Exclusive | Nike is all about Sports and Youth: Avinash Pant

Nike, the world’s leading designer, marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities. They are also the official apparel sponsor for Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Recently, the brand was in news for unveiling an innovative uniform for Team India. Keeping in mind the astuteness of national pride, the rich Indian heritage and cricket culture, the T20 kit has been designed for superior performance. Key design features of the new T20 uniform include the contemporary new collar, the colors of the national flag symbolizing the team’s country pride, three stars above the BCCI crest signifying the three world cup victories and in addition to all these features this new uniform also sports a sleek look.

 

In conversation with Adgully at the launch of their new uniform, Avinash Pant, Head, Marketing, Nike India shared his experience of working on the new uniform and about the distribution strategy and plans at Nike.

 

Sharing the thought and aim behind the whole initiative, Pant said, “We launched the new uniform for the Indian team for T20 matches and we feel the timing is perfect for the launch since the format has taken a proper shape. We have designed it with an idea of creating a modern and innovative uniform. Nike as a brand is all about providing inspiration and motivation to an athlete, so keeping this in mind Nike always steps ahead.”

 

Since Nike, known for their sportswear, has come up with a new uniform for the first time, he said, “The journey was amazing and exciting but simultaneously it took a lot of time, design inspiration and understanding of what is the requirement of a sportswear. What kind of freedom of motion the athletes need for the sport they are playing and the kind of features they need, given the atmospheric conditions they are playing in. We also work keeping in mind the pride of the nation and how to reflect it.” Pant believes that something like this was required so as to bring the format alive and according to him the brand has delivered amazingly well. He assures us that the uniform will be seen in stores soon.

 

Speaking about the marketing and communication strategy, he said “We are really about ‘Sport’ and ‘Youth’. For us keeping the youth in mind is really important and so ultimately digital becomes a very useful medium for us as the youth today is very ‘digital savvy’ in India.”  To support this statement, he referred us to the separate ‘Nikecricket’ page and a ‘Nikefootball’ page on Facebook. Also in terms of numbers both the pages have enormous following. “We have 1.8 million and a million followers for our Cricket and Football Facebook pages respectively and we engage with them on a daily basis,” Pant added.

“When we look at any sport, working at the grassroots level and developing that sport with authentication is really important for us”, he said. He also added that this is how ‘brand Nike’ works for any sport.

 

With this new step, the brand expects enormous attraction. The Bleed Blue campaign seems to be a very successful campaign for the brand. He says, “We connected with fans and we did the ‘hand print’ activity and today we have 11 - 12 million hand prints across the India and on our Facebook page. The whole campaign is doing pretty well, stressing on what we are as a brand and how we look at cricket.”

  

In terms of marketing and distribution strategy, Pant says, “For Nike as a brand what is important is to design products which make our athletes play better. So it is a feeling of pride that Team India will be presenting themselves in our uniform!”

 

Nike’s association with BCCI has been a long standing one. Speaking with regards to this he said, “The association has been amazing and we thank them for all their support and faith in Nike and we at Nike take it as a challenge!”

 

For the records, Nike is associated with many agencies, like JWT as their creative agency, Mindshare as media agency, AKQA as digital agency, Hanmer as PR agency and Wizcraft as an event agency. Pant believes that partnering well is what really matters. Although Pant refused to talk about the investment and future plans, he assures that one can expect lot of novelties from Nike in the near future.

 

Team India will sport the exclusive new T20 kit in the upcoming seasons starting with the home series against New Zealand. Cricket fans can purchase either the T20 replica jersey or the authentic game day jersey at Nike stores and leading multi - brand doors across the country. Nike also introduces a range of cricket training apparel including the Nike Hypercool Pro Combat base layer worn under Nike’s Vapor top and shorts. It is made from Nike’s proprietary Dri-FIT fabric which helps to protect the athlete from sweating. Raglan sleeves allow for an optimal range of movement and reduce areas of irritation for the sportsperson.  Nike’s Vapor top and shorts is made of recycled polyester, in support of Nike’s effort to design superior performance product with a lower impact on the environment. 

 

In its latest lifestyle collection that is being launched this season, Nike attempts to explore and interpret the deep seated influence of cricket on the cultural fabric of India. This has led Nike to introduce a range of their premium Express Tees and Polo’s. They are designed to be a reflection of the passion that goes beyond the stadium and makes India, Bleed Blue! The training and lifestyle collections will be sold at Nike stores and leading multi-brand outlets across the country. | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal(at)adgully.com]