Back in the day, like about ten minutes ago, Nike used to spend the majority of its $600 million plus advertising budget on the big networks, like NBC, and other relics of the media past.

Now, they attract less than a third of the budget and the number is trending down. Free falling actually. And with an attitude that is decidedly anti-network, anti-old school.

“We’re not in the business of keeping media companies alive,” says Nike’s corporate VP for global brand, Trevor Edwards.

What Nike is now in the business of, more than ever before, and accelerating by the minute, is using digital communications to get intimate with its customers. Runners use a tracking device in their shoes and download their information gathered on a run on a Nike website. And presto, the company has a community of enthusiasts who visit the site repeatedly, without Nike having to pay network ad guys to get them there.

One by one, the former heavyweights of the dinosaur media are switching gears and opting for the highly targeted messaging digital PR, as well as advertising, can and must provide.

You must ask yourself:

• Where does my target market go online?
• Where would they go if we created a new space that would drive them there? As did Nike with its runners site.
• How can we demonstrate relevance to them?
• How can we do anything and everything that the stuffed shirts at the shotgun media can’t do?

The fact is money and opportunities are moving in a new direction. Are you ready to seize it? Six months from now will be too late. Ask P&G, they’re crunching CBS.

Mark Stevens

CEO

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