Nike hails World Cup marketing campaign as revenue spikes

Revenue across the sportswear maker’s brand portfolio, which also includes Converse, increased to $7.4bn (£4.34bn) in the three months to 31 May. For the Nike brand alone, revenue again rose 13 per cent to $7bn (£4.1bn).

Nike ramped up spend on marketing in the period, spearheaded by its Risk Everything campaign featuring brand ambassadors Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar Jr, ahead of the start of the World Cup in Brazil. The company did not strip out marketing spend but did say that a 36 per cent increase in ‘demand creation’ expenses was driven by marketing support.

Quarterly revenue figures from sales of its football products were not published but the company says revenue for the 12 months to 31 May increased 21 per cent to $2.3bn (£1.35bn).

In a conference call with analysts after the results were published, the company’s executive trumpeted the Risk Everything platform, which included global social, experiential and in-store activity in lifting sales of its boots, replica kits and related apparel both online and in its own stores and partners’.

Mark Parker, president and chief executive officer, said on the call that the campaign is an example of how it “leverages the power and passion of sport to deepen our relationship with our consumers.”

“Two of the campaign’s videos, Winner Stays and The Last Game, have set new records for engagement with over 370 million digital views and growing,” he said.

He added: “Our comprehensive offense on the pitch and in the marketplace drives our leadership as the world’s best football brand and positions us for growth in this category for years to come.”

Earlier this week, rival Adidas, which  holds the honour of being the market leading football brand in terms of sales and is a World Cup sponsor, announced its World Cup marketing activity had already helped it trump its annual football sales target.