Paper Example: Nike Brand Analysis

Nike, Inc. is one of the largest multinational corporations. The company operates through the design, creation, and development of products such as footwear, apparel, and other manufactured accessories. The company also engages in the global sales and marketing of these products as well as promoting other services. A critical analysis of the modes of operation of Nike as a brand reveals that the company depends on the production and product selling of footwear, which are the leading products in the company. Besides the concepts mentioned above used by the company, Nike incorporates the societal marketing concept as a marketing strategy. Since the company mostly focuses on apparel and footwear, the company markets these products in relation to embracing sports culture as the way of life of humanity. Nike, Inc. uses the “Just Do It” phrase as its motto and driving philosophy (Hofmann, Gold, & Curtin, 2019). In marketing the products, the company creates a positive image and attitude by using a societal strategy that promises and ensures that customers get experiences as an added advantage to the product.

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Numerous distinguishing characteristics exist for the marketing environment for Nike, Inc. Since the company operates on a global spectrum, its microenvironment comprises of the multinational scope. The company’s market is spread all over the world. Therefore, every person in the world is a potential client for the brand. As a result, the company has a broader range of markets for the brand. However, the company may experience microenvironment challenges associated with strategic marketing and product promotion. As a mitigation effort, the company provides the NikeID opportunities to buyers who have interests in customized products. There are several factors in the macro-environment impacting the operation and development of the Nike brand. These macro-environment factors are either threats to the brand or opportunities available for brand development. Some of these macro-environment factors for the brand include the political environment, economic factors, sociocultural factors, technological environment, ecological or environmental factors, and legal factors. Being a multinational corporation, Nike, as a brand, sells worldwide. Its market depends on the political atmospheres of different countries. Some of the political factors impacting Nike, Inc. include political stability, trade policies, and government infrastructure in a nation. The economic aspect impacting the company include economic stability and growth. The sociocultural factors affecting the company include the increase in individual wealth and changes in lifestyles favoring sporting activities. The technological factors for the Nike brands include the research and development and the technological advancement that renders the company’s equipment obsolete, among other factors. All these factors create either an opportunity for brand development or forms threats for the brand.

Concerning its competitors, Nike holds the position of a premium-brand. The company offers well-designed, executive and expensive footwear, apparels, devices, and other products. Due to the executive nature of the products, the brand attracts high-ranked clients globally. Thus, the company uses extensive sales and marketing to attract and maintain a firm market base. Nike’s stable customer base allows it to compete effectively with top brands and companies such as ADIDAS, PUMA, Steve Madden, FILA, Under Armour, and Reebok, among others (Gregory, 2017). Nike, Inc. provides primarily global accessible products, highly innovative approaches, customization, and distinct brand to the customers as value propositions. Being a multinational corporation, Nike offers accessibility to the customers through the provision of a wide variety of both products and options. The brand positioning for Nike is correct. The company has extensive years of operation in a competitive business environment. Additionally, the company keeps on growing and maintaining a stable customer base amidst a changing business environment. In the recent past, Nike has taken over large corporations such as Converse and Hurley International.

Nike uses a different marketing mix as strategic approaches towards the efficient execution of the intended market plans. These approaches primarily focus on the 4P’s, which are the product, price, place, and promotion. Nike’s brand focus on the design and creation of products, mainly the footwear for athletes and football professionals and fans. The marketing mix is critically essential for the company as it sets it apart from its competitors. The marketing mix approaches in the company evolve based on the changes in the organization as well as the changing needs of the customers. The following section offers an in-depth analysis of the marketing mix for the company.

Nike’s Product Mix

The product mix for the company mainly involves footwear, apparel, and other commodities that the company offers to the clients. The company, for many years, has specialized in the design, development, and manufacture of shoes, apparel, and devices and accessories, which form part of its main products (Gregory, 2017). These products are, in most cases, executive products commanding the demands in the competitive market environment. In addition to the shoes and other products offered by the company, Nike gradually adds on to the list of its products by providing other products and services. Initially, the company concentrated on the making of football and athletic footwear. Nowadays, Nike designs cricket footwear, among other products. Some of the notable Nike brands include Jordan, Air Force, Hurley, Air Max, and Converse, among others.

