Contemporary Issues in Marketing - Co-Creation in the Case of Nike

Nike is one of the biggest footwear and apparel manufacturing companies in the word. The company came into existence in 1964 by Bill Boweman and Phil Knight and named it as the Blue Ribbon Sports. The company changed the name to Nike, which is Greek word meaning victory, in 1972 after producing a good brand of shoes that became popular among the athletes (NIKE, Inc., 2001). Since then, the company has been successful, dominating the world market of athletic shoes. The company’s products are sold in more than 170 countries across the world. The company also sponsors various sports events at national and international levels. The company slogan “just do it” is catchy and attract many people tom

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

In this paper, we present an elaborate analysis of the marketing mix employed by Nike in its marketing strategy. The marketing mix is conducted on the basis of the concept of "marketing mix" which is usually referred to as the "4Ps" as an important means of effectively interpreting as well as translating the marketing strategy into practice as noted by Bennett (1997).A recommendation is also provided.

Companies today face many challenges to maintain market share and differentiate themselves from a highly competitive and ever evolving market place. Marketing is crucial to a company’s long term success. The aim of this paper is to use the “Nike - The art of selling air” case study and concepts from strategic marketing

6). This strategy is a major component of Nike’s business strategic level plan. In applying this strategy, Nike has attained a great deal of consumer insight, which it uses to offer uniquely designed premium products to the athletes. Still on product differentiation, Nike focuses more on research and development at a greater level. These unique features to Nike, have transformed the competition levels in this competitive industry, leading to a trend of a paradigm shift in the market. Most consumers opt for Nike branded sports products and apparels, at the expense of the other brand names.

With branding as one of their core strategies, Nike had assumed coherence between their strategic vision, organizational culture and stakeholder images which in return rises to their powerful organizational

As their products are not so different, Nike differentiated itself by creating and marketing well designed athletics and non-athletic footwear and clothing. The company managed to distinguish and establish its products by using a different marketing approach from its competitors and by improving its brand identity and consumer awareness. However, in 2006, its two rivals merged to get a 22% market share while Nike had 36%. The organisation, then, developed a new strategy to get ahead its rivals. They coupled sport icons such as Michal Jordan to endorse the brand and it was such a success that they decided to use Tiger Woods, the no.1 golf player, to introduce its new golf apparel and equipment. The association of a motivational slogan "Just Do It" with athletes that emphasize competition, fitness and sportsmanship, helped the company to position its product on the market as being of high-quality. The advantage Nike has is the competitors' incapacity of replicating its quality products and benefits. Moreover, the company is always trying to introduce new product in the market which help them staying ahead while giving a positive

Nike, the world’s largest and leading innovator in athletic footwear, apparel, and equipment, is considered to be the quintessential global corporation. The company was founded in 1972 by Phil Knight, a former track star from the University of Oregon. Their company logo, “Just Do It”, has become one of the most recognizable marketing phrases throughout the world as well as their celebrity sponsors, which include Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, are also some of the most recognizable athletes. In 2006, Nike employed an estimated 650,000 people in 600 different factories scattered throughout the globe and had an annual revenue of

Nike’s organizational Form reflects a conglomeration of resources, processes and people around the activities most critical to their target customers in terms of its Value Proposition. It decided therefore to concentrate in depth on the critical activities and competencies rather than increasing the breadth of its

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.

Many of us know Nike for the clever maketing campaigns, celebrity athelets, "swoosh" logo, and "Just Do It!" slogan. In 1963 the world's largest athletic shoe company was founded by Philip Kight and Bill Bowerman for $500 apiece and a handshake, and today has over $9 billion in revenues.

A comprehensive analysis, using market data and market research, allows us to assess all areas affecting Nike’s strategic direction:

Nike began as Phil Knight’s semester-long project to develop a small business, which included a marketing plan. This project was part of Phil Knight’s MBA course at Stanford University in the early 1960s. Phil Knight had been a runner at the University of Oregon in the late 1950s. His idea for his project was to develop high quality running shoes. He thought that high quality/low cost products could be produced in Japan and then shipped to the United States to be sold at a profit. His professor thought that Knight’s idea was interesting, but not much more than a project.

Nike’s management understands how important a relevant strategy is in the global environment, as Don Blair, Nike’s CFO, stated “...we are refocusing our efforts, increasing our investments in innovation, using our voice for stronger advocacy and looking at how we incubate new, scalable business models that enable us to thrive in a sustainable economy.”