Nike is pulling up its socks to play hard in the Beijing Olympics with the largest advertising campaign in the brand's history being lined up. Based around the Olympics, Nike will introduce a new global commercial called 'Courage', continue to promote the Nike Hyperdunk shoes and launch the 'Human Race' event.

The campaign will be broadcast first in Asia and then the rest of the world. The ad celebrates the 20th anniversary of the 'Just do it' campaign by showing a collage of inspirational sports imagery. Michael Jordan kissing his National Basketball Association championship trophy and Lance Armstrong defeating cancer are among the 30-plus different athletes from 17 different countries that appear. The Killers' 'All These Things That I've Done' serves as the soundtrack.

The campaign, for the first time, is making a cross-over into other mediums. Cashing in on the rising popularity of the Net, the advertisement invites viewers to go to nike.com/courage to be able to freeze the many moments in the spot, read narratives about why they were important and add their own comments.

"The TV ad celebrates quite frankly what we felt is one of the most inspirational brand statements of all time – Just do it," said Joaquin Hidalgo, Vice-President, Global Brand Marketing, Nike, in a release to the international media. "It's at the core of an athlete's persona whether they are a professional or amateur. It's a call to arms to do better, to get to the next level," he added.

Investment in an advertising campaign of this stature is questioned by many when sales and revenue for the brand are at the slowest. Nike's sales growth has slowed along with the US economy. For the fourth quarter ended May 31, revenue grew only four per cent to $1.7 billion in the US, compared with 16 per cent to $5.1 billion worldwide.

Defending the investment, Nike officials said they are positive about the outcome and believe that it's the right time to push the brand. Voicing the company's rationale, Hidalgo said the investment would cement the brand for the future. Nike's Olympic efforts are "a way to connect to the world. It's the most important in the history of the brand... We're investing in demand creation to ensure we're driving brand strength for current and future revenue growth for the company."

Nike has been recording a steady decline in ad spend in the past three years, with the least expected to be spent this year. The brand spent $75 million on advertising in the US through April, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus. In comparison, last year's ad expenditure was $190 million and almost $220 million in 2006.

"The levels we are investing at we feel are appropriate to connect with consumer and drive growth," Hidalgo said.

Nike will use the Olympics as a platform to promote its Hyperdunk basketball shoes. On August 31, it is spearheading 'The Human Race', slated to be the largest single-day running event in history with 1 million runners in 25 cities. High-profile entertainers such as Kanye West and the All-American Rejects will be there to celebrate with participants.



The numbers

$75m: is the Nike's expenditure on advertising in the US through April

$1.7bn: is the company's revenue for the fourth quarter in the US market