Nike Commercial “I Am Football” Gets Them While They Are Young

Nike I Am Football

Nike I Am Football

If you were tuned into Sunday Night Football on December 13th you saw the debut of Nike’s new commercial, “I Am Football.” The commercial shows the future of football in the eyes of young adolescent children that carry the confidence of star football players like DeMarcus Ware, Peyton Manning, Emmanuel Sanders, Chris Harris Jr., Hall of Famer Steve Young and San Diego Charger’s running back, Melvin Gordon. As many athletes begin their career in sports at a very young age, Nike creates a commercial reenactment of what confident kids visualize for themselves on their way up to becoming the next biggest athlete of their time.

“I Am Football” shows young athletes taking over the jobs of today’s leading football star athletes. As sports constantly emulate a sense of testosterone and healthy competition, what better way for kids to let their mentors know that there will be nothing stopping them from taking their jobs? Nike’s commercial is clever in a few ways: they have targeted a younger and malleable audience by drawing parallels between football and Nike as a way to make it cool for kids to buy Nike’s products. Secondly, Nike is notorious for sponsoring young athletes in their early years and so, this commercial is simply another way to recruit, promote and capture a wider audience.

The Broncos filmed their segment at the Sports Authority Field at Mile High during training camp (video below):

Nike is notorious for sponsoring young athletes in their early years.

Any kid who loves sports wants to reach the same caliber of Michael Jordan for their generation and sport. Nike’s “I Am Football” commercial creates many emotional pulls for young athletes. The commercial shows hope, excitement, competitiveness and confidence. Although it may be few and far between, there is a possibility for young athletes to strive to be greater than today’s hall of famers.

Nike recruits, promotes and captures a wider target market.

Nike is a lifestyle, for-profit, clothing brand that has created a win-win scenario for sponsoring athletes. They support athletes around the world to become the best athlete in their sport, which is any athletes dream. As a result, Nike’s products become humanized so that their audiences, ranging from athletic people to high-performance athletes, see their mentors perform the best in Nike gear, making them want to buy the next and newest generation LeBron shoe or Jordan sneaker.

This sponsor-centric marketing tactic was birthed in 1983 when former sports marketing executive, Sonny Vaccaro, signed Michael Jordan to his first shoe contract thereby tipping the revolution of the way sports are marketed and purchased around the world today. Nike’s new commercial, “I Am Football” is simply a continuance of this same marketing tactic with a clever twist in creating a real life enactment of how young athletes rise up and take over today’s star athletes starting positions.

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