank you for starting the conversation. Thank you for making an entire nation listen to the Rutgers team story. And for making us wonder what other great stories we've missed. Thank you for reminding us to think before we speak."
We will be tempted to measure how many Nike sneakers are sold because of this. We will be tempted to measure word-of-mouth units. But this is the kind of connection that cannot be replicated or measured. It can be aspired to. That's what makes great brands great.
