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INDEX

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Mission Statement At Nike
Nikes mission statement is, Through the adoption of business
practices Nike is committed to securing intergenerational quality of
life, restoring the environment, and increasing value for our
customers, shareholders, and business partner s. However, according
to Acaria.com, it is, To maximize profits to shareholders through
products and services that enrich people's lives.

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An Introduction to Nike
NIKE, is the largest seller of athletic footwear and athletic apparel in the world with
subsidiaries in over 200 countries across the world, has attempted to keep itself on the cutting
edge of technology. Nike has been launching new technically advanced shoe models from
time to time, backed by innovative advertisements, celebrity endorsements, successful
associations (college teams) and event sponsorships.
When it faced a crisis in the late 1990s, Nike decided to strengthen its management, overhaul
its information systems, and streamline supply chain management. Since then, Nike has been
achieving rapid growth by using aggressive marketing tactics.
However, the company still faces many challenges in the wake of changing fashion trends,
the falling sale of its higher- priced shoes, and increasing competition. The case discusses the
evolution of Nike's marketing strategy and the company's various initiatives to strengthen its
competitive position in a changing environment.
For the year ended 31st May 2004, Nike, a leader in the global sports shoes industry
announced a vastly improved performance, earning almost $1 billion on sales of $12.3
billion. Earnings had increased by 27% while orders worldwide went up by 10.7%. Nike's
return on invested capital was 22%, up from 14% four years ago. Having completed a $1
billion share repurchase, Nike had plans to buy back shares worth $1.5 billion over the next
four years.
Nike had faced a crisis in the late 1990s. Many analysts felt this was because its creativity
had not been backed by operational discipline. Nike had operated on instinct, often guessing
how many pairs of shoes to produce and hoping it could offload them in the market. In the
past few years, Nike had tried to balance creativity with a strong business focus. Nike had
overhauled its information systems to get the right number of shoes to the market more
quickly. The company had also streamlined logistics and strengthened its management team.
It focused on more efficient management of its portfolio of brands -- Cole Haan dress shoes,
Converse retro-style sneakers, Hurley International skateboard gear, and Bauer in-line and
hockey skates.
As 2004 drew to a close, Nike realized it could not underestimate powerful competitors such
as adidas. When founder Phil Knight resigned on 18th November 2004, it marked the
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beginning of a new era at Nike under the leadership of William D. Perez. Perez had earlier
been president and chief executive of S.C. Johnson & Son.
Nike's athletic footwear products were worn for both casual or leisure purposes. Running,
basketball, children's, cross-training and women's shoes were Nike's top-selling product
categories.

Nike also offered shoes designed for outdoor activities like tennis, golf, soccer, baseball,
football, bicycling, volleyball, wrestling, aquatic activities, hiking, and other athletic and
recreational uses. Nike sold sports apparel, athletically inspired lifestyle apparel, as well as
athletic bags and accessory items.
Nikes Overall Market Involvement
Nike was involved in the design, development and worldwide marketing of high quality
footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessory products. The largest seller of athletic footwear
and athletic apparel in the world, Nike offered its products through approximately 18,000
retailers in the US and various independent distributors, licensees and subsidiaries in nearly
200 countries around the world. Independent contractors manufactured most of Nike's
products. Footwear products were mostly produced outside the US, while apparel and
equipment were made both in the US and abroad.
Nike often marketed footwear, apparel and accessories in "collections" of similar design or
for specific purposes.
Nike also marketed apparel with licensed college and professional team and league logos.
Nike sol
d sports balls, timepieces, eyewear, skates, bats, gloves, and other equipment designed for
sports activities, swimwear, cycling apparel, maternity exercise wear, children's clothing,
school supplies, timepieces, and electronic media devices.

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Nike also sold various plastic products to other manufacturers through its wholly owned
subsidiary, NIKE IHM, Inc. and plastic injected and metal products to other manufacturers
through its wholly-owned subsidiary, BAUER Italia S p A.
Nike sold a line of dress and casual footwear, apparel and accessories for men and women
under the brand names Cole Haan, CH, Gseries by, Cole Haan, and Bragano through its
wholly-owned subsidiary, Cole Haan Holdings. Nike's wholly-owned subsidiary, Bauer
NIKE Hockey Inc., offered ice skates, skate blades, in-line roller skates, protective gear,
hockey sticks, and hockey jerseys, licensed apparel and accessories under the Bauer and
NIKE brand names. Bauer also offered various products for street and roller hockey.
Another wholly-owned subsidiary Hurley International offered a line of action sports apparel
(for surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding) and youth lifestyle apparel and footwear
under the Hurley brand name. Sticks, and hockey jerseys, licensed apparel and accessories
under the Bauer and NIKE brand names. Bauer also offered various products for street and
roller hockey. Another wholly-owned subsidiary Hurley International offered a line of action
sports apparel (for surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding) and youth lifestyle apparel and
footwear under the Hurley brand name.
History of Nike
1950s
Before there was the Swoosh, before there was Nike, there were two visionary men who
pioneered a revolution in athletic footwear that redefined the industry.
Bill Bowerman was a nationally respected track and field coach at the University of Oregon,
who was constantly seeking ways to give his athletes a competitive advantage. He
experimented with different track surfaces, re-hydration drinks and most importantly
innovations in running shoes. But the established footwear manufacturers of the 1950s
ignored the ideas he tried to offer them, so Bowerman began cobbling shoes for his runners.