Nike’s Place Marketing Mix

Nike’s place as a component of the marketing mix primarily involves the distribution of the products to the consumers. The organization distributes its products to widespread global clients through its many distribution outlets. Nike’s distribution strategy takes three main approaches, the general retail stores, the Nike-owned online stores and the Niketown outlets. All three work together towards ensuring that the brands are available in the market based on the releases. The company uses general retail stores such as Walmart, as well as the Niketown stores, to sell Nike’s shoes to customers strategically.

Nike’s Promotional Mix

The competitive business environment of the footwear industry makes product promotion an essential part of the product mix. Nike uses different approaches to communicate and convince its target market. Some of the various promotion approaches used in the company include mainstream media and digital media advertising, salespersons, sales promotions, and public relations, among other methods. Nike uses high-profile individuals as its brand ambassadors to create contact with potential buyers and persuade them to buy the company’s products. Additionally, the company uses trained persuasion individuals at the Niketown retailer shops. The use of celebrities, especially in the sports industry, to advertise the company’s brand is the most significant approach to increased sales in the company (Gregory, 2017).

The Price Strategy at Nike

The price marketing mix is another critical strategy for the company. The company uses two central price marketing mix. These approaches are the value-based and the premium price marketing mix. These two are vital in the attraction and maintenance of the large multinational market pie. The value-based strategies take into consideration clients’ needs of high-value products. Premium pricing, on the other hand, entails the high costs for tailored and customized branding of products.

Nike has an excellent marketing mix that keeps on evolving as per technological advancement and changes in the consumers’ needs. However, there are several areas in the place and price mix that requires improvement. On the place mix, the company seems to focus more on the developed nation with no Niketown retail stores in the developing countries (Gregory, 2017). As a result, most of the products sold in these countries are the copycat and fake brands. Online purchases for the brands also take long before delivery. Therefore, the company has failed in taking advantage of these markets. On the price marketing mix, the costs of the premium or customized services are substantially high, making it undesirable to individuals and small organizations. Thus, the company needs to lower the premium pricing to increase accessibility and market base.

The footwear, apparel, and accessories offered by Nike have a broad market target. However, Nike’s sports products primarily target millennials. Most of the company’s sales promotion, public relations, and advertisements focus on people who are somewhere between 15 and 40 years of age (Brohi, Prithiani, Abbas, Bhutto, & Chawla, 2016). The company does not discriminate on gender as it offers products that target both males and females. Most of the company’s products such as the sneakers and the Jordan shoes are unisex and works well for both males and females. Therefore, Jordan sneakers mostly target teens to establish long-lasting relationships and customer loyalty (Brohi, Prithiani, Abbas, Bhutto, & Chawla, 2016). Additionally, Nike primarily focuses on the design of footwear that targets the needs of sports personalities. Jordan brands are comfortable footwear designs that meet the demands of soccer players, athletes, and basketball players. They are vital for both men's and women’s training. Therefore, in some ways, the primary target audience for Nike’s products are the sportsmen and sportswomen and their fans.

Nike targets teens in anticipation of a long-lasting and loyal customer relationship. Teenagers have a cultural habit of identifying and associating with their preferred celebrities. Thus, the company targets teens as a result of their identification with sports personalities. The company also uses a psychological approach attached to consumer behaviors. The association of teenagers with celebrities makes the company focus on the young generation. Additionally, social status and distinct personalities are essential for Nike’s products. Premium services on Jordan and other footwear focus on individuals of a high level in society.

A new product line in a company requires detailed research on the needs of the market. Exploratory analysis is the first step in the examination and understanding of the market’s needs. The brand can use exploratory research where it analyzes the currently existing products and examines that against the changes in the needs of the customers. Thus, when launching a new line, the brand will access the level with which the previous product lines met the needs of the customers. Additionally, exploratory research will involve assessing the weaknesses of the past product lines and devices in ways through which the brand can develop the new product line. A descriptive study is an essential part of the development of the new product line. It entails providing a vivid description of the desired product line and consumer needs. The brand will employ the method when defining the problems existing in the current product lines to develop a better product line. Causal or explanation research methods bind the two together. The brand will rely on this method for the vivid explanation of the need for the new product line and the marketing mix that the new product line will take.

References

Brohi, H., Prithiani, J., Abbas, Z., Bhutto, A., & Chawla, S. (2016). Strategic Marketing Plan of Nike.

Gregory, L. (2017). Nike Inc. Marketing mix (4Ps/Product, Place, Promotion, Price)...