Nike Strategic Analysis

Nike started to open up manufacturing factories in countries like Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam. Due to the wants of Nike to increase their revenue they tried to outsource the labor of their products since labor work in the US is very high and expensive. This was a bad idea due to that Indonesia pays their workers extremely low wages. Pakistan doesn’t have an age limit for them to be able to legally to work so many children in Pakistan were making

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.

The aim of this paper is to use the “Nike - The art of selling air.” case study and concepts from strategic marketing theory to identify marketing challenges and how those challenges could be best addressed using marketing principles. The paper will:

| 1. Entry barrier: immense investment on manufacturing equipment and plants.2. Possibility for some companies to adjust already used equipment.3. Food market needs continuous investment on Research of Customer needs & Development of products

Just do! The famous slogan for Nike Company paired with the iconic “Swoosh” is a worldwide phenomenon in the athlete footwear scope. For $35 a college student designed the famous Nike Swoosh. Nike, formerly known as Blue Ribbon Sports prier to its name change in 1971, was cofounded in 1964 by Bill Bowerman, Price Waterhouse and Phil knight. The trio each invested $500 in the start of their business and thus Nike, as we know it was born. Nike is widely known for their design and manufacturing of many women’s and men’s styles shoes and athletic wear but are well known for the title of the worlds best selling athletic shoe to date, the Air Jordan. With headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, Nikes annual sales are well over $12 billion making them one of the top athletic footwear and clothing companies in the world. (International Finance Management Pg. 57-58)

Nike invested in their brand by getting sports heroes to advertise for their brand such as Michael Jordon, Tiger Woods and the Brazilian football team. This further fuel the products appeal towards the consumers.

Brands use different strategies to create competitive advantages to beat with their rivals. Some companies use “Overall Cost Leadership” to increase profit by reducing costs and increase market share by lowering price. Some companies use “Focus Strategies” to select a group of market and tailor its strategy to serve that group. The others use “Product Differentiation” as a strategy to obtain a premium price by making unique products. Nike, with its differentiation strategy, the company is continuing to separate its self from the competitors by using its superior technology and innovation. This paper mainly discusses on the company’s product differentiation and analysis how the company using this strategy to build its brand image and become a market leader in sportswear industry. A brief discuss about Nike competitive advantage which related to its broad differentiation aspect and the company product life cycle are also presented on this paper.

Every box of Nike shoes states, “engineered and built to the exact specifications for championship athletes around the world.” Nike has become the measuring stick in the world of merchandising and endorsing. Top athletes around the world are often seen with a famous Nike swoosh on their shoes. It is not uncommon to see some form of Nike product everywhere you look. Nike “head honcho” Phil Knight wants to keep it that way, too.

Phil Knight and his track coach Bill Bowerman founded Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964. The company started as being a distributor of Onituska Tiger athletic shoes which were imported from Japan. In 1971 they broke away from Onituska and created their own of shoes. The company was renamed, Nike. It became the largest worldwide seller of athletic shoes. They branched out and created various products lines; shoes, clothing, sporting goods and digital devices. They used celebrities to promote their products. The first athlete to wear and promote their show was runner Steve Prefontaine. Their now well know swoosh was first seen in the 1972 US Track and Field Trials. Every basketball player in high school wanted a pair of Michael Jordan’s,

In that huge numbers of providers are available within the market and customers are better informed due to the development of information technology, customers can therefore choose the product with the most competitive price yet good quality. Some brands can constantly attract customers because of the brand loyalty developed over the years.

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.

Although facing major competition throughout their history, Nike has been able to grow from a two-man team into a multibillion-dollar corporation in less than 40 years.

Nike has an umbrella of brands under its name like Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Air Jordan, Air Force 1, etc. Nike is a highly recognizable brand across the globe as because of it’s swoosh logo and the trademark “Just Do It.”. Nike is endorsed by many famous sports personality which makes the brand more desirable.

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.”