Phil Knight was a talented middle-distance runner from Portland, who enrolled at Oregon in
the fall of 1955 and competed for Bowermans track program. Upon graduating from Oregon,
Knight earned his MBA in finance from Stanford University, where he wrote a paper that
proposed quality running shoes could be manufactured in Japan that would compete with
more established German brands. But his letters to manufacturers in Japan and Asia went
unanswered, so Knight took a chance.
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He made a cold-call on the Onitsuka Co. in Kobe, Japan, and persuaded the manufacturer of
Tiger shoes to make Knight a distributor of Tiger running shoes in the United States. When
the first set of sample shoes arrived, Knight sent several pairs to Bowerman, hoping to make
a sale. Instead, Bowerman stunned Knight by offering to become his partner, and to provide
his footwear design ideas to Tiger.
1960s
They shook hands to form Blue Ribbon Sports, pledged $500 each and placed their first order
of 300 pairs of shoes in January 1964. Knight sold the shoes out of the trunk of his green
Plymouth Valiant, while Bowerman began ripping apart Tiger shoes to see how he could
make them lighter and better, and enlisted his University of Oregon runners to wear-test his
creations. In essence, the foundation for what would become Nike had been established.
But Bowerman and Knight each had full-time jobs - Bowerman at Oregon and Knight at a
Portland accounting firm - so they needed someone to manage the growing requirements of
Blue Ribbon Sports. Enter Jeff Johnson, whom Knight had met at Stanford. A runner himself,
Johnson became the first full-time employee of Blue Ribbon Sports in 1965, and quickly
became an invaluable utility man for the start-up company.
1970s
He created the first product brochures, print ads and marketing materials, and even shot the
photographs for the companys catalogues. Johnson established a mail-order system, opened
the first BRS retail store (located in Santa Monica, Calif.) and managed shipping/receiving.
He also designed several early Nike shoes, and even conjured up the name Nike in 1971.
Around this same time, the relationship between BRS and Onitsuka was falling apart. Knight
and Bowerman were ready to make the jump from being a footwear distributor to designing
and manufacturing their own brand of athletic shoes.
They selected a brand mark today known internationally as the Swoosh, which was created
by a graphic design student at Portland State University named Carolyn Davidson. The new
Nike line of footwear debuted in 1972, in time for the U.S. Track & Field Trials, which were
held in Eugene, Ore.
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One particular pair of shoes made a very different impression literally on the dozen or so
runners who tried them. They featured a new innovation that Bowerman drew from his wifes
waffle iron an outsole that had waffle-type nubs for traction but were lighter than traditional
training shoes.
With a new logo, a new name and a new design innovation, what BRS now needed was an
athlete to endorse and elevate the new Nike line. Fittingly for the company founded by
Oregonians, they found such a young man from the small coastal town of Coos Bay, Ore.
His name: Steve Prefontaine.
Prefontaine electrified the packed stands of Oregons Hayward Field during his college career
from 1969 to 1973. He never lost any race at his home track over the one-mile distance, and
quickly gained national exposure thanks to cover stories on magazines like Sports Illustrated
and his fourth-place finish in 1972 in the 5,000m in Munich.
His tragic death at age 24 in 1975 cut short what many believed would have been an
unparalleled career in track at the time of his death, he held American records in seven
distances from 2,000m to 10,000m. But Prefontaines fiery spirit lives on within Nike;
Knight has often said that Pre is the soul of Nike.
1980s
Nike entered the 1980s on a roll, thanks to the successful launch of Nike Air technology in
the Tailwind running shoe in 1979. By the end of 1980, Nike completed its IPO and became a
publicly traded company. This began a period of transition, where several of Nikes early
pioneers decided to move on to other pursuits. Even Phil Knight stepped down as president
for more than a year in 1983-1984, although he remained the chairman of the board and CEO.
By the mid-1980s, Nike had slipped from its position as the industry leader, in part because
the company had badly miscalculated on the aerobics boom, giving upstart competitors an
almost completely open field to develop the business. Fortunately, the debut of a new
signature shoe for an NBA rookie by the name of Michael Jordan in 1985 helped bolster
Nikes bottom line.
In 1987, Nike readied a major product and marketing campaign designed to regain the
industry lead and differentiate Nike from its competitors. The focal point was the Air Max,
the first Nike footwear to feature Nike Air bags that were visible. The campaign was
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supported by a memorable TV ad whose soundtrack was the original Beatles recording of
Revolution.
A year later, Nike built on its momentum from the Revolution campaign by launching a
broad yet empowering series of ads with the tagline Just do it. The series included three ads
with a young two-sport athlete named Bo Jackson, who espoused the benefits of a new cross-
training shoe.
In 1989, Nikes cross-training business exploded, thanks in part to the incredibly popular Bo
Knows ad campaign. By the end of the decade, Nike had regained its position as the industry
leader, the first and only time a company in the athletic footwear/apparel industry has
accomplished such a feat. Nike has never relinquished that position again.
1990s
Buoyed by a series of successful product launches and marketing campaigns, Nike entered
the 1990s by christening its beautiful world headquarters in suburban Portland, Oregon. In
November of 1990, Portland became the first home to a new retail-as-theatre experience
called Niketown, which would earn numerous architectural design and retail awards and
spawn more than a dozen other Niketown locations around the USA and internationally.
