Queen Kicks Strategic Communications Plan

Naima Jenkins
Spring 2016

Situation: NIKE prides itself on being the premiere athletic company that caters to all
demographics. NIKE wants to develop a shoe and campaign to increase the African American
female demographic. The company has created a shoe specifically tailored to the African
American woman.
Background: My public relations plan would be centered on NIKEs new sneaker line for the
everyday woman, especially minority women. The sneaker line would be called Queen Kicks.
The public relations campaign that would align with the sneaker would be entitled #QueenNoir.
This campaign will consist of diversity amongst generations, race, and sex. The spokesperson
team will include Queen Latifah, Zendaya Coleman, Kelly Rowland, and, Jada Pinkett Smith.
This campaign will be influential for women of color. NIKE is a company that prides itself on
diversity amongst race, but would love to make an even bigger impact on women, especially of
color. This public relations plan will help maintain NIKEs racial diversity, but will establish
NIKE as a company that includes women as well. This is extremely important, especially with a
female candidate running for President in 2016. Women are even more outspoken than ever
before. This Public Relations campaign will start out with just women of color, but will
ultimately have all women represented in the campaign, entitled #IAmQueen. The sneakers will
be released exclusively on Friday, April 1, 2016 at Foot Locker, Finish Line, Kicks USA, and
DTLR.

Situation Analysis: NIKE is the premiere athletic footwear company with a mission to bring
inspiration and innovation to all people. Staying true to its mission, NIKE has realized that there
is a lack of diversity in athletic footwear in reference to African American women, and NIKE
would like to fill that void and has created a sneaker specifically tailored for the African
American woman. The sneaker is designed with 4 inch midsoles and adjustable heels, which
makes it extremely competitive and innovative in is market. Targeting African American women
in the athletic footwear industry is a relatively untapped market. The basic market need is a shoe
that will make every African American women feel inspired and innovative. The price for these
sneakers is $100, a relativity affordable and quality shoe, which also makes it very competitive.
The show will also be sold exclusively at athletic stores who also align with the mission to
diversify the athletic footwear industry. We will be getting through to our buyers by exposure in
areas where African American women are densely populated. This public relations plan will help
NIKE gain long term loyal consumer. Below we have provided a SWOT analysis that details
what we believe the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of Queen Kicks are.
Strengths: Weaknesses:
Credibility Specific to one group
Innovation Time
Niche New
Affordability
Variety
Spokeswomen

Opportunities: Threats:
Social Media publicity New competitors in your niche market
Growing (Untapped) Market Race/ Hate groups/Protest
New customer loyalty Lack of social media participation
Increase NIKE Revenue

Core Problem/Opportunity: The core problem is the lack of diversity. This is a societal
problem that NIKE would like to take on. NIKE has established a shoe to fill this void of
diversity in the sneaker industry. NIKE sees this as an opportunity to take a stance and acquire a
loyal consumer in the African American woman.

Goal: To get African American women to see NIKE as a diverse company and to become loyal
customers by buying the Queen Kicks

Objectives
1. Increase Queen Kicks sales to 80% in the African American community by August
2016.
2. Increase the @NIKEQueenKick social media by 50% and have #QueenNoir be a
trending topic by August 2016.

Audience: NIKE will be launching a national campaign and our target audience will be African
American women. Geographically, our audience will be African American women consisting of
the Northeast, South, Midwest, and west coast (all consisting of the United States of America).
Our targeted psychographic will be the working woman, college students, ambitious yet stylish
girls, women that want healthy, but fashionable lifestyles, women that care about their
appearance, and women that embrace and take pride in their African American, black, etc.
culture. Our demographic will be African American females that range in age from 18-45. We
are also targeting the middle class amongst three sub divisions, lower middle class, working
middle class, and upper middle class.

Strategy: The strategy for the Queen Kicks would be to highly publicize in areas where African
American women are present in high numbers. This would include:
 1. Promote the Queen Kicks sneakers to African American women, specifically targeting
the 23-35 age demographic living in major cities such as Atlanta, Philadelphia, etc.
through hosting events entitled, NIKE Presents: Queen Noir, a social gathering to
empower African American women through black expression while publicizing the
Queen Kick sneaker to increase the sneakers sales.
2. Influence Historically Black College and University female students, aged 18-22 in a
college tour called NIKE Presents: #QueenNoirOnCampus, which would include social
events to inform the students of the Queen Kicks sneakers and its relevance to the black
community and promote the Queen Kicks social media platforms. The events will be co-
sponsored by ethnic hair product companies, in which they would provide swag bags
3. Advertise through commercials and product placement heavily on female based
television stations, such as Lifetime, WE TV, Centric, TV One, etc. to attract the 35-45
age demographic, but not limited toward them. This would help increase sales on a
national level.
4. Release a feature story in Essence Magazine to attract the 35-45 age demographic to
increase awareness and sale of the sneaker.
5. Create a social media campaign targeted at the 18-22 demographic by encouraging them
to use the hashtag #QueenNoir and #QueenNoirOnCampus, as well as take pictures with
the Queen Kicks on for special grand prizes and swag bags.
6. Partner with celebrity bloggers by giving them a pair of Queen Kicks to review to target
the 23-35 age demographic. The bloggers will be able to help us influence the
consumers behavior.

