Contagious Insight /
No obstacles / According to a University of California, San Diego study, Physical Activity in Latinas: social and environmental influences, Latinas tend to receive little encouragement for undertaking physical activity. This mainly comes down to social and cultural influences, as there is a strong emphasis on family in Latin American countries, which often discourages women from taking up sports. The result is almost half (47.8%) of adult Latinas or Latino women report they never engage in any leisure time physical activity, compared with just 29.2% of non-Latino white women.
The UCSD paper also outlines that there are many environmental barriers such as crime, heat, traffic and a lack of facilities that make physical activity unadvisable for women. Neighbourhood safety is cited as the main reason Latina women avoid physical activity, noting they were afraid to leave their homes, especially in low-income neighbourhoods.
Nike’s actions until now also reflect this disinterest. Though Just Do It has been the brand’s slogan for 30 years, this is the first time it’s been used in tandem with Nike Women in Mexico.
With Juntas Imparables, Nike is encouraging Latinas to challenge these obstacles, from gender equality to traffic. The film addresses a few of these pain points, encouraging women to believe that these challenges are not an obstacle for those who focus on achieving their goals. The leading protagonist also wears a blue handkerchief around her neck, which is a nod to the fight for legal abortion to be safe and free. The spot ends with her riding off on a white horse, Prince Charming’s preferred mode of transport, which makes another statement (intentional or not) about female independence.
Those who train together / By asking women to register as a group of four, Nike could create a greater opportunity for Latina women to discover a new sport, and stick to it. The Physical Activity in Latinas: social and environmental influences report suggests that exercising in groups may help Latinas feel safer in their neighbourhoods, so gives them a greater chance of effectively increasing their activity.
Exercising in a group also helps people feel more accountable. Dian Griesel, president of DGI Companies, said, ‘Working out with a crowd carries a plethora of intertwined benefits that include enhancing consistency, duration, motivation, conversation and inspiration. Workouts with others improve consistency because they involve a commitment. No-shows and cancellations get noticed by others, and positive peer pressure can help curtail the urges to skip a workout … or quit.’
By adding a Nike representative to the squad’s WhatsApp group, the brand is also making women accountable to someone outside of their team.
Customer conversion / With this competition, Nike is weaponising its audience. The brand just needs to motivate one fan to recruit three of their friends, rather than converting all four customers itself. Just agreeing to join in isn’t enough though, in order to participate you need to download and use at least one Nike app. So, if a team wants to win, every member of the squad will have to join the Nike app universe, which is filled with various buying opportunities and loyalty rewards.
