The Travails of Nike
Week 4 Syndicate Report:
The Travails of Nike
INTRODUCTION
Nike, Inc. is a world’s leading supplier and a major manufacturer of athletic shoes and sports apparel. It was founded on January 25th, 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Philip Knight and Bill Bowerman. It officially became Nike, Inc. in 1978. Currently their brands include Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Air Jordan and Nike Skateboarding, while their subsidiaries are Cole Haan, Hurley International, Umbro and Converse. During this stage, the Nike brand has become so strong as to place it in the list of recession-proof consumer branded giants, in the company of Coca-Cola, Gillette and Proctor & Gamble.
* Marketing
Marketing is an important component of Nike’s success. This number one American athletic shoes manufacturer, through its marketing strategy which rests on a favourable brand image, has evolved into a large multinational enterprise that operates other retailers under their NikeTown name. In keeping with the brand image is its association with the distinctive swoosh logo and its advertising slogan, "Just do it." In order to maintain and sustain this image, the company makes huge investments in advertising and brand promotion.
Its marketing is also reliant on endorsement deals with the world’s top athletes and sport teams to express the corporate philosophy of grit, determination, passion and humour, selling their products based on the consumers’ loyalty towards their favorite sports superstar. This concept of endorsing athletes from different sports enables Nike to segment the market all under the umbrella of a single brand.
* Competition
Nike’s key competitors Reebok and Adidas merged in 2005 giving the newly enlarged company about 30% share of the athletic footwear market, compared to Nike’s 37%. Seeing Nike’s biggest competitors’ products are not entirely different from theirs, the company should perform a competitor analysis on both companies to compare their comparative
The Travails of Nike
INTRODUCTION
Nike, Inc. is a world’s leading supplier and a major manufacturer of athletic shoes and sports apparel. It was founded on January 25th, 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Philip Knight and Bill Bowerman. It officially became Nike, Inc. in 1978. Currently their brands include Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Air Jordan and Nike Skateboarding, while their subsidiaries are Cole Haan, Hurley International, Umbro and Converse. During this stage, the Nike brand has become so strong as to place it in the list of recession-proof consumer branded giants, in the company of Coca-Cola, Gillette and Proctor & Gamble.
* Marketing
Marketing is an important component of Nike’s success. This number one American athletic shoes manufacturer, through its marketing strategy which rests on a favourable brand image, has evolved into a large multinational enterprise that operates other retailers under their NikeTown name. In keeping with the brand image is its association with the distinctive swoosh logo and its advertising slogan, "Just do it." In order to maintain and sustain this image, the company makes huge investments in advertising and brand promotion.
Its marketing is also reliant on endorsement deals with the world’s top athletes and sport teams to express the corporate philosophy of grit, determination, passion and humour, selling their products based on the consumers’ loyalty towards their favorite sports superstar. This concept of endorsing athletes from different sports enables Nike to segment the market all under the umbrella of a single brand.
* Competition
Nike’s key competitors Reebok and Adidas merged in 2005 giving the newly enlarged company about 30% share of the athletic footwear market, compared to Nike’s 37%. Seeing Nike’s biggest competitors’ products are not entirely different from theirs, the company should perform a competitor analysis on both companies to compare their comparative