While Nike had designed footwear and apparel for golf and soccer for a number of years, the
mid-1990s signaled a deepening commitment to truly excel in these sports. In 1994, Nike
signed several individual players from what would be the World Cup-winning Brazilian
National Team. In 1995, Nike signed the entire team, and began designing the teams
distinctive uniform. Nike also signed the US mens and womens national soccer teams, as
well as dozens of national teams around the world.
Nike also began investing in the sport of cycling, including a promising young cyclist who
appeared to be on his way to success until he was diagnosed with cancer. He lost most of his
sponsors, but Nike elected to stay with him. In 1999, Lance Armstrongs incredible
comeback resulted in the first of what would be seven consecutive Tour de France titles.
2000s
Nike rang in the new millennium with a new footwear cushioning system called Nike Shox,
which debuted during Sydney in 2000. The development of Nike Shox culminated more than
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15 years of perseverance and dedication, as Nike designers stuck with their idea until
technology could catch up. The result was a cushioning and stability system worthy of
joining Nike Air as the industrys gold standard.
Just as Nikes products have evolved, so has Nikes approach to marketing. The 2002 Secret
Tournament campaign was Nikes first truly integrated, global marketing effort. Departing
from the traditional big athlete, big ad, big product formula, Nike created a multi-faceted
consumer experience in support of the World Cup.
Secret Tournament incorporated advertising, the Internet, public relations, retail and
consumer events to create excitement for Nikes soccer products and athletes in a way no
single ad could ever achieve. This new integrated approach has become the cornerstone for
Nike marketing and communications.

PRODUCT STRATEGY
A set of decisions regarding alternatives to the target market and the marketing mix given a
set of market conditions.
Product is the catalyst for the start of a business and the development of product strategy one
of the most important decisions a marketer will make since product plays a crucial role in
demand, competitiveness and success. Managers must understand the ramifications of the
product strategy on other areas of marketing like price, distribution and promotion.
Products

Nikes athletic footwear products, the leading revenue segment, are designed primarily for,
but not restricted to, specific athletic use. The main emphasis that the Company places on its
products are quality and innovation in products designed for men, women, and children.
Nikes top-selling footwear categories are running, training, basketball, and soccer. Other
footwear categories include aquatic activities, baseball, cheerleading, football, golf, lacrosse,
outdoor activities, skateboarding, tennis, volleyball, walking, wrestling, and other athletic and
recreational uses. Nike sells sports apparel and accessories relevant to each sport mentioned
above as well as sports-inspired lifestyle apparel, including bags, socks, sport balls, eyewear,
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protective equipment, basic sport equipment, etc. Apparel and accessories for most sports are
designed to compliment Nikes footwear products, feature the same trademarks, and are sold
through the 3 same marketing and distribution channels. It is often the case that Nike designs
unique footwear styles for each sport, and apparel and accessories for each sport follow suit
on that style. Nike also markets apparel with licensed college and professional team and
league logos. In addition to selling products directly to consumers, Nike enters into license
agreements that permit unaffiliated parties to manufacture and sell various apparel,
equipment, and accessory items, such as swimwear, childrens apparel, training equipment,
eyewear, electronic devices, and golf accessories. In addition to Nikes footwear, apparel, and
accessories businesses, the Company sells products under other brand names in particular
markets. Nike wholly-owns five footwear and apparel companies that specialize in different
sports: Cole Haan, Converse Inc., Hurley International LLC, Umbro Ltd., and Nike Golf.
Combined, these subsidiaries accounted for 13 percent of total revenues, $2.5 billion, in fiscal
2009.
Cole Haan, headquartered in Yarmouth, Maine, designs and distributes dress and casual
footwear, apparel and accessories for men and women under the brand names Cole Haan
and Bragano.Converse, headquartered in North Andover, Massachusetts, designs,
distributes, and licenses athletic and casual footwear, apparel and accessories under the
Converse, Chuck Taylor, All Star, One Star, and Jack Purcell trademarks.Hurley,
headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, designs and distributes a line of action sports
apparel for surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding, youth lifestyle apparel, and accessories
under the Hurley trademark. Umbro, headquartered in Manchester, England, designs,
distributes and licenses athletic and casual footwear, apparel and equipment, primarily for the
sport of soccer, under the Umbro trademark. Nike Golf, headquartered in Beaverton,
Oregon, designs and markets golf equipment, apparel, balls, footwear, bags and accessories
worldwide.
Manufacturing Footwear
Virtually all of Nikes footwear is manufactured outside the United States. Factories in
China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand produced 98 percent of total Nike brand footwear in
2009. Nikes largest footwear factory accounted for five percent of 2009 footwear
production. The main materials used in Nike footwear are rubber, plastic compounds, foam
cushioning materials, nylon, leather, canvas, and polyurethane films used for cushioning
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components. Nikes wholly-owned subsidiary, NIKE IHM (In House Manufacturing), which
produces synthetic rubbers and polyurethane films, was the largest supplier of foam and
cushioning components. Manufacturing Apparel Nike brand apparel is also manufactured
almost entirely outside of the United States. Nike apparel is manufactured by independent
contract manufacturers located in 34 countries. Nikes largest apparel factory accounted for
five percent of 2009 apparel production. The main materials used in Nike apparel are natural
and synthetic fabrics and threads, plastic and metal hardware, and water and heat resistant
fabrics.
