How Nike Sold Over 10 Million Super Eagles' Shirts in 48 days [Learn the Marketing Strategy]

I think this is world record! I mean to sell 10 million shirts in 48 days? Nike may have even surprised themselves on this one.

Sure, Nigerians get crazy when it comes to football, they'd buy shirts of their favorite European teams: Chelsea, Arsenal, Barcelona, Manchester United... not Super Eagles shirt for crying out loud. Never in history has this happened before.

Indeed, it isn't the first time Nike took the license to manufacture Nigeria national team kits, so what brought about this ingenuity from their marketing team. Hardly do they break-even in their previous dealing with NFF. So, what happened this time around, why did Nigerians responded so swiftly like this.

"3 million shirts pre-ordered in 3 minutes before launch on June 1st, 2018. O My God! This is fantasy marketing!  And Nike couldn't immediately meet the high demand and the rush to buy the jersey before the friendly match against England on June 2nd. Wao!

Nigerians didn't respond this way in 1994 when Super Eagles won Africa nations cup for the second time and qualified for Fifa world cup for the first time. What most people still say was the greatest Nigerian national team ever."

The Parallel Market
Now let me blow your mind a little, this same Super Eagles replica shirt may have sold over 50 million pieces or so. The ambush traders started selling the lower quality version of the jersey months before the official launch. Of course, such massive sales couldn't be recorded, but we all know that more of these lower quality replicas sell far more than the official ones.

As I write, people are still rushing to buy their own Super Eagles kits two months after the world cup. Right now, the kiddies and female version of the shirt is selling like hot cake. It seems everyone Nigerian want their own shirt.  It has become a kind of identification attire for people of this country home or abroad.

Beyond Nigeria, the media has spottted several Africa stars: Yaya Toure, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Asaomah Gyan...rocking the Super Eagles Shirt.

It's so amazing, we at GreenHunters Sports International  were prompted to research on what really played out to cause this kind of positive responses around the world. I have read several account of what may have transpired, but the one written by  Muyiwa Babarinde on TheCable.com was quite insightful..

Muyiwa Babarinde is a senior communication associate at Red Media Africa. He is passionate about marketing, technology and national development. And I agree with his submission to a large extent.

A Great Product
One of the major reasons why the kit launch has been very successful is because the kit is very beautiful. I have been actively following Nigeria’s football since 2002 and this is arguably the best jersey I have seen. If we are to go with the reactions of the general public about the jersey, and the subsequent rush to get one, then I am right.

The jersey got sold out online in just 3 minutes, and Nike was reported to have gotten 3 million pre-orders.

The aesthetic of the jersey is simply outstanding, and the fact that the design team drew inspiration from the iconic jersey worn by one of the Super Eagles finest set during the 1994 world cup further strengthens the storyline.

When you have a great product, it is easier to get people to buy what you are selling. Focus on creating a great experience, a great product first and sales will be easier.

The Promotional Message:
The Nike marketing team built a story around the kit. "The Naija spirit," the story of unity and oneness that football delivers to a country with so much diversity. "The energy and never say die spirit of Naija, creating fantasy in the heart of the people... the impression that Super Eagles team ( largely comprise of average players) can win the world cup.

This message spark-off a "false believe" among the players and fans...that Super Eagles can achieve the impossible in Russia 2018 Fifa World cup. Giving the way they qualified by defeating Cameroon, Algeria and Zambia countries that were placed far better in the Fifa rankings. So Nigerians began to rush for the shirt to quickly identify with team.

The Celebrity Endorsement 
When Nike decided to unveil this jersey in February, it leveraged on popular culture by aligning with two of Nigeria’s biggest exports: Arsenal FC Footballer, Alexander Iwobi and Pop Star, Wizkid.

These two stars between them have a lot of influence amongst Nigerians populace both in Africa and in the Diaspora, and this collaboration set the stage for the eventual frenzy that we have been witnessed on social media when the jerseys were eventually released.

Nike also released a behind the scenes video of the jersey being unveiled to John Mikel Obi, Wilfred Ndidi, Alex Iwobi and Kelechi Ihenacho.

The jersey was a hit from the onset, because it is a great product and using two of Nigeria’s finest cultural exports (Alex Iwobi and Wizkid) to model it gave it the necessary push to become successful.
Football is one of those sectors that you can use to drive the narrative for your country to the outside world, and this jersey gave Nigeria a lot of earned media in key publications across the world.


The Media Hypes
The positive coverage by international media sparked off the high demand. I am not sure if the media hype was orchestrated by Nike or it just came off the air....

But once Sky Sports polls named Nigerian shirt as the best jersey to be showcased during the World Cup; and we can all agree that the jersey was a great product, fans went all out for it.

The acceptance was incredible, we saw a lot of celebrities: Banky W, Davido, Tiwa Savage, Tekno.... Pose with the jersey on Instagram. Over 5 million tweets #SuperEaglesJersey on twitter. Lots and lots of photo chats on Snapchar and pins on Pinterest.

The Timing
Now timing was on point, Nike eventually released the jerseys on Friday, 1st of June, 2018, and with the Super Eagles slated to play a friendly against England the next day at the Wembley Stadium, there was bound to be a rush for the available units.
You know what happened next, Nike online store sold out in 3 minutes, and queues were seen outside Nike’s Oxford Street Store in London as early as 6am, with the store scheduled to open by 10am.

Here in Nigeria the frenzy cut up with Nike store in Ikeja as several fans troop in asking to purchase the jersey.

We Call It "Fantasy Marketing Strategy "
Nike marketing team may have used Fantasy Marketing strategy to capture the imagination of football crazy Nigerians. Although, most football followers knew Super Eagles team are more or less average players and cannot compete favorably at the mundial, but they love to think of the lofty Naija spirit (The never say die attitude) to motivate the players to do the impossible.

Nike captured all these phenomenal, to come up with a great design. You could even put on those shirts to a wedding party and still look good. A great product, a great storyline, the right media hypes and timing may have been responsible for the success.