Converse: We Love You, Chucks! Marketing Case

Threat of substitute product is any company can make an athletic shoe. Puma, Adidas, and Reebok all produce athletic shoes and apparel. These companies are Nike’s top competitors. They try to develop alternative brands to eliminate Nike from the market. Nikes utilizes trademarks on nearly all of their products and believe having distinctive marks that are readily identifiable is an important factor in creating a market for their goods. Nike identifies their brands and the company distinguishes their goods from the goods of others. Nike considers NIKE® and Swoosh Design® trademarks to be among their most valuable

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

Option one was chosen over options two and three because, I believed it will produce the best results. The company image will be maintained more with this choice. Consumer confidence I believe will be higher. I believe stock prices will be more stable and may increase once investors realized

Today Nike Inc is the largest manufacturer of sports footwear, apparel and equipment with worldwide revenue in excess of $25 billion in 2012 under various labels including Nike, Nike Golf, Converse and Hurley. Seventy percent of the company’s value is derived from footwear and apparel sold under the main brand Nike with Nike footwear commanding a market share

Chuck Taylor endorsed Converse in 1923. Arthur Chan states “Basketball players found that the high top version of their converse sneakers supported their ankles when playing the sport, making them a sought-after item amongst NBA players. One such basketball player was Chuck Taylor, who in 1923, endorsed the brand’s sneakers by becoming a Converse ambassador, forever making Converse All-Stars a fashionable sneaker.” According to “The History of Sneakers,” “In 1936, Adidas became the must-have sneaker for every kid in America, when track athlete Jesse Owens wore Adidas sneakers during his four gold medal win at Berlin Olympics. This was a key moment in the history of sneakers.

Changes are if you don’t own a pair, you’ve seen several in your life. The Converse “Chuck Taylor” All-star sneakers, according to the text, are the bestselling sneakers of all time. The man behind the best selling shoes, Chuck Taylor was one of the many innovators of today’s sneaker world. Charles Hollis “Chuck” Taylor was born in 1901. At the age of 21 while playing some serious basketball, was hired by Converse. He did basketball clinics that prompted Converses line of shoes. Chuck also made many suggestions to help developing Converse. “Along the way, Taylor suggested several improvements to the shoes and became such a popular salesman, that in 1932 his signature was added to the round label on the ankle (one of his design suggestions, to protect players’ ankles).” The article, Chuck Taylor: The Man Behind the Sneaker, stated. Now, almost 80 years later, kids and adults alike still wear their Converse, or, like in the 1950’s the shoes were simply called, “Chucks.” The popularity of Converse has simply, not changed these past years, and

It was the year 1917 , when the company Converse - former manufacturer of rubber boots - launched a basketball shoe called "Converse Chuck Taylor All Star" . An icon was born. Over the years, Converse developed a high-tech sport shoe with toe cap for protection, vulcanized sole and even ventilation. In addition to the high-top sneaker, there is also a low-top variant, the "Oxford".

Nike Company started in 1984, in Portland Oregon by Tinker Hatfield, a former pole-vaulter and architect. Hatfield worked his way into the shoe industry. He got his idea from Converse’s in the early 1970’s slogan, Limousines for the Feet. In Hatfield believe our culture have a lot of interest in shoes, just as much as our culture back in the 1950’s were interested in owning cars. They began introducing their Nike shoes and products to the society by images of people and things like the production of the Nike Air Jordan. This product was named after Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan is the best basketball player and biggest star at that time. In advertisement, Michael Jordan would show us a quick lay up to the goal

They weren’t always this huge booming business worth billions. The company's revenue went from $28.7 million in 1973 to $867 million in 83. But things started to turn on them toward the end of 1983. In February 1984, the company reported its first quarterly loss ever. Nike needed something (or someone) to carry the weight and help them regain the money they had lost. Michael Jordan always just wanted to wear Adidas in the NBA, he had no intention of signing with anyone else; “I have no interest in going there,” Falk said Jordan told him. “Just do what you need to do to get me with adidas.” (Falk was Jordan’s agent at the time) Even though Jordan had given the “orders” to stay with Adidas Falk decided that the best place for Jordan was with Nike. Jordan was so stubborn that Falk actually had to convince Michael’s parents to convince Michael to go to the meeting. They met with Strasser, designer Peter Moore, and those responsible for basketball at the company, Howard White and Sonny Vaccaro. After a video to the song Jump and 2 die-cast Mercedes cars Jordan decided that Nike was the place for him. Nike offered MJ $500,000 a year for five years, which was unheard-of at the time. The Air Jordan Is, at a price of $65 a pair, hit stores in March 1985. By May, Nike had sold $70 million worth. By the end of the year, the Air Jordan franchise had more than $100 million in revenues. In 2012, Jordan brand sold $2.5 billion worth of shoes, its best

What I love about Converse is how comfortable they are. Converse just started selling their new line of shoes called Chuck Taylor All Star

Nike must therefore respond to trends and shifts in consumer preferences by adjusting the mix of existing product offerings, developing new products, styles and categories, and influencing sports and fitness preferences through aggressive marketing. Failure to respond in a timely and adequate manner could have a material adverse effect on our sales and profitability. This is a continuing risk.

Nike has seldom manufactured products own premises, except their air bladders. The shoes are manufactured through outsourcing and alliances with other companies. A successful company like Nike formed its organization on the customer values that have the MOST impact on the consumers mind – Design/R&D, Marketing and Distribution. Even though manufacturing is a vital function to perform, Nike realized that there were other ways to go about this function and thereby save both cost and maintain its focus on the critical customer value areas.

Instead of spending millions of dollars on their workers, who are the backbones of making the actual shoes, they are spending it on their advertisements to promote their company. I realize that advertisement is essential to the success of a product, but it should not be at the cost of another human being to make a profit. I know that Nike is just one of thousands of companies that have taken their labor overseas, so that the product can be made at a fraction of its cost. Unfortunately the public sees Nike as a company whose product is worn by the rich and famous, therefore it is something that they would want for themselves. We the consumer enable them to continue this kind of business, because we buy the product. Through global media, we the public are becoming more aware of this kind of exploitation of workers. Overall, I think there is no pride to be found in companies that exploit their employees at the cost of a better profit for themselves. Awareness is going to be the key to hopefully fix it in the near

The sportswear industry is very price sensitive and most competitors prices are about the same. Nike sells its products in Nike shops and the selling of its products direct to the consumers conflicts with other resellers of the brand. Most of Nike’s earnings are derived from selling into retailers.

Seeking Behaviour Although Nike is the market leader in sports shoes, this doesn't guarantee consumers will switch to competitors alternatives. There are consumers who switch brands in an attempt to be different. This is often due to changes in fashion 4.6 Consumer Decision Making in the sports shoe market, for a running shoe: Total Set