Sales and Marketing
Nike is exposed to several demand factors in various geographic and product markets. The
mix of product sales may vary considerably as a result of changes in seasonal and geographic
demand for particular types of footwear, apparel and equipment. Because Nike is a consumer
products company, the relative popularity of various sports and related products, as well as
shifting design trends, affects the overall level of demand. To help market its products, Nike
aggressively contracts with highly successful and influential athletes, coaches, teams, and
leagues. In an effort to stay competitive and retain dominant market shares, Nike actively
responds to trends and shifts in consumer preferences by adjusting the mix of existing
product offerings, developing new products, styles and categories, and influencing sports and
fitness preferences through aggressive marketing. A key imperative for Nike is to
immediately adjust for continuous changes in consumer demands.
BRAND BUILDING
Brand is the "name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good
or service as distinct from those of other sellers." Initially, Branding was adopted to
differentiate one person's cattle from another's by means of a distinctive symbol burned into
the animal's skin with a hot iron stamp, and was subsequently used
in business, marketing and advertising.
Proper branding can result in higher sales of not only one product, but on other products
associated with that brand. For example, if a customer loves Pillsbury biscuits and trusts the
brand, he or she is more likely to try other products offered by the company such as chocolate
chip cookies. Brand is the personality that identifies a product, service or company (name,
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term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them) and how it relates to key
constituencies: customers, staff, partners, investors etc.
Some people distinguish the psychological aspect, brand associations like thoughts, feelings,
perceptions, images, experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and so on that become linked to the
brand, of a brand from the experiential aspect. The experiential aspect consists of the sum of
all points of contact with the brand and is known as the brand experience. The brand
experience is a brand's action perceived by a person. The psychological aspect, sometimes
referred to as the brand image, is a symbolic construct created within the minds of people,
consisting of all the information and expectations associated with a product, service or the
company(ies) providing them.
People engaged in branding seek to develop or align the expectations behind the brand
experience, creating the impression that a brand associated with a product or service has
certain qualities or characteristics that make it special or unique. A brand is therefore one of
the most valuable elements in an advertising theme, as it demonstrates what the brand owner
is able to offer in the marketplace. The art of creating and maintaining a brand is called brand
management. Orientation of the whole organization towards its brand is called brand
orientation. The brand orientation is developed in responsiveness to market intelligence.
Careful brand management seeks to make the product or services relevant to the target
audience. Brands should be seen as more than the difference between the actual cost of a
product and its selling price - they represent the sum of all valuable qualities of a product to
the consumer.
A brand which is widely known in the marketplace acquires brand recognition. When brand
recognition builds up to a point where a brand enjoys a critical mass of positive sentiment in
the marketplace, it is said to have achieved brand franchise. Brand recognition is most
successful when people can state a brand without being explicitly exposed to the company's
name, but rather through visual signifiers like logos, slogans, and colours. For
example, Disney has been successful at branding with their particular script font (originally
created for Walt Disney's "signature" logo), which it used in the logo for go.com.
Consumers may look on branding as an aspect of products or services, as it often serves to
denote a certain attractive quality or characteristic (see also brand promise). From the
perspective of brand owners, branded products or services also command higher prices.
Where two products resemble each other, but one of the products has no associated branding
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(such as a generic, store-branded product), people may often select the more expensive
branded product on the basis of the quality of the brand or the reputation of the brand owner


BRAND MANAGEMENT AT NIKE
Brand image is the impression in the consumers mind of a brands total personality (real and
imaginary qualities and shortcomings). It is set of feelings, emotions and experiences that are
linked to the brand. While brand personality is the image the company wants to convey
through the different brand architecture (logo, name, Marketing mix, and communicated
messages) and they have control over, the brand image is the subjective mental picture of the
brand. It is developed over time through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme, and
is authenticated through the consumers direct experience .Because it is a subjective perceived
position, brand image can deviate from the brand identity due to different perceptions,
unexpected events, and different interpretation of communicated messages. The ultimate goal
of any company is to lessen the gap between the perceived and the required brand image
through actively getting feedback from the market and responding to any trends.
Nike brand image that the company initially was building is a pure American icon, high
performance, innovative aggressive brand, associated with high notch athletes, achievers and
winners; mainly serious males. Nike is perceived as a high performance brand, since their
inception Nike considered
performance as top priority, they designed shoes that are durable, lightweight for runners.
They used leather in their fabrics because it is more durable than garment yet less
fashionable. From the early day, Nike has learnt the consumers need by listening to the need
of athletes, sharing their true passion for running. They designed their shoes to give athletes
the best performance. In doing so, Nike has created a reputation as a provider of high quality
running shoes designed especially for athlete .The innovative product strategy they adopted
emphasized their innovative image in the minds of consumers. They introduced a lot of
innovative products in the sport market starting from the Marathon shoe debuted in 1965,
moving on to the innovative new cushioning technology that was used with running shoes for
the first time in the 70s, followed by the introduction of the Air technology in basketball
shoes in 1988, and lately the alpha line high tech products.
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They used brand associated with achievers through getting the endorsement of high notch
athletes in the US. Actually this was the cornerstone step in building their brand image in the
US. They conveyed through these association Nike as a masculine, serious, high
performance, winning brand linked with professional level of competition. They played on
making Nike a pure American Icon that portrays the American spirit of competition,
superiority and even Arrogance. Nikes image was totally different from other US local
competitors like Rebook who personified their brand as fun, soft, fashionable brand through
associating with non competition sports like the aerobics that is famous among females more
than males.
BRAND EQUITY OF NIKE
The sources of Nike brand equity in US arises from the Aaker model form the following:
First of all Nike has a well established and strong brand identity with a well recognized and
distinguished brand name and brand log , the swoosh, which facilitate the differentiation of
its products from competitors. The brand name is simple and easily memorized by customers.
