Market Segmentation For Nike

| * Endorsing Athletes * Sponsoring Sports events * City based advertisements * Banners & Billboards * Themes on

Nike may be typically known for focusing a lot of gear solely on athletes; yet, it is not just for them. Nike’s objective

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.

15). They were able to receive more than that amount of money, but payment beyond that point was fully a decision that was up to the presidents of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and/or the particular college university the athletes were enrolled at. This money could not be placed directly into the hands of the college players; it had to be put in savings accounts for those eligible college athletes until they were older, graduated from college, and out on their own. After that point, they could access the profit for anything they desired or needed to use it for (Majerol, et al., 2014 p. 15). Still, some players were not satisfied with the small amount of money they were scheduled to receive. As a result, some athletes decided to “sell their services” to any college team that would pay them to play, whether they attended the college classes or not. This method would only work if the athlete had an outstanding, eye-catching talent. (Majerol, et al., 2014 p.

The aim of this report is to utilize the “Nike - The art of selling air” case study, and other lessons from the strategic marketing theorem to identify marketing challenges; and how those challenges could be best addressed using the previously described marketing principles

According to Horner and Swarbrooke (2005: 39), Segmentation may be defined as the process of dividing a whole market into subgroups or segments for marketing management purposes. Market segmentation is the division of the overall market for a service into various categories with common characteristics. In response to different segments, organisations facilitate the available resources to achieve greater efficiency, in order to satisfy specific needs of customers.

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.

In order to market the product into the market successfully, marketers need to have some marketing strategy to enter the desired market and make profit. Market segmentation is the process of dividing a market into subsets of consumers with common needs or characteristics (Schiffman et al., 2011). Understanding the market size and segmentation is valuable, but the keys to effective targeting is to know just how valuable specific consumer groups are, and being able to quantify the impact of consumer trends ( Berry, 1999).

Market segmentation is a marketing strategy that involves dividing a broad target market into subsets of consumers who have common needs and applications

Nike’s main strategy revolves around product branding. Their brand compromises of a swoosh logo which is accompanied by a message of “just do it”. The logo was imprinted on all of their products with the message developed to express the individuality of their target group. The branding was further promoted by Nike’s relentless approach on the quality of their product as demonstrated when considering overseas business opportunities, quality must not be compromised in order to do so. This ensures consumer satisfaction and loyalty towards Nike.

As every customer has unique needs and expectations towards certain products, the ultimate goal of market segmentation is to organize customers into groups which allows targeting of customers with similar needs of and response to the products. The key is to minimize differentiation within each segment

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's management's bet on celebrities marketing. These athlete celebrities including Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods had introduced and placed Nike and its

The main consumers of Nike products can be divided into the following major segments: proffessional athletes (approximately 65 000);