Nike: Blue Ribbon Sports by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight in 1964

NIKE Inc. has been the worldwide leader of athletic shoe sales for many years now. The company’s successful brand image combined competition and enablement for the competitive, athletic user. Nike has to modify their brand to a focus of excitement and freedom and not just competitiveness. By collecting and studying an assortment of material we could be able to understand where NIKE is currently placed in the athletic shoe industry compared to their competition, and how they will be able to adjust their brand focus so it can be more effective in the future. These adjustments can help NIKE reach the more casual group of urban runners and ultimately increase the sales forecasts, while still controlling a percentage of the market for athletic shoes.

sale of Nike’s high-margin products to high-end customers. Regardless of the low cost of the World Shoes, they

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.

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.

<br>In 1958, Phil Knight, a business major a the University of Oregon, and a miler on the track team, shared with his coach, Bill Bowerman, a dissatisfaction with the clumsiness of American running shoes. They formed a company in 1964 to market a lighter and more comfortable shoe designed by Bowerman. In 1968, this company became NIKE, Inc.--- named for the Greek goddess of Victory. At first, Knight and Bowerman sold their shoes in person, at track meets across the Western US. Their company thrived through a classic combination of entrepreneurship and innovation. Bowerman 's most memorable technical breakthrough was the optimal traction of the waffle soles he invented by shaping rubber in the waffle iron in his kitchen (1972). Other essential innovations were the

Nike is the English version of the name of the Greek goddess Nike, which, according to legend, helped the Greeks to win on the battlefield. The American company Nike has transferred this meaning to their products - shoes, which help to achieve great sporting achievements. History of the brand had started with a search for the founders of the niche of sports footwear in the US market, which was free that time. In the early 60-is of Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight founded the company, the initial capital of it was $ 1,000. Phil Knight decided to develop high quality sports shoes in the United States, produced in Asia and sold in the United States. The company originally existed under the name Blue Ribbon Sports, but in 1971

NIKE, Inc. designs, develops, markets and sells footwear, apparel, and equipment, accessories and services. 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. It focuses on NIKE Brand and Brand Jordan product offerings in seven key categories: running, basketball, football, men's training, women's training, NIKE sportswear, and action sports. It also markets product designed for kids, as well as for other athletic and recreational uses such as baseball, cricket, golf, lacrosse, outdoor activities, football, tennis, volleyball, walking, and wrestling.

Humm, where to begin? In 1964, Nike started off as dream when founders, Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman, with just $1,200, established Blue Ribbon Sports (O’Reilly, 2014). Originally, they were distributors for Asics, but in 1971 they became known as Nike. Uniquely, they chose the name Nike because it is the name of the Greek goddess of victory (O’Reilly, 2014). Interestingly, the first patented Nike shoe was the Nike Waffle Trainer, which was made using a waffle iron and was patented in 1974 (O’Reilly, 2014). Creatively, the “Just Do It” campaign, in 1988, was featured in an ad with Walt Stack, the 80 year old runner, as he ran across the Golden Gate Bridge (O’Reilly, 2014).

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.

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.

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.

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.

The report is about Nike, regarding the case study. The report elaborates on the aspects including buyer behaviour, brand image, consumer decision making, and marketing research techniques applicable to Nike. 3.0 Introduction Nike is the worlds number one sports shoe company. In the US Nike dominates 35% (source: see appendices) of the sports shoe market and its products are sold in more than 140