97% global awareness and recognition for Nike brand and logo contribute substantially to the
brand image and brand equity. The core of building the brand equity for Nike brand equity is
brand association. Nike is associating its brand with famous athletic celebrities that have
similar personality as the brand; they are achievers, winners, determinant, and
accomplishment oriented, non traditional (out of the box). Like the legendary Michel Jordan
the basket ball player, McEnroe the famous tennis player, Michel Johnson the famous
American sprinter. Nike is capitalizing on the idolized view of American for their athletic
heroes, specially the youth the main target of NIKE. This association projects the personality
of the celebrity on the brand. The most famous example for brand association ever was the
collaboration between Nike and Jordan, the association that personified Nike as a superior,
achiever, successful and amazing top performing brand, By time this personification became
permanent even serious, high performance, American brand capitalizing on the nature of
basketball as a tough game that is most popular in the states. From the other side this
association, in addition to the personification of the brand, it increased the brand awareness.
Nike communicated this association through their TV ads that was a hit at their time in the
states like the Jordan air ad that caught fire and increased their sales dramatically.
In addition, one of the most important sources of Nike brand equity is the high perceived
quality of the brand not only among athletes but also between the public. Although most of
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their market was the public that used their shoes just for walking around yet Nike was
committed to design their shoes according to the high standards of professional competition.
They listened to athletes and designed shoes that satisfy their needs for high performance and
durability.
Seeing a winning athlete wearing a Nike shoes in a professional competition authenticated
the quality perception in the minds of the customers about the Nike brand. Also they didnt
follow the trends of other shoe maker like Rebook who used garments in the fabrication of
their shoes instead of leather because it is more fashionable although it is less durable, Nike
didnt do so and they sticked to using leather fulfilling their commitment to quality
Another important pillar in Nike brand equity is their brand credibility as a brand which was
established over the years through their commitment to delivering what they promise. A clear
example for this is in the 80s when Aerobics games were rising and the trend in the shoe
design was shifting toward more fashionable, less durable line, by that time Nike decide to
pursuit fulfilling its brand promise to deliver high performance and high quality. They shifted
to sponsoring basketball the toughest and the highest on performance scale sport in the US.
Another block in Nike brand equity is the good relationship with its consumers. A
relationship that started with the beginning of the company when Knight used to speak to
athletes using their language and listen to their feedback. He used to meet with them in tracks
in high school and in colleges. This strategy created a lot of attachment of athletes to the
brand, some sort of brand loyalty. When the company expanded they used a Finger on the
pulse strategy where Nike have some of its employees hitting the street finding out what is
in the minds of their consumers and following their needs and tracking their brand perception
How might Nikes effort to become a global corporation affect its
sources of equity and brand image in the U.S, Europe and Asia?
As mentioned earlier the sources of brand equity of Nike are Brand association with famous
American athletes, Sponsorship programs for major sports events in the US, their massive
and aggressive provoking and unique IMC that creates high brand awareness through TV
ads and advertising campaigns, and finally the perceived quality of the product in addition to
a good CRM program. When the company started back in the 1960, its elements of brand
equity emerged and were customized according to the American culture at that time. So we
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can see the impact of the new American values and norms on how they are managing their
brand image and sources of equity. Regarding the brand image Nike brand stands for core
values of superior performance, accomplishment and achievements, Innovation and it has a
strong masculine and serious personality. These values were dominating the American
culture by that time in the 60s and early 70s when the American nation has just finished the
2nd world war coming from it as a superpower, followed by their successful space
conquering in 1965 when Nil Armstrong first landed on the moon beating the soviets in their
mutual space race. These superman values were deeply rooted in each American in all fields
of life including sports. Nike brands stood for these values. Nike stressed on these superman
values and built on it through its different equity sources.
They associated with famous American iconic athletes like Michal Jordan and McEnroe who
personifies Nikes core value of achievement, performance and innovation. They sponsored
the American basketball league ,which is the most famous sport in USA and it is very
professional as a way to convey the message that Nike brand as the American basket ball
both show highest level performance, seriousness, success, aggressiveness etc.
ADVERTISING
Even in their Advertising campaigns, they were innovative they were the first sports brand to
communicate with their customers through TV Ads, they were untraditional ,challenging and
aggressive in their advertising strategy, using unusual tag lines like you dont win silver ,
you lose gold in the 1992 Olympics and Play hard, Die old .
From 1972 to 1982, Nike relied almost exclusively on print advertising in highly vertical
publications including Track and Field News. Most of the early advertising was focused on a
new shoe release, essentially outlining the benefits of the running, basketball or tennis shoe.
In 1976, the company hired its first outside ad agency, John Brown and
Partners, who created what many consider Nike's first 'brand advertising' in 1977. A print ad
with the tagline "There is no finish line" featured a lone runner on a rural road and became an
instant classic. The success of this simple ad inspired Nike to create a poster version that
launched the company's poster business.

In 1982, Nike aired its first national television ads, created by newly formed ad agency
Wieden +Kennedy, during the New York Marathon. This would mark the beginning of a
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remarkably successful partnership between Nike and W+K that remains intact today. The
Cannes Advertising Festival has named Nike its 'advertiser of the year' on two separate
occasions, the first and only company to receive that honour twice (1994, 2003). Nike also
has earned the Emmy Award for best commercial twice since the award was first created in
the 1990s. The first was for "The Morning After," a satirical look at what a
runner might face on the morning of January 1, 2000 if every dire prediction about Y2K
came to fruition. The second Emmy for advertising earned by Nike was for a 2002 spot called
"Move," which featured a series of famous and everyday athletes in a stream of athletic
pursuits.

