Company Discussion: Apple, Nike and Harley

Nike, Apple, Harley Davidson Alex Blaine

I know you asked for one thing in common between Nike, Apple and Harley Davidson, but I couldn’t narrow it down to one, so I have two similarities. First all three companies use their respective brand for marketing through product placement. All three companies use their brands in movies and tv shows placing strategically products within the shows or movies. Often, they will pay the movie or tv show to place the specific brand in a scene so that they can gain exposure to the masses in a discreet way, the crazy part is the audience doesn’t even realize it’s a paid advertisement. The second marketing and the one that I think resonate best for the question addressed is using brand ambassadors for their products. In Nikes case they started with Air Jordan to market their sneakers and more recently paid a billion dollars to Lebron James to be the spokesman for his brand of shoes. The mass public has an interest in purchasing the product because of the name behind it. In Apples case it utilizes ambassadors such as U2 to gain market exposure and had a free download automatically in every apple products iTunes library. In Harley Davidsons case celebrities such as Tom Cruise and George Clooney riding their Harleys brings motorcycles and “hogs” to mainstream. The interesting thing in both examples is the secrecy of marketing their specific products. They are not out and about telling you to purchase their products but putting the product in the recess of your mind so that when deciding to purchase a bike you will instinctively first look at a Harley, Or when going into a sneaker store you want to be like Lebron and look first at Nike shoes, and lastly when deciding on a phone, you want the iPhone due to all the times it’s in your face through subtle advertising.