The world cup frenzy still lingers as twitter profiles still host “Representing World Champions” as a byline and advertisers are still squeezing as much as they can from the Dhoni franchise. But why has it taken me 3 months to write this? Well I could say I have been thinking about it or mulling over it, letting the words form in my head etcetera but the honest truth is… I washed my Bleed Blue t-shirt just a week back, it lit a bulb in my head… hence the write up.
Well don’t be too disgusted, the smell of cigarettes alcohol and winning was too good to just wash away. But unfortunately that’s not all that washed away… My lovely ‘Bleed Blue’, which if I might add was red in color, turned pink!
The campaign was a blast, the country bled blue for the players. It brought about nostalgia, team spirit, cheers and joy. It inculcated a sense of belonging, brotherhood and patriotism. If it did all this, this one campaign, then why did they have to settle for such cheap quality of material when it came to the merchandise?
No doubt Nike made a bomb of a sale during that time, and I’m referring only to their bleed blue t-shirts. And let me tell you those t-shirts were not cheap. I would have expected T-shirts that would at least last the first wash!
Dear Nike,
You came up with a Bleed Blue campaign but you didn’t make any Blue t-shirts, why? Why were all the shirts on the shelves available only in Red or Black? Why did your skinny, unimpressive sales guys get to wear the bleed blue shirts? Why Nike…Why? Why was the shirt not available for Girls (size wise)? Why was it all out of stock just on the day of the finals? Why do you guys have only 2 stores in Gurgaon?
Well the last question is not related but it is valid. I don’t understand it… if it’s a question of Demand and Supply, then in an ideal case any organization would want a situation of High Demand right? And in such a situation the company would like to capitalize on it by ensuring supply is steady… even your leftover stock would have been sold out 10 days after the World cup ended.
Regards
If I had to question them then those would have been my FAQ’s to Nike.
All said and done, I loved the campaign; I love what it did to everyone in India. There must have been thousands of people who must have had “Congratulations India: We Bleed Blue” as their status messages on Facebook after India won. But how I wish I could save the bleed Blue T-shirt, how I wish I could wear it even now and proudly walk around reminding everyone of that moment of Glory that moment where India stood together and cheered.
Nike, you have no idea what you created with Bleed Blue… that in itself was a campaign that could have done wonders in the long run. Just for the sake of an example, you remember “I love new York”? The logo is a rebus that was created by Milton Glaser and Bobby Zarem consisting of the capital letter I, followed by a red heart symbol, below which are the capital letters N and Y, set in a rounded slab serif typeface called American Typewriter.
The following is courtesy Wikipedia …
“In 1977, William S. Doyle, Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Department of Commerce hired advertising agency Wells Rich Greene to develop a marketing campaign for New York State. Doyle also recruited Milton Glaser, a productive graphic designer to work on the campaign, and created the design based on Wells Rich Greene's advertising campaign. Glaser expected the campaign to last only a couple months and did the work pro bono. It was possibly inspired in part by the state tourism slogan Virginia is for Lovers which had featured a "Love" theme and red heart symbol since 1969. The innovative pop-style icon became a major success and has continued to be sold for years. In the popular mind (though this was not the original intention) the logo has become closely associated with New York City, and the placement of the logo on plain white T-shirts readily sold in the city has widely circulated the appearance of the image, making it a commonly recognized symbol.
The image became especially prominent following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the city, which created a sense of unity among the populace. Many visitors to the city following the attacks purchased and wore the shirts bearing the ‘I Love New York’ logo as a sign of their support. Glaser created a modified version to commemorate the attacks, reading "I Love NY More Than Ever", with a little black spot on the heart symbolizing the World Trade Center site. The black spot approximates the site's location on Manhattan Island.”
…Wow eh?
Imagine … just imagine what Bleed Blue could have done… for a country so in love with the sport, you had a campaign so well placed and positioned you could have ruled the sports merchandise industry and brought this country a little closer together. It was based on emotions and this country runs on emotions it was based on values and grit something this country has but needs to be reminded off every now and then.
Anyway… that’s just my opinion. I see bleed blue as just another campaign now, one that came conquered and left without saying a word. I don’t bleed blue anymore… the blue faded into dirty water and all I’m left with is a sad pale pink t-shirt with bleed blue written on it.
Don’t play with our emotions or sentiments Nike, unless you have something bigger in mind.
Nike
Don’t do it… again!
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