Nike Marketing Excellence Assignment Help
INTRODUCTION:
Nike was founded in 1962 by the name of Blue Ribbon Sports and is the one of the best supplier of equipment, sportswear and footwear in the US. Redl (2013) explains that a long with Nike, Adidas, Asics and Puma are key players in the athletics footwear market with total market share of 40% and only Nike holds 30% of the market share.
Production house of Nike not only includes wide range of sports equipment including, running shoes, footballs, golf, tennis, basketball and sportswear but is also involved in the new global fashion trends of youth and hip hop culture with the supply of new fashion products. The company has also collaborated with Apple Company and has produced Nike + products which are especially designed product for runner and through these series of products the runner can monitor their performance through a radio which is adjustable in the shoe and the performance can be downloaded to the i-touch or i-pods. The company is also among the top of the three companies which are known in the customers to be climate friendly.
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MISSION STATEMENT:
Nike.com (2013) describes that Nike mission statement of Nike shows the true essence of the company. The company in mission statement is very clear and states “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.”
CORPORATE STRATEGY OF NIKE:
- Burgelman and Denend (2007, pp. 12-17) elaborates that corporate global strategy of the company is very extensive and covers the mission statement of the company. The company is dealing in 180 different countries and the corporate strategy of the company is really comprehensive and includes quality products, constant innovation and aggressive marketing. Although the company has no published corporate strategy which is a weakness in itself yet the grand strategy of the company is to utilize innovation and to produce top quality footwear and equipment’s.
SWOT ANALYSIS:
Ching-Chieh (2013, pp. 5-9) in the report have worked on NIKE and its corporate plans and the SWOT of the company. Appended below is the SWOT of global infrastructure of Nike.
Strengths: Strength of a company is the strong foundation which helps the company to grow.
- Ching-Chieh (2013, pp. 5) details that Nike is known as number one sportswear brand in the world and due to its basic concept of sponsoring the top athletes, it gained exposure which none of the competitor including Adidas or Reebok can have.
- The company instead of financing the factory outlets has outsourced the work and has consumed all the money on research and development for all the innovative set of products.
- Because of the outsourcing, the company has provided employment to around 30,000 workers all around the world.
Weaknesses: The problem faced by the Nike not only become a hurdle in earning profits but also increase problem created by the competitors.
- Ching-Chieh (2013, pp. 6) explains that although the company has a great portfolio of the sportswear products yet the reliance of the company on Footwear is much more than any of the products.
- The market is price sensitive and so are the Nike products hence the customer who has low knowledge will tend to buy cheaper products.
- The company was accounted to have child employment in Pakistan and Cambodia to produce footballs hence a problem in the corporate responsibility.
Opportunities: The strength in the external environment which are beneficial for Nike are explained by Ching-Chieh.
- Ching-Chieh (2013, pp. 7-8) explains different opportunities and declares that Nike is known to be a style statement hence more buyers in the younger generations.
- It has developed a segment for youth and has been following trends in the fashion industry and hence more sales as the customer will try to buy something which is new in fashion.
- Nike with help of its corporate brand ambassadors has created influence on the market.
Threats: Threats are unavoidable and the Nike faces many threats from market as well as from labor in other parts of the world.
- Ching-Chieh (2013, pp. 9) explains that heavy competition in the market faced by Nike are from Adidas and Reebok.
- Slum in the international economy will lead to reduction in business.
- Consistency in the price of the product depends on the country to country and region to region and any variation will lead to customer loss.
THE MARKETING STRATEGY:
Zadek (2004, pp. 7-9) elaborates that the portfolio of Nike includes many products for example, athletic footwear, casual line of footwear’s, equipments and sport related apparels. With such a vast portfolio, the marketing strategies are also comprehensive as each and every product has different dimensions to be taken care of.
Target Market:
Lindner (2010) details that the company’s target market is for high income groups with high earning and it is directed to both the genders and the target market age can be from 15 years to 65 years. Anyone who is interested in sports and looks for comfort is Nike’s target market.
Strategies:
Strategies doesn’t take care of one aspect of business but it intervened with and another to build strong foundation for a building to stay there for an infinite period of time. Smith (2013) and Hamilton (2012) elaborate the same strategies in the following manner:
Branding Strategy: Hamilton (2012) explains that the company has created a brand which is related to lifestyle, sports and attitude. The brand is created in such a way that by looking at the Tiger wood game with a tick as its logo one would relate it to Nike.
Selling Strategy: Smith (2013) describes that Nike has build almost no manufacturing units while the flagship stores available in each and every corner of the world including the big retail discount stores were part of the company’s selling strategy.
Organizational Strategy: Moreover, Smith (2013) explains that Nike has departmentalized its business into products and hence each department is functioning for different product while the management has knowledge about all the products and one can be easily replaced by other in case of emergencies.
Positioning:
Wood (2012) in her report describes that Nike mission is to stay at the top at all times and hence to maintain this position, the changes in the consumer needs are evaluated and the preferences as evidenced by changes in fashion. Therefore looking at the constant changes in the taste and fashion Nike has to follow the trends so that the market share remains the same if it is not increasing. Nike has positioned itself as trend setter instead of trend follower only to maintain the positioning in the market.
Marketing Program:
Carr (2013) is the report has declared Nike as one of the top performing company with excellent Marketing program in year 2013. The CEO of the company Mr. Mark Parker has taken the marketing element much more serious than anyone else and the report declares that the marketing strategy of the company has helped it to defeat the competitors. Although the fast changing market requirement, fashion trends and more competition are big hurdles yet Nike is on its toes to remain a trend setter instead of trend followers.
MARKETING MIX:
Bhasin (2013) in the report has detailed the marketing mix presented by Nike.
PRODUCT: All the products are in their top selling product category which the product ranges varies from equipment, apparel and shoe, where the equipments include roller skates, protective gears, hockey jersey and accessories.
PRICE: All the products are high end products hence high priced yet due to competition the prices are under control because of control on manufacturing units.
PLACE: The products are showcased by different multi brand stores and exclusive Nike store in different parts of the world. The products are sold through independent distributors and retailers.
PROMOTION: Nike has focused on getting endorsement from athletes themselves and hence the retention in the customer mind has remained there for a longer period of time. The brand ambassadors of Nike like Ronaldo, Jermane O’Neal, Tiger Woods are great examples. Newspaper ads and television promotions and endorsement by different athletes have played a vital role in the promotion of Nike.
Pros, Cons and Risk Evaluation of Nike:
PROS:
Distribution: Ching-Chieh, (2013, pp. 5-6) explains that the product of the company which gets better distribution will be able to receive more sales and hence more profit. Nike distributes the product on different levels, i.e. the one which is a premium product will reach to high end store which the slightly lower priced product reached on discounted retail store.
Promotion & Advertising: Ching-Chieh, (2013, pp. 5-6) discusses that Nike is a powerful company and through contracts with celebrity athletes works well for Nike. Ronaldo or Tiger Woods, with their Nike marked shirts will become an endorsement in no time.
Price: Hamilton (2012) the author is more focused on price and explains that looking at the target market which cares more about the quality of the product than the price helps the company to create and sell products to high end customers, hence more sales and more profits.
Market Segmentation: Hamilton (2012) explains that Nike has focused more on the athletes and has segmented the said market into men and women aging from 15 to 35. With premium products in mind and good research and development department, Nike has focused on this segment and hence success.