NIKE AND EUROPEAN MARKET
This Aggressive approach in brand management was Ok when Nike was targeting the
American market. When they decided to expand globally starting in Europe they tried to
implement the same strategy and to convey the same image of their brand but they didnt
succeed due to the cultural differences between the states and Europe. Nikes brand image
was perceived negatively as a fashionable aggressive and arrogant brand rather a performance
innovative one. Moreover, Because of the differences between European countries Nike
wasnt able to find the legendary Athletic hero who can be their ambassador in Europe. They
were faced with a multicultural market that is totally different from the American one. Also
Europeans are more traditional, they dont have the same idolized view of athletic heroes as
American, their view of competitive sport is different they dont have the same sport mania
as their counterparts in America. Also Nike found that European prefer different types of
sports; soccer, field and track games and not Basketball which was associated with Nike
brand. Above all that Europeans had their own brands that they are highly attached to .Also
being more traditional, Europeans; the aggressive provoking communication of Nike was not
accepted by many Europeans to the extent that some local European TV channels refused to
air the Nike vs. Evil TV ad. Moreover the overwhelming presence of the Nikes logo, the
swoosh, as an American symbol, was very irritating to Europeans.
In addition the different marketing and distribution strategy in the European content diluted
the brand identity of Nike, each local distributor used his own way for distributing and
displaying of the Nike products in addition to applying his own strategy in advertising. All
this led Nike to lose its main edge in the European content at the beginning; they were
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perceived as a fashion-oriented and not performance oriented, irrelevant to the European
market, aggressive American brand.

GLOBAL BRAND BUILDING AND BRAND EQUITY OF NIKE
Nike had to work on its credibility as a high performance shoe and to show their relevance to
the European market. They had to adopt a globalized strategy in building their global brand
equity.
They kept communicate the main essence of the brand but through using more adapted
localized tools and channels. They kept the essence of the brand in terms of a consistent
brand name and brand logo as a part of the global myth effect. They focused on the main core
values of their brand as part of their global positioning which is the performance and
innovation. They retrieved about 90% control over their brand distribution and marketing and
advertising activities in Europe in order to maintain the same global image and brand
positioning. They communicated the same tag line worldwide with different executions
according to each region. In order to increase their relevance to European they associated
their brand to famous European soccer players like Eric cantona and Roberto Mandeni while
keeping the same criteria for celebrity selection with personality matching Nike brand
personality.
In addition they sponsored local soccer teams like Paris saint German and Borussia
Dortmund. This local execution for their global branding strategy increased the credibility
and authenticity of the brand and boosted a positive brand image across Europe. They
customized their advertising strategy to cope with the European diversity using campaigns
that highlights country similarities rather than countries differences; the pan European
approach. In addition they lowered the aggressive tone used in their advertising and reverted
to a more kinder, and gentle marketing approach using globally accepted and appealing
celebrities like Jordan , tiger wood, Brazilian soccer star Romario to project a more global
and international image on their brand. Moreover, In order to increase their global appeal
they engaged in sponsoring big global events like the Barcelona Olympics 1992, and the
world cup. Also they sponsored the Brazilian soccer team and they took an approach of
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sponsoring national football teams from different regions to enforce their global image and to
distract from being perceived as an American icon.
Moreover they started to decrease their provoking and aggressive corporate philosophy that
was featured in their expensive and provoking sponsorship and endorsement contracts in
addition to the overwhelming abundance of their swoosh over their products everywhere
which was known as the Swooshification of the world which accumulated negative
connotations about their brand. Nike started actions to downplay their swoosh through
limiting their logo to certain products meanwhile they invented new brands like the Air
Jordan and All Conditions Gear and the Nike alpha products to calm down the
swooshification effect.
As part of their global image they show more commitment to global social issues. These
global social responsibilities started initially as a reaction to the public oppositions to the
company labour practices in Asia. They changed their corporate labour policy aiming to be
the industry leader in employee relations, they modified the working conditions and raised
the compensation packages for labour in Nikes Asian factories, applying new global labour
standards, complying with OSHA indoor air quality levels. Moreover they went further in
their CSR direction by creating a Corporate Responsibility Division that consolidated the
labour, environmental and community action groups with a stated mission to lead in
corporate citizenship through program that reflect caring for the world family of Nike, our
teammates, our customers and those who provide service to Nike. They became a charter
member of the fair labour association.
Furthermore, Nike, as part of communicating these CSR actions and to gain credibility of
customers all over the world, they initiated a measure that enables publics to get access to
information about their labor practice and their audits reports: the Transparency 101
initiative.
Nike and the Asian market Nike Asian expansion came after their European expansion
starting by targeting the Japanese market in the 1992. Learning from their European
expansion lesson Nike globalized its brand management strategy to suit the Asian market
from the beginning. Nike abandoned the brash attitude for its first marketing offerings
designed specifically for china. The ads, from which the corps of elite American athletes
usually deployed by Nike as global ambassadors of their product was primarily absent,
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celebrated local athletes as heroes. They concentrated on demonstrating a softer image of
Nike, abandoning the aggressive approach they used to implement earlier.
