Comparing two brands: Nike and Adidas

Introduction

In order to understand the reputation of how brands work, we shall be covering two sports brands and discuss how their marketing strategies and the brand itself have made their name in the market. For this paper, we will be covering and narrating about 'Nike' and 'Adidas'. Nike and Adidas are renowned sportswear brands, who have penetrated, targeted, segmented and positioned their own brands in the minds of customers. Nike although continuous to compete in the global market as the leader in terms of sportswear accessories, Adidas is growing exponentially at the speed of light and gradually coming to the verge of giving Nike a competition. On one hand, Nike owns around Umbro, Hurley, Converse and Cole Haan. While on the other side of the coin, Adidas stands with a variety of brand extensions and acquisitions of Reebok, Taylor made Golf Company and Rockport.

A brief history

The name 'Nike' had been coined after the Greek Goddess of victory, which clearly shows its magical impact upon the grounded, yet amazing success of the brand in the market. 'Adidas', on the other hand, was framed by the name of the founder Adolf 'Adi' Dassler; the iconic name can act to support the purpose of their products, standing for 'All day, I dream for sport' (Bauer, 682). Nike's motto is 'Just do it'. Adidas's motto is 'Impossible is Nothing'.

Difference between Nike and Adidas

Nike and Adidas are two of the most popular sports equipment companies in the world. Both of their popularity has become so immense that they are literally household names. They pretty much have the same target: people who love sports. Nike is very well known to today's generation because of their countless celebrity sponsorships, but of course, their notoriety does not end there. Their principal target markets are those people into basketball and running, what with their products mainly focused on these two endeavors. Their market used to be solely just domestic (the United States), but in recent years, they have expanded internationally. Their sponsorship on athletes is very prevalent.

Adidas' key markets are those people in the following sports: soccer and tennis. They used to have Europe as their sole focus in terms of the market but internationally, they are well known too. This is because of their soccer connection, labeled as the world's sport. Some of the companies under Adidas are Reeboks and Rockport. They also have their share of athlete sponsorships made over the years.

Nike's target markets are basketball and running; Adidas' focus is more on soccer and tennis. Nike's pretty much ahead when it comes to athlete sponsorships; Adidas is behind the competition. Nike's markets are more on domestic but have expanded internationally; Adidas is well known around the world but is primarily focused on Europe. Nike outsource its' products from Taiwan and Korea; Adidas' outsource theirs in Asia as well but in undisclosed locations. Nike has its' headquarters in Beaverton where all developments are made; Adidas' development is currently being managed in ...