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1. Nike’s brand image, a set of emotions, feelings, and experiences with the brand, developed over time through advertising campaigns and consumer experiences with Nike. The core attributes of Nike’s brand image include high performance, innovation, and aggressiveness. Nike positioned itself as a company that makes products for athletes, by athletes. They tailor their products for serious/winning athletes and also stress their point-of-difference to be performance, as opposed to Reebok, whose point of difference is style.
Nike is perceived as a high performance brand and they always make performance a top priority, which is a key building block for their brand image and brand equity. They designed more durable, lightweight shoes that were tailored for runners and allowed them maximize their athletic ability. Nike, from the beginning, was open to input from runners and listened to their needs and wants, sharing their true passion for running. By doing this, they were able to design a shoe that performs well and meets the demands of serious athletes. In addition to performance, Nike is an innovative brand and that can be seen by the introduction of innovative products to the market like the Waffle Trainer, Air Max, and Air Jordan shoes. When looking at the Consumer Brand Equity Pyramid (Exhibit A), Nike’s source of brand equity comes mostly from salience and performance. Nike used brand associations in order to establish a positive brand image and build their brand equity by endorsing popular, successful athletes like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. These associations convey the American spirit of competition and winning and work very well in the United States. Nike capitalized on how much Americans idolize their favorite athletes and it once again projected their image of high performance and their dedication to serious athletes. Their advertisement campaigns also helped build their brand