Dive Brief:
- In an ever tightening relationship between the two retailers, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Nike released their largest ad campaign together to date, a spokesperson confirmed.
- The effort is part of Dick’s Sporting Goods’ “Sports Change Lives” campaign and will feature personal stories from 10 Nike and Jordan Brand athletes, including U.S. Women’s National Team soccer player Alex Morgan, former NBA player Carmelo Anthony and WNBA guard Sabrina Ionescu, according to a Tuesday press release.
- The campaign comes about a year and a half after Nike and Dick’s tied their loyalty programs together. Customers who have connected the two accounts will have access to behind-the-scenes footage from the new campaign.
Dive Insight:
A joint ad campaign is the latest effort connecting Nike to its longtime wholesale partner Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Even when Nike began prioritizing its DTC channels, Dick’s remained one of its strategic wholesale partners. And Nike executives last month emphasized their efforts to connect those two channels, including through the 2021 decision to combine loyalty programs with Dick’s. Having a connected loyalty experience means the two retailers can offer an expanded assortment of Nike products, host joint events and have Nike orders delivered to Dick’s stores.
For the joint marketing campaign, it also means customers can access extra content about the featured athletes. The series starts with the stories of Anthony, Ionescu and MLB center fielder Mike Trout, which will appear across broadcast, social media and online video this week. The stories of the other seven athletes will be released over the coming weeks.
“We are constantly talking to Nike and when we launched the first phase of our ‘Sports Change Lives’ campaign in March, conversation sparked about a potential partnership,” Kate Fedishen, vice president of global brand and category marketing at Dick’s Sporting Goods, said via email. “Because we share a lot of the same values, commitments, and passions around empowering athletes and making a positive impact through sport, Nike felt like the right fit to help tell this story and amplify the second phase of the campaign.”
Asked if Dick’s would create ads with any other brand partners, Fedishen said the retailer has strong relationships with all its vendors and is “continuously exploring ways in which we can work together.”
Although Nike has pulled back from some of its wholesale partners in recent years, Dick’s CEO Lauren Hobart in March touted the strong relationship between the two, with Nike making up 17% of Dick’s sales last year.
“Our relationship with Nike is at an all-time high,” Hobart said, saying it’s become an “incredibly strategic” partnership and adding that Dick’s was “encouraged” by the results of combining loyalty programs with Nike.
There are also signs that Nike is easing back into some of the wholesale accounts it previously shied away from. Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette said last week that Nike would return to some “key locations” this fall with an assortment of apparel, bags and gear.
