Nike Jordan Ad Reaches Its Target Audience

“Nike Jordan Ad Reaches Its Target Audience” by Tom Nardacci

Nike recently launched a new ad that features high school and middle school basketball players making individual plays. As I watched, the highlight reel seemed very familiar, and I was certain that I had seen this before.

One great way for ads to reach a target audience is through “shared experiences.” These ads cut through the clutter (caused by the overload of communications in our life) by jogging our memory and connecting to us through our commonalities.

The end of the Nike commercial shows Michael Jordan leaning against a playground fence smiling. It then clicked for me. The moves were re-creations of Jordan’s most famous highlights – his “rock the cradle” dunk for his first slam dunk contest title; jumping in the air to celebrate beating the Cavaliers with a buzzer beater in the playoffs; taking off from the foul line to win another slam dunk contest; shrugging to NBC announcers because he simply couldn’t miss during another playoff game.

The ad speaks to the generation of sports fans that grew up watching Jordan, and the generation that saw these highlights dozens of times in other commercials, on newscasts, or in Jordan’s various biographical videos.

Hats off to Nike on another great ad, and for reaching out to a slightly older generation who have lost a step or two on the court.