Lance Armstrong Social Media Analysis - Tucker

1. Lance ArmstrongSocial Media Analysis - Tucker Summary Lance Armstrong, as a brand, represents the highest achievement of competitive drive and winning results. By association, his sponsors including Nike hoped to gain “legendary” status as winning products. They achieved stellar brand association performance for over a decade. However, the risks have turned out to be as high as the reward, and Armstrong’s admission to deception, lying and cheating has demonstrated how damaging the risks can be. Armstrong’s actions were not only illegal, they dealt a crushing blow to the trust he had built in the Armstrong brand with his fans. Nike is now struggling to dis-associate with the Armstrong brand and navigate the public backlash that has reached their own brand. Data In analyzing recent twitter streams about Lance Armstrong, the following public opinion profiles have emerged. Representative Tweet examples include;

2. Lance ArmstrongSocial Media Analysis - Tucker Nike Poisoned by Association Nike’s core message has begun to resonate with the public, just not the way they intended. The core brand message for Nike is, Just Do It! How astonishing this message appears to be in light of Lance Armstrong’s actions and confession. It is precisely counter to the public sentiment about the story, and poses a tremendous liability for Nike. To abandon the tag would mean restarting their entire positioning strategy in the market place, but to ignore the obvious taint Lance Armstrong now brings is to place their entire brand at peril. Examples of how the Nike message itself has become a liability; • First Tiger Woods, then Lance Armstrong and now Oscar Pistorius. I think NIKE should start telling their athletes "DON'T DO IT!!! :p • Tiger Wood's sex dalliances, Lance Armstrong's drug usage, Pistorious' murder charge. Nike needs to rethink "Just Do It