Key Messages:
1. There is a lack of diversity in the athletic footwear industry. NIKE is dedicated to
alleviating any feeling of exclusion by creating a show that bridges the gap and unites
African American women.
2. Queen Kicks are designed with African American women in mind
3. NIKE wants every African American woman to feel confident and prideful with their
Queen Kicks on.
4. NIKE wants African American women, especially millennials, to engage in the self-
empowering and celebratory social media campaign, #QueenNoir

Tactics:
Objective 1: Increase Queen Kicks sales to 80% in the African American community by August
2016.

Media Advisory: Create media advisories for the African American media outlets to cover the
NIKE Presents: Queen Noir events in all the major cities
Press Release: Create press releases for the NIKE Presents: #QueenNoirOnCampus HBCU tour,
so the students and faculty will be well aware of the forthcoming event.
Billboard: Place billboards in areas where African American women are densely populated
Brochure: Create brochures to inform the women of the perks, specifications, and information
on the Queen Kicks

Event Details:
1. Have NIKE Presents: Queen Noir events with a targeted African American womens
audience in major cities, such as Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, etc. (This
would raise awareness in African American populated areas, specifically for the social
woman aged 23-45) Promotional signs and sponsored swag bags will be provided. The
events will include a series of empowering and celebratory events for black women
throughout the nation filled with a dialogue discussion, musical performances, spoken
word, and a Queen Kicks Q&A.

2. Have an HBCU college tour entitled, NIKE Presents: #QueenNoirOnCampus, (This

would raise awareness in the 18-22 demographic because a vast majority of African
American women attend HBCUs). Promotional signs and sponsored swag bags will be
provided. The events will include a series of empowering and celebratory events for
black women throughout the nation filled with a dialogue discussion, musical
performances, spoken word, and a Queen Kicks Q&A.

Objective 2: Increase the @NIKEQueenKick social media by 50% and have #QueenNoir be a
trending topic by August 2016.
Feature: Release feature story on the social media campaign #QueenNoir and the Queen Kicks
(story will be featured in Essence Magazine)
Tweets: Tweet encouraging women to buy the Queen Kicks, use the hashtags, and follow the
Queen Kicks twitter page as well as ask spokes women to post about the sneaker. Also have a
twitter challenge that would motivate the women to take picture in their Queen Kicks and post
for a chance to win grand prizes. We would also pay our spokeswomen and Twitter for
advertisement.
Facebook Post: Encourage women to buy sneaker, like the Facebook page, and use hashtag and
get celebrity spokeswomen to post about sneaker. Get everyday black women to post a picture of
themselves in the Queen Kicks, with the caption #QueenNoir. We would also pay our
spokeswomen and Facebook for advertisement.
Blog Post: Provide celebrity bloggers with a pair of Queen Kicks to blog about the release of the
sneaker and a review of the sneaker

Calendar

Objective 1: Increase Queen Kicks sales to 80% in the African American community by August
2016
3/1/2016 Tactic Name Activity: Events in major cities
Media Advisory Send to media outlets

3/4/2016 Tactic Name Activity: HBCU College tour

 Press release Send to HBCUs newsrooms

Tactic Name Activity: Events

3/7/2016 Brochure Mail
3/9/2016 Billboard Post/Advertise in major cities

Objective 2: Increase the @NIKEQueenKick social media by 50% and have #QueenNoir be a
trending topic by August 2016
Day/Month/Year
3/01 Tactic Name Activity: Social media awareness
Twitter Post Tweet/start #QueenNoir and #IAmQueenNoir

3/05 Tactic Name Activity: Social Media Awareness

Facebook Post Post/ start #QueenNoir and #IAmQueenNoir

3/07 Tactic Name Social media awareness

Blog Get blogger to post review

3/15 Tactic Name Awareness

News feature Release story in Essence Magazine

Budget:

Objective 1

Tactic Name Quantity Cost

Events (Locations/ catering) Locations: 25 $300,000

25 different catering services

Events (Decorations/ 200 swag bags for each event $100,000

Promotional material)
300 promotional signs

100 center pieces

100 table cloths

Billboard 100 $850,000

Brochure 2,000 $20,000

Objective 2

Tactic Name Quantity Cost

Getting Spokeswomen to 6 months=150 tweets 1,000,000

tweet

Getting spokeswomen to post 6 months=150 post 750,000

of Facebook

Paid Twitter Advertisement 6 months of advertising $250,000

Paid Facebook Advertisement 6 months of advertising $175,000

Grand Total $3,445,000

Evaluation

Objective 1: Increase Queen Kicks sales to 80% in the African American community by August
2016.
To evaluate NIKE will monitor and keep track of increases in sales and revenue

Objective 2: Increase the @NIKEQueenKick social media by 50% and have #QueenNoir be a
trending topic by August 2016.
To monitor NIKE will monitor social media analytics
We will also check the #QueenNoir hashtag to see how much publicity it is generating

(Please see next page for social media post)

 Queen Noir Social Media Post
Nike Queen Kicks Twitter Post

1. Kelly Rowland Twitter (spokeswoman tweet) Make your day a whole lot better, with
@NIKEQueenKicks #JustForYou #QueenNoir

2. Zendaya Coleman Twitter (spokeswoman tweet)-Looking for the perfect sneaker for your
class, internship, and work study? @NIKEQueenKicks has you covered
#QueenNoirOnCampus

3. Queen Latifah Twitter (spokeswoman tweet): Just performed a 4 hour concert in my

@NikeQueenKicks #IAmQueenNoir and so are you! #April1 #HistoryInTheMaking

4. Jada Pinkett Smith Twitter (spokeswoman tweet): Ive searched for sneakers like these
for decades. Im still in disbelief that Im apart of such an amazing movement
@NIKEQUEENKICKS #QueenNoir

5. NIKE Queen Kicks Twitter: Nike to release Queen Kicks for black women on 4/01 at
select retailers. Be a part of History, preorder yours today http://swoo.sh/1VDgnBy

6. NIKE Queen Kicks Twitter: Let us know why you are a dynamic black woman, tweet us
a picture with using the hashtag #IAmQueenNoir to win a free pair of Queen Kicks 4/1

7. NIKE Queen Kicks Twitter: In honor of Womens History Month, help us celebrate
trailblazing black women #QueenNoir 4/1

8. NIKE Queen Kicks Twitter: Nike has a long history & commitment to diversity. We
continue that legacy w/ #QueenKicks #QueenNoir 4/1 #Preorder http://swoo.sh/1VDgnBy

9. NIKE Queen Kicks Twitter: Need help finding the perfect sneakers for summer? @Nike
has you covered with our new Queen Kicks just for you, preorder yours today
http://swoo.sh/1VDgnBy

10. NIKE Queen Kicks Twitter: Need help finding the perfect sneakers for summer? @Nike
has you covered #QueenKicks Just for you! Preorder today http://swoo.sh/1VDgnBy
Nike Queen Kicks Facebook Post

1. Jada Pinkett Smith Facebook Page (Queen Kicks Spokeswoman): Since I had my
daughter, Ive been looking for something that I can share with her. Ive found that in Queen
Kicks, the sneaker designed for black women. Im so honored to be a part of this movement
#Queen Noir #IAmQueenNoir

2. Queen Latifah Facebook Page (Queen Kicks Spokeswoman): Its hard hosting my own
talk show, performing, running a production company, acting, and still trying to have a social
life. Queen Kicks help me do all of that and more. #NikeQueenKicks #IAmQueenNoir
#April1
3. NIKE Queen Kicks Facebook Page: Want to be fashionable and stylish while also being
healthy?! NIKEs Queen Kicks are just for you. These new sneakers are designed
especially for the everyday black woman. Yes that means you. Preorder your Queen
Kicks #Today http://swoo.sh/1VDgnBy #QueenNoir

4. NIKE Queen Kicks Facebook Page: Sneakers that have adjustable heels, 4 inch midsoles,
six different colorways, and are specifically designed for black women are here! The only
sneakers designed with you in mind. #QueenKicks #April1#QueenNoir

4. Black women are truly in a league of their own. They are trailblazers, history makers,
innovators, and catalyst of change. In honor of womens history month, celebrate these
great women with us, using the hashtag #QueenNoir. Join the movement #QueenKicks
#April1