Learning from the European lesson they controlled their marketing and distribution
operations in Asia by opening facilities in Vietnam and upgrading existing ones in Japan,
Korea and Australia as well as constructing a lot of Nike only stores in Asia to control the
display style of Nike shoes.
Moreover, as a part of their global corporate social responsibility initiative, when the
economic crisis hit the Asian market collapsing Nike sales in Asia, instead of withdrawing
from the market they launched an initiative marketing campaign under the slogan Its my
turn showing their commitment to Asia, also they debugged a new affordable series of Nike
products for the Asian consumer play series 100 Also they constructed playgrounds, called
the play zones for use by youth.
This proactive approach boosted the global image of the brand and increased the customer
loyalty to the brand that eventually started to payback in the late 1999 with a third quarter
earnings increase of 70.
Are sponsorships and endorsements vital to Nikes business?
Sponsorships and endorsements are very vital to Nike business. In fact celebrity
endorsements are corner stone in Nikes global brand equity. Nike has built a strong brand
image along the years through successful brand associations with legendary athletic heroes
(American and non Americans). On top of these iconic collaborations are the association
between Nike and Jordan that persisted for about 18 (1984-1999)years and resulted in the
development of a new sub brand , the Air Jordan line of sport shoes which generated about
9.5 billion $ for Nike. Another iconic sponsorship was that made between Nike and the Ace
golf player these celebrity endorsements and sponsorship programs exceeded the monetary
benefits of increasing revenues; actually it conveys the brand personality and shapes the
brand image in the mind of the consumer. Endorsement is a channel of brand communication
in which a celebrity acts as the brands spokesperson authenticating the brands claim and
position by extending his/her personality, popularity, stature in the society or expertise in the
field to the brand; in other words personifying the brand. Also celebrity endorsement is a way
for the company to differentiate from competitors. The successful brand association strategy
of Nike is based on three main pillars, the attractiveness of the celebrity, the credibility of the
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celebrity and the personality match between the celebrity and the brand. For a successful
endorsement Nike ensured that the endorser is attractive to the target audience in certain
aspect physical appearance, intellectual capabilities, athletic competence and/or lifestyle. This
attractiveness enhances the memory of the brand.
As a sports shoe and Apparel Company, their main target customers were the youth so in
their choice of celebrity they choose young energetic players in different sports like
Jordon(the legendary basketball player), Johnson (the famous American sprinter),Ronald
inho( the Brazilian soccer magician).
On the other hand when they wanted to enter the golf arena with its Nike golf line, they
selected tiger wood to be their ambassador and when they targeted females they used the
Worlds two best female tennis stars: Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams as their
ambassadors.
Meanwhile Nike selected endorsers who have a high credibility level among the target
audience this credibility which increases the acceptance of the consumer for the endorsed
product. Finally Nike ensured the existence of a significant match between the brand and the
celebrity in terms of identity, personality, positioning in the market and vs. competitors and
life style so that the endorsements are able to strongly influence the thought processes of
consumers and create a positive perception of the brand
A point of strength in Nike endorsement strategy is their Consistency and long-term
commitment. They maintained long term collaboration between the Nike as a brand and their
endorsement which can be seen in the 18 years endorsement contract with Jordan and the
long term sponsorship for the Brazilian soccer team that started in the early 90s and is
sustained till now. This consistent and long term relationship established a strong and solid
personality and identity for Nike along the years.
Also Nike kept on monitoring the behaviour, conduct and public image of the endorser
continuously to minimize any potential negative publicity. When they sensed the negative
response of parents to the attitude of their nike endorser, Charles Barkley, Nike made him to
state that he is not a role model in a famous Nike commercial "I am not a role model
Another important aspect in the effective endorsement strategy of Nike is their selection of
unique celebrities which effectively differentiated them from competitors and in the same
time they make sure that this celebrity will not sign for any of their competing companies.
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An important aspect that Nike understood is that endorsement is not a target in itself but it is
part of building the brand and also it cant replace the comprehensive brand building
processes. They worked on building their brand image through the other attributes like; brand
awareness, brand loyalty, perceived quality and they authenticated this image with
endorsement. In all their celebrity endorsements Nike wanted to convey an image of a
successful brand, high performance, achieving and innovative brand. As part of their
globalisation strategy they did brand association with celebrities on two tier, a global tier
associating with globally well recognized celebrities like Micheal Jordan, Michel shomakher,
Tiger woods and a local one associating with local figures that convey the same personality
with a more local appeal like Eric cantona, Sergei bubka and Noureddine Morceli.
Celebrity endorsement when done in an appropriate way it benefits the brand but on the other
side, by associating the brand to a celebrity the company is taking the risk of attaching itself
to a person who, like any human beings, have his mistakes that can be reflected on the brand.
Also it is difficult to find an endorser who enjoys global acceptance; always there will be
people who dislike him.
Other forms of brand associations are sponsoring big events, like the Olympics. The benefits
of associating with such global events are to increase the global brand awareness; the brand is
seen by a large number of people around the globe. Besides ,such collaborations move Nike
from being a local American brand to become a global brand. Moreover sponsoring the
Olympics games widen the brand scope as Nike become associated with different sports
rather than basketball and field and track games which were their main association heritage in
the states; this allows the brand to target different and new segments of customers. The
problem Nike encountered in its global move was the negative perception about their brand,
Nike brand was perceived as a tough, hard, aggressive, professional, American brand. By
sponsoring the Olympics, in addition to increasing their brand awareness, they managed to
change their brand image benefiting from the reflection of the Olympics games personality-
that stands for a faire, clean, smooth, respectful, traditions, and global values- on their brand,
improving Nikes global image.


