MARKETING

Marketing Strategy: Nike



Marketing Strategy: Nike

Introduction

Nike is the world's leading manufacturer, marketer and distributor of the athletic footwear and sportswear accessories. It primarily operates in Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, Americas and Europe.

In the past decade, the brand has become widely recognized and financially strong. Brand management is one of its greatest strengths. Consumers relate themselves with the brands they find to be of superior quality. A strong brand allows expansion in the market share and prolonged consumer satisfaction. Nike keeps on improving its product lines which helps keeping the target segment engaged with the brand. The swoosh sign is recognizable in almost the entire world. This alone accounts for Nike's worldwide success (Hollister, pp. 320).

Discussion

Swot Analysis

Nike has strong brand equity. It is the only sport goods company to be featured in the 2007 list of Best Global Brands. The advantage of Nike against the competitors is the strong brand equity; this equity has remained intact although the competition in the trainers industry became aggressive. Nike makes the most of this equity through easy launch and acceptance of its products worldwide. However, Nike faces aggressive competition from Adidas and Puma. This competition arises in the form of price wars, and product line innovation. A brief account of Nike's SWOT analysis is given below (Frisch, pp.30).

Strengths

Innovation Capabilities

One of Nike's key strategies are that it keeps on bringing innovation in the product line. The purpose is to provide an upright athletic experience. For instance, Air Jordan XX3 is the first basket ball show designed to adopt environmental principles without compromising on product performance. Another example is Nike Air Native, which has been designed after two years research and cooperation with the Native American community. The gist is that Nike is sensitive to product innovation. It knows what the customers need and how to keep them attached to the brand.

Strong Brand Equity

Nike's brand equity is remarkable. It has a strong reputation across countries. This is where Nike achieves the most non tangible benefits. The finely targeted marketing strategies make this equity even more wide-spread (Bedbury, pp.235).

Wide Product Portfolio

Nike has an extensive product portfolio. It offers athletic footwear and sport inspired urban and children shoes. The marketing campaigns are finely targeted towards these product lines.

Vertical Integration

Nike's operations are vertically integrated. There are two manufacturing facilities under which Nike operates. The first one is for producing footwear and another for producing apparel. One of the earlier competitive advantages that Nike acquires was outsourcing of manufacturing operations in china, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. This strategy has helped reducing the manufacturing cost and increasing profits (Ballinger 1997, pp.220).

Strong Distribution and Supply

Nike's distribution and supply chain is strong. Its products go through a smooth and cost effective distribution channel to al the operating countries. The low cost counties manufacturing strategy helps in reducing the additional distribution and supply cost for Nike.

Competitive Marketing Strategy

For the athletic footwear, Nike has remained smart to target the consumers' touch points. The endorsement of athletes in the marketing campaigns has remained ...