NIKE

A Case Study on the Competitive Environment and Innovations of Nike as a Shoe Company



A Case Study on the Competitive Environment and Innovations of Nike as a Shoe Company

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. The same has been the case with Nike. No doubt, the brand came across hard times in the forms of social allegations but, their marketing campaigns specially “just do it” helped it revive its brand image. Eventually, 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 succes s (Goldman 1999, Pp. 196).

Nike has strong brand equity. It is the only sport goods company to be featured in the 2007 list of Best Global Brands. It has been ranked 29th on the list whereas, Nike's competitor Adidas, a German based company, was ranked 69th on the same list. 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 (John 2008, Pp. 46).

Moreover, the main issue that Nike is going through is competition. Reebok and Puma are also catering the global markets. In this situation, the price becomes sensitive for the customers. Retaining long-term customers today is a herculean task, but an effective marketing strategy can very easily achieve it. For the athletic footwear, Nike has remained smart to target the consumers' touch points. The endorsement of athletes in the marketing campaigns has remained successful in executing effective marketing strategies (Wright 2011, pp. 1).

Three Types of Innovations Brought In By Nike

Nike Custom Made Shoe Facility

Shoes Nike Dunk was designed for use by the public since 1985, since its inception this unique model of the company was known for personally be modified, so that might suit our lifestyle or hobbies. It all started when a group of 7 college basketball teams decided to combine their USA shoes (Nike Dunk the original), representing the colors of their uniforms, generating a wave of redesigns. For many years these shoes have been the focus of attention of many collectors, artists and a host of celebrities as their shoes customized to suit our tastes.

Spider-man Nike SB dunk mid, inspired by Spider-man in the colors of Navy and white, there is another high dunk, to complement ...