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Positioning Nike as a leader in the fight against climate change
| Global Communications | November 2021 |
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| POSITIONING NIKE AS A LEADER IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE |
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| Narrative Theme |
| CULTURE OF INNOVATION |
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| Storyline |
| INNOVATING & DESIGNING WITH IMPACT |
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| 2021 is a make-or-break year for climate change. With the world (virtually) coming together at moments like Climate Week, Copenhagen Fashion Summit and COP26 to discuss climate action, we set out to leverage our unique position as thought leaders in protecting the future of the planet and – with it – the future of sport.
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STRATEGY
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In partnership with Geos and Stakeholder Engagement, we identified key global sustainability moments that allowed us to contribute to the conversation in a meaningful, impactful and uniquely Nike way. For each moment we carefully selected the right Nike voice, and crafted messaging that built on our Purpose narrative and positioned Nike as a thought and innovation leader.
In addition to our presence with audiences and stakeholders (live and virtual) in these key moments, we extended the reach of our storytelling through Nike News. Strategically timed to key engagement moments, we created a series of stories that highlighted our Purpose work and provided additional context to global audiences and stakeholders.
The journey culminated at COP26 where Nike joined world leaders and influencers to curate and empower a two-week engagement program. Opened by an external statement from John Donahoe emphasizing our continued commitment to protecting the planet, Nike executives and elite athletes joined a multitude of bilateral and one-to-one meetings with partners and state leaders, as well as taking the stage in panel discussions, forums and media engagements. |
JOURNEY
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Conference of Montreal
September 13–16
How Nike’s targets are leading the industry into a more sustainable future
Noel Kinder
(Chief Sustainability Officer)
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Climate
Week
September 20–26
How Nike is leveraging it’s size and scale to drive change throughout the entire supply chain, exemplified by our work with key suppliers in SCC & SCAP
Marine Graham
(VP, Responsible Sourcing & Manufacturing)
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Sport Positive Summit
September 28–29
How Nike is leveraging the very fabric of sport – apparel, footwear and equipment – to deliver scalable solutions that are good for athletes and the planet
Noel Kinder
(Chief Sustainability Officer)
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Reuters Impact Conference
October 4–7
Nike is in a unique position to lead: our bold targets invite the industry to join us in scaling solutions globally
Noel Kinder
(Chief Sustainability Officer)
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Copenhagen Fashion Summit
October 7–8
How to build equity & equality in the fight against climate change
Felicia Mayo
(Chief Talent, Diversity & Culture Officer)
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JOINING WORLD LEADERS AT COP206
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| Taking place from October 31 to November 12 in Glasgow, the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP26 brought together world and corporate leaders to discuss how we can urgently do more to combat climate change. Nike contributed to the conversation in carefully curated panel conversations with athletes and climate change experts. We also helped to advance the global sustainability agenda through a range of bilateral meetings with partners, public policy leaders and other stakeholders. |
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Nike Athletes speaking up on how climate change is impacting their lives and their ability to train and compete
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“How to protect our planet and our playing fields”
a co-created session by Nike & The New York Times featuring Noel Kinder (Chief Sustainability Officer, Nike), John Hoke (Chief Design Officer, Nike), athlete Ada Hegerberg (Footballer) and Claire Poole (Founder & CEO, Sport Positive Summit)
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“The Power of Knowledge: Girl’s Education as an Accelerator of Climate Action”
featuring Leah Thomas (Founder, Intersectional Environmentalist), Malala Yousafzai (Co-Founder, Malala Fund), Vanessa Nakate (Climate Justice Activist), Katrin Bennhold (Berlin Bureau Chief, The New York Times) and an introduction by Virginia Rustique-Petteni (VP, Purpose Communications, Nike)
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“On Circularity: Why We Need to Remove Waste From Our Economy”
featuring Seana Hanna, Jim Andrew (Chief Sustainability Officer, PepsiCo) and Michiel de Smiet (Finance Program Lead, Ellen MacArthur Foundation)
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“Beginning at the end: How to keep a product alive”
featuring William McDonough (Author of “Cradle to Cradle”), Claire Bergkamp (COO, Textile Exchange), Vanessa Friedman (Fashion Director, The New York Times), Halide Alagöz (Chief Product & Sustainability Officer, Ralph Lauren) and an intro by Seana Hannah (VP, Sustainable Innovation, Nike)
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To bring our thought leadership journey to life for employees, we created intersectional conversations with our NikeUNITED Networks through a series of discussions around the culture of sustainability across our enterprise.
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feat. Melati Wijsen
161 ATTENDEES
“Love the conversation that was mix together of three purpose pillars (MTZ, DE&I and Asian) love love love.”
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feat. Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and the NAACP’s Environmental and Climate Justice Program
391 ATTENDEES
“Informative, enlightening, and accessible. Thank you.”
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feat. Solstice (UWAW Grantee)
305 ATTENDEES
“So inspiring! Thanks for partnering with Solstice and presenting the great work that’s being done!”
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with Noel Kinder, Vien Truong, Karol Collymore and Jarvis Sam
373 ATTENDEES
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on Eco-Ableism
288 ATTENDEES
“All of the leaders shared such interesting and impactful information. Thank you!! Amazing to hear the knowledge and energy on these important topics.”
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UPCOMING IN NOV!
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We provided employees opportunities to engage with sustainability through stories, videos and leader messages centered around protecting the planet and the future of sport and inviting employees to join us on our thought leadership journey. 15 articles and posts were published, including the Talking Trash Film with Dr. Ayana Johnson and Chloe Kim, Trash the Competition: An Interview with Andy Cain about Air Zoom Alphafly Next Nature and the Climate Change Video Featuring John Donahoe, which generated over 2,200 interactions each.
The voice of the athlete carried through with strong pieces like a Q&A with Eliud Kipchoge: Climate Change & Running and the Impact of Climate Change Video with Dina Asher-Smith, Sam Mewis and others.
In addition to the NikeUNITED sustainability events, employees virtually joined Nike leaders for sessions at Chasing Victory: Firstline Day, Climate Week NYC and COP26.
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John Donahoe Video:
“Wow great and strong inspiring message. Glad to be part of this community making efforts to a sustainable future.”
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John Donahoe Video:
“Such a critical issue. Thank you for speaking up about it, John. Can’t wait to accelerate our efforts in this space.”
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COP26 Videos:
“Critical topic for the future of our planet and our business! Thank you for the work you’re doing John Hoke, Seana Hannah, Noel Kinder and team.”
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Our two-month journey enabled us to foster relationships with key media stakeholders (e.g. Reuters, Forbes, The New York Times), yielding strong narrative storytelling output around COP26.
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Noel Kinder on Cheddar, Live from COP26
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Nike aims to use 100% renewable energy by 2025
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Earthtopia TikTok with Noel Kinder
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Three targeted Nike News stories bringing to life our work on sustainability through in-depth interviews with Nike executives.
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RESULTS
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Advancing the conversation
Pressure-tested and evolved Planet messaging and talking points
Elevated Nike executives on key global stages to advance Nike’s position as Purpose and sustainability thought leader
Diversified Nike’s sustainability voices and audiences reached
Longer journey created more confident and capable spokespeople
Enhanced relationships with key corporate media outlets (Reuters, NYTimes, Forbes, etc.)
Evergreen Nike News stories provide deeper context and fresher tone on our work in sustainability
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Cutting through
Speaker Engagements & Panel Conversations (live & recorded) reached a combined audience of more than
5000 stakeholders globally
24 Workvivo stories & posts reached
47,551 employees
Employee content generated
72,304 impressions and 18,237 interactions
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Nike
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