AILSA CHANG, HOST:
A new Nike ad asks kind of an existential question.
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TYLER THE CREATOR: Why do it?
CHANG: Why do it? The company famous for telling people to just do it is now asking, why even try?
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TYLER THE CREATOR: Seriously, why? You can give everything you have and still lose.
CHANG: Nike says it's targeting a new generation by addressing the fear of trying, the fear of failing and the fear of earnest effort in a world of social media scrutiny, fear of being, as a Gen Zer might say, cringe. But does this kind of advertising reach its intended audience? Well, to help us answer that question, we turn to Casey Lewis. She writes the "After School" newsletter about youth culture and trends. Welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
CASEY LEWIS: Thank you so much for having me.
CHANG: So what did you make of the new Nike ad?
LEWIS: I mean, it's been a tough go for Nike over these last couple of years. They, for so long, really cornered the youth culture market. They were the pinnacle of cool. And then the last couple of years, not so much. But I think they're trying to, you know, lean away from this idea of perfection and, you know, pressure and hustle culture.
CHANG: OK. Well, then if this is intended for younger people, like, what is the urgency for Nike to target young people? Were they not connecting with Gen Z, or are companies like Nike just generally anxious about their sales right now?
LEWIS: I think yes and yes. Adidas has very much dominated the top spot among young people in terms of cool sneakers - the Samba, the Campus. These have been, like, status sneakers among teens. There's a quarterly survey of teens' favorite brands - Piper Sandler. You know, Nike has, for years, been the No. 1 brand in footwear. So they're not irrelevant, but they are no longer creating trends in the way that they once were, and I think they want that back.
CHANG: So what are companies like Adidas getting right? Or what are companies - other companies not like Adidas getting wrong when it comes to marketing to Gen Z?
LEWIS: What makes it hard to be a brand these days, chasing cool, is the teens are very much the ones setting the trends, and it's happening very quickly on social media. Now, one cool kid on TikTok can upload a video of himself wearing a pair of Adidas Sambas. That video can go viral, and then suddenly Sambas are selling out, and it really can happen that quickly. So Adidas really is just - they found themselves in a lucky position. Of course, they have history of creating amazing shoes, but a lot of it is the, you know, luck of the draw.
CHANG: OK. So if it's sometimes luck of the draw, I'm just thinking, if teens are the ones who are identifying what is cool first, how are companies responding to that? How are they shifting their marketing campaigns to adapt to that?
LEWIS: The companies that are able to respond the best to these young consumers are the ones that have built themselves to be able to respond quickly. One that comes to mind is Hollister. But they have really figured out how, you know, if this oversized sweatshirt is suddenly selling, they will introduce it in 15 different patterns and colors...
CHANG: (Laughter).
LEWIS: ...You know, overnight. And, you know, that's a crazy thing for a company that's been around for so long to be able to figure out. And so it really just comes down to infrastructure, which isn't an easy answer. And, you know, it's not like on the marketing teams. It's a lot more complicated than that.
CHANG: Quick-footed agility. That is Casey Lewis. She writes the "After School" newsletter and studies Gen Z consumer trends. Thank you so much for coming on.
LEWIS: Thank you so much for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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