First Podcast!!

Hi Readers,

Here is my first ever attempt at creating a Podcast--definitely a learning experience!! I decided to refocus on how Tiger Woods' crisis will effect the Nike brand in the future. Thanks for your input Sam :)

Happy listening!!

Nike's Experiences in Social Media

Two weeks ago a recent graduate of Quinnipiac's Public Relations Program, Kate Ottavio, came to speak to our Senior Seminar Crisis Management class about her experiences in the public relations field in CT and how she has integrated social media into both her career and her personal life. It was very interesting to listen to how social media, such as Twitter and blogging, will be useful in an entry-level public relations jobs, especially because hopefully I will be starting one in a few months. At first, I was a bit resistant to social media, but I have gotten more comfortable with both Twitter and blogging at a result of this class. Listening to Kate's presentation gave me the idea to look into Nike's experiences with social media and how it has affected them, how it could lead to a potential crisis and how it could affect them should a crisis occur.

Nike originally took on social media from a different perspective that other big name companies competing for their market share. They had the ultimate goal in mind of creating a unique virtual networking system for some of their most loyal consumers, focusing to target on specific niches. I watched a webinar that recapped Nike's social media campaign that took place in 2008 revolving around one of their newest and most innovative products, Nike+. I was interested in this campaign for two reasons. First, because Nike chose to forgo traditional social media outlets and pursue a unique new online opportunity and two, because I am actually an owner and loyal user of the Nike+.

Nike+ is a tool for dedicated runners, usually those training for longer races like half-marathons or marathons (like I currently am :) ). The microchip that you put in the bottom of your running shoe, tracks the time, distance and pace of our workouts and simultaneously syncs that information to your iPod, so you can get real-time updates during your runs. The social media aspect of the product comes in the form of the Nike Web site launched in conjunction with the products release, nikeplus.com. Nike+ users can log onto this Web site to upload their training data and network with other runners around the globe. There are discussion forums where runners can connect and motivate each other or discover running partners in their area.

Combining Nike+ with a unique avenue of social media was a huge success for Nike, accomplished and even exceeding their initial goals to engage existing running with the 'Nike+ brand' and create conversations around Nike+. To date they have sold more than 1.3 million Nike+ kits, and of those users more than 800,000 are active members of nikeplus.com. As a user of Nike+ myself, I can attest to the positive experience I have had with the site and how combining social networking online with my workouts has boosted my training.

As part of my senior seminar class, I have also begun following some of the Nike blogs and Twitter accounts that are currently online. Nike continues to integrate social media, mainly in their efforts to promote their products--the topics discussed more prominently on their social media sites are basketball, football and soccer. This got me started thinking about how Nike's use of social media could contribute to a crisis or how it could help the company alleviate another type of crisis, should it occur. I found an interesting article online that coaches companies on how to handle a social media crisis--it's definitely a must read for anyone looking to use social media at the company or with their client. Auther, Jay Baer, a social media consultant, provides four lessons of social media crisis management:

1. It's risky business--a social media crisis can cause REAL damage to a company's reputation

2. You never know--you must ALWAYS be monitoring social media because who never know who may be posting about you

3. Do Fire Drills--create a plan of action in advance in case a social media crisis occurs

4. Be Prepared to Create--how quickly would you be able to respond to a social media crisis?

Now that's something all of us--including Nike--can definitely take a lesson from!!