Case Study on Nike (Marketing)

NIKE, Inc., is a company that was founded in by William Jay Bowerman and Philip H. Knight in 1964, and was originally called Blue Ribbon Sports, Inc. It’s name was changed to Nike, Inc. in 1971. It’s base of operation is located in Beaverton, Oregon. NIKE, Inc., is the world’s leading designer, marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities worldwide. Entirely owned Nike subsidiaries include Converse Inc., a brand that develops, advertises, and sells athletic apparel and accessories; and also Hurley International LLC, which designs, markets and sells surf and youth lifestyle clothing and many different accessories. Its athletic footwear products are designed primarily for specific athletic use, although a large percentage of the products are worn for casual or leisure purposes. Nike offers products in many different categories such as men’s/women’s training, running, basketball, golf, and more. The company also sells products designed for children and youth athletic activities such as baseball, cricket, lacrosse, outdoor activities, football, tennis, volleyball, walking, and wrestling. Also, Nike sells sports apparel and accessories; and markets apparel with licensed college and professional team and league logos. Further, it sells a line of performance equipment and accessories, including sports bags, balls, eyewear, digital devices, bats, gloves, protective equipment, golf

Nike started to open up manufacturing factories in countries like Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam. Due to the wants of Nike to increase their revenue they tried to outsource the labor of their products since labor work in the US is very high and expensive. This was a bad idea due to that Indonesia pays their workers extremely low wages. Pakistan doesn’t have an age limit for them to be able to legally to work so many children in Pakistan were making

In the last couple of years Nike’s sales have decreased which were targeted at 15-19 year olds. This problem has caused Nike to lose customers which means a loss in sales/ profits. Over the past few months competitors have been raising their strategies to bring in customers in which increases their profits. This is having a negative effect on Nike, if Nike carry on the way

The company has launched the Nike products, which embody a love of sport, discipline, ambition, practice, and other athletic traits.

Nike is the leading and yet renowned supplier of athletic apparel and shoes. The company controls close to 33% of the global athletic shoe market (Dogiamis & Vijayashanker,2009).Nike was founded by Bill Power and Phil Knight in 1962 as a Blue Ribbon Support and then was later on renamed to Nike in the year 1968 (Patrow,2003).The company supplies very high quality product in close to 100 countries with major markets being located in the U.S,U,K, Asia Pacific as well as in the Americas. The company has managed to attain its lead and legendary position via the application of innovative and yet attractive product design which is backed by quality production as well as well crafted marketing strategies.

One major key component that allowed Nike to get to the elite status they are today would have to be the expectations they have for their employees. In their code of ethics book they clearly state on the fifth page that “every employee must reflect standards of honesty, loyalty, trustworthiness, fairness, concern for others and accountability” (NIKE Code of Ethics). These expectations of their employees shows how much Nike values its company, and it ensures every employee knows what is expected of them. None of these expectations has hindered Nike’s ability to get employees. Most, if not all, of Nike’s employees claim there’s a great work environment at Nike, which all starts with the expectations they put on them in the beginning.

The aim of this paper is to use the “Nike - The art of selling air.” case study and concepts from strategic marketing theory to identify marketing challenges and how those challenges could be best addressed using marketing principles. The paper will:

Nike has revolutionized the way sportswear is sold and worn in today’s economy. They have found a way to sell gear that is made for athletics but is used in the everyday life of many generations. Nike has changed the social culture of many people. This is done through various methods of endorsements. Nike has perfected the art of advertising by finding the right formula of different ad styles.

"Just Do It." Just three small words represent so much more to consumers. A growing athletic wear empire that shows no signs of slowing down, Nike is a company that strives on change and innovation. The more trends change, the more creative they become, and more successful and popular the brand gets. The Nike swoosh and the "Just Do It" slogan are globally recognized and cherished.

Nike Inc. is a very successful publicly traded sportswear and equipment company based in the United States. Nike is a multi-national and Fortune 500 company. It has reached achievements in their innovation in products that Nike has become one of the most recognized companies today and companies dream to have what Nike has created. The main headquarters for the company is in the Portland metropolitan area near Beaverton, Oregon. Nike leads the world in supplying athletic apparel and shoes. Nike shows how devoted they are in the satisfaction of their customer’s needs that it shines upon their mission statement and encompasses their vision. Nike ensures to go far and beyond expectations so that their customers receive quality products and services. Nike was founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports, but goes back to the 1950’s, and with their extensive history it only adds up to its impressive reputation in the Sports industry.

NIKE‘s unique value proposition has been on the innovative design, finesse and quality of their Product line. Innovation has been a constant driving factor of NIKE since its inception.

Competition is very fierce due to the number of companies competing for sales. Lots of money goes to marketing and promotions using various channels to reach the young demographic group of consumers who spend the most money on Nike’s products. Growth is slowing down in the athletic footwear industry. But new markets are emerging with high growth rates. These markets include extreme sports market and the corporate merchandise market.

One of Nike’s main opportunities is product development. Developing their product range makes them more competitive and because products tend to go out of fashion quickly, Nike must introduce new products relatively fast because consumer demand the newest and latest products. Increase in internet shopping will no doubt reduce the cost and improve prices making them even more competitive.

Nike, Inc. has been the world’s leading innovator and provider in athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for 50 years. Their mission has been to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world; if you have a body, you are an athlete. Arguably one of the most innovative companies in the world, Nike has built its brand into an iconic world-class powerhouse that continues to dominate the market with no signs of slowing up. Nike’s marketing and advertising have been breakthrough, aspirational, and legendary over the years, featuring high-profile athletes and heroes.

Meaningfulness as a brand the meaning of Nike is the “greek goddess of victory”. Likability of the brand the symbol of the brand reminds the minds the sign of ok in addition it is associated with victory and winning. These all have a positive effect on peoples minds. Adaptability is how the brand responds to change nike has changed its logo many times in years which shows how Nike uses adaptability for brand equity. Transferability is the capability of the brand to add new products nike always adds to their portfolio of products they also change their logo according to gender ,product etc. Protectability is the last of these elements which is about protection and legal registration nike has protected their brand elements with the swoosh appearing alongside the trademark “just do it” since