New Balance: Strategic Management

Sports shoes still remains the focus of New Balance and the company has experienced remarkable growth over last 40 years. It especially had

One could easily argue that Nike’s success is a direct reflection of their commitment to their celebrity sponsorships, and while New Balance has found a niche by staying clear of these expenses, it could also be a root cause for why they dominate less than eight percent of the market share (Veleva, 2010).

The Athletic shoe industry had its start in 1892 when U.S Rubber company invented Keds and by

Have you ever seen someone wearing a very rare pair of shoes that you have never seen before? Have you ever wondered how they got these shoes and how much they cost? Believe it or not Nike’s Air Jordan line of shoes has been at the forefront of a decade-long sneaker craze, which has grown so much it has become its own stock market. Jordan’s have been popular for many years and it is shown throughout pop culture, the increase in price and demand, the resale market that has skyrocketed in the last five years, and the history behind the shoe that made them so popular. Jordan’s are very well advertised through several popular outlets.

Nike is a huge supplier if athletic shoes for the world these days. Philip H. Knight, the founder of this corporation came up with an idea of an athletic shoe at the track field of the University of Oregon.

Michael Jordan’s, Nike, Adidas and Puma their shoe sales went up in the 1980’s. Amber J. Keyset started to design different shoes starting with Michael Jordans. When one pair was released more people grew into them either for the style or the history behind the pair. “Sneakerhead;a person who collects trade and/or admires sneakers as a form of a hobby, knowledgeability on sneakers”(Powell). Sneakerhead culture impacted the society with its new look and style by making them more desirable and increasing the shoe industry.

Question 2: Would you consider New Balance a niche player in the athletic footwear industry

Many of the big established shoe brands have seen consolidation and hence they have become bigger and more powerful in terms of competing with the rest.

The threat of new entrants in the athletic shoe industry is very weak. Currently the market is dominated by three major competitors, and

The athletic footwear industry includes all producers of shoes designed in an athletic style or for an athletic use. We define the active footwear industry as an industry that manufactures shoes for active lifestyles. The primary focus of this analysis is on the United States market as it represents roughly 32% of the overall footwear market (PRWeb,

One of these techniques includes name dropping. Just like Nike, Adidas uses many different celebrities when advertising their products. Adidas uses a whole range of celebrities from Kendall Jenner to David Beckham. This technique is called name dropping. This persuades the buyer to buy this product because many new and famous celebrities use it too. Also, Adidas uses an advertising technique called covert advertising. This is when they portray their product on media. Such as, movies, tv shows, and social media. And example is the movie Beverly Hills Cop and many different Adidas instagram accounts that they keep in touch with Adidas fans all around the world. However, when Nike uses their advertising techniques, they use an exaggeration technique to make people think that just by wearing their shoes that it will make them run faster than before. This makes people fall for it because they makes it seem like it is the best shoe out there for running. Also, another difference is that Nike uses emotional branding, which is when they use emotion to advertise their product. For example, they do this by playing a hero that overcomes challenges and adversity. This makes people feel sentimental to buy their product because Nike makes it look like the outcome of buying their product will be victorious. After all, both Nike and Adidas use a few similar

New Balance International was founded during the early 1990s specializing in orthopedic footware to improve the fit of their shoes. Today the company continues its founding values in a highly specialized niche business of providing athletic footware in a wide range of widths and sizes which distinguishes the product from its competitors. With the philosophy of “one size did not fit all,” New Balance expanded operation from the US and currently markets its product in 160 countries in six continents. New Balance Inc. first appeared in South Africa In 1976 when a Durban based company obtained a license to distribute the brand. Under this distribution plan the company held a very small percentage of

Nike’s main competitors, Adidas and Reebok, each produce a similar product mix to Nike’s, and in order to keep a competitive edge, these companies attempt to optimize its current products and showcase new innovative products. The Summer Olympics, the biggest sporting event series in the world held every four years, presents Nike and other sporting good companies with a huge opportunity to showcase new products and fuel the competition in their industry through sponsorships of teams and individual athletes. By the next Summer Olympics in 2016, sporting companies will have another chance to show off their brand, enhancing the competitive rivalry between each other. Another competitive issue that inhibits Nike’s product distribution is the large amount of substitutes in the sporting goods industry. Consumers have a wide selection of footwear, apparel, and sporting gear retailers to choose from, which requires sporting goods companies to enhance their marketing strategy to sell their products in order to survive in the industry. On the contrary, there are some economic factors that may benefit Nike’s marketing of product in the next few years. Since 2008 recession, real personal consumption expenditures have increased, indicating that consumers are willing to spend more of their money on certain items (Appendix B). This may be an opportunity for Nike to intensify marketing to consumers in order to increase sales at time where there is an increasing

Awareness Set Choice Set Decision Set All running shoes Nike Nike Nike Adidas Adidas Reebok New Balance 4.7

3. What is the Brand in the Hand concept? What does this mean to adidas and its branding efforts? It is one way to do the marketing communications. It means that company and product information can be easily delivered to people in their hands whenever and wherever possible. The media can be mobile devices, video games and the Internet. In such a way, brand awareness can be raised faster than traditional marketing communications. In the past, advertising and branding models were based primarily on 30-second commercials and magazine ads. Adidas traditionally advertised on TV and magazines as well as at sporting events and sponsor sports teams and players. But these events attract few new customers. On the other hand, increased advertisements intruding in the people’s lives made them hostile to ads and therefore more difficult for adidas to make effective advertising through the traditional way. Without moving