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MARKETING STRATEGIES OF NIKE
Nike's marketing strategy is an important component of the company's success. Nike is
positioned as a premium-brand, selling well-designed and expensive products. Nike lures
customers with a marketing strategy cantering around a brand image which is attained by
distinctive logo and the advertising slogan: "Just do it". Nike promotes its products by
sponsorship agreements with celebrity athletes, professional teams and college athletic teams.
Nikes Marketing Strategies In Major Nations of the world
NIKEs marketing strategy in United States Of America.
Nike marketing strategy is to show that buying its shoes makes people inspired, cool,
athletic and part of the world where Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods play.
Americans closely follow Lawn Tennis, PGA and Basket ball. So Nike has signed the
celebrities from these sports to endorse the product. Few of them are Michael Jordan,
John Macenro, Andre Agasi, Tiger Woods etc.
Nike have been attacking the feminine demographic for the past few years through
new advertising and print campaigns, redesigned Nike town stores and higher
visibility at department stores, web site, magazine and a timelier seasonal approach
to women's apparel.
The women's business effort and introduction of the successful new "Presto" shoe are
allowing Nike a certain amount of indifference to the economy.
NIKEs Strategy In China
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Sports simply werent a factor in a country where education levels and test scores
dictated success.

So Nike executives set themselves a potentially quixotic challenge: to change China's
culture. Terry Rhoads, then director of sports marketing for Nike in China: thought '
we won't get anything they don't play sports.
He donated equipment to Shanghai's high schools and paid them to open their
basketball courts to the public after hours. He put together three-on-three tournaments
and founded the city's first high school basketball league, the Nike League, which has
spread to 17 cities. At games, Rhoads blasted the recorded sound of cheering to
encourage straitlaced fans to loosen up, and he arranged for the state-run television
network to broadcast the finals nationally. The Chinese responded: sales through the
1990s picked up 60% a year. In this way they were able to hook kids into Nike early
and hold them for life
NIKEs Marketing Strategy In India
Nike started its operation in India in 1996.
Nike accounts for just 25 per cent of the Rs 375-400 crore branded sportswear market.
The biggest hurdle for Nike in India was its entry model and its lack of aggression.
When the global sports majors entered the Indian market in 1995-96, government
policy dictated that they had to have a local partner.
Nike agreed to an exclusive distribution agreement with a Delhi-based trading firm
Sierra, in early 1996
Nike lacked in the strategy while Reebok was the first to understand the ground
realities in the Indian market. It was the first to build its promotions around cricket,
not only through endorsements but also through sponsorships of regional and local
cricket associations.
Nike clearly didn't think the same way. Right from the start it has used international
ads and sports icons for promotions in India as well -- and that hasn't changed still.
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Sports in India largely means cricket and football. A Michael Jordan is irrelevant to
the masses.
Nike's product range has also been a problem. Globally, the brand is a trendsetter in
terms of design and technology. In India, however, Nike was relatively slow in
bringing the latest designs. Nike started importing more international ranges only after
2000.
The biggest problem with Nike was that decisions on advertising and store expansion
were taken by the distributor.
Things are finally changing. Last year, Nike ended its over-dependent agreement with
Sierra and became a 100 per cent subsidiary of the US parent.
MARKETING MIX
Marketing mix of NIKE comprises of 4Ps Product, Place, Price and Promotion
Product
Nike sells a huge variety of products, including shoes for running, basketball, cross training,
women and children. All of which are currently its top-selling product categories. Nike also
sells shoes for outdoor activities such as tennis, golf, soccer, baseball, football, bicycling,
volleyball, wrestling, cheerleading, aquatic activities, auto racing and other athletic and
recreational uses. Nike began selling active sports apparel in 1979 as well as athletic bags and
accessory items. The company sells a line of performance equipment under the Nike brand
name, such as sport balls, timepieces, eyewear,
skates, bats and other equipment. They also sell a line
of dress and casual footwear and accessories for men,
women and children under the brand name Cole
Haan. The company markets headwear under the
brand name Sports Specialties, through Nike Team
Sports, Inc. They also sell small amounts of various
plastic products to other manufacturers through Nike
IHM, Inc. Bauer Nike Hockey Inc. manufactures and
distributes ice skates, skate blades, in-roller skates,
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protective gear, hockey sticks and hockey jerseys and accessories under the Bauer and Nike
brand names. Pricing Strategies Nike uses vertical integration in pricing wherein they own
participants at differing channel levels or engage in more than one channel level operations.
This is also an attempt to control costs and influence pricing practices.
Nike produces a wide range of sports equipment. Their first products were track running
shoes. They currently also make shoes, jerseys, shorts, baselayers etc. for a wide range of
sports including track & field, baseball, ice hockey, tennis, Association football, lacrosse,
basketball and cricket. Nike Air Max is a line of shoes first released by Nike, Inc. in 1987.
The most recent additions to their line are the Nike 6.0, Nike NYX, and Nike SB shoes,
designed for skateboarding. Nike has recently introduced cricket shoes, called Air Zoom
Yorker, designed to be 30% lighter than their competitors'. In 2008, Nike introduced the Air
Jordan XX3, a high performance basketball shoe designed with the environment in mind.
Nike sells an assortment of products, including shoes and apparel for sports activities like
association football. Basketball , running, combat sports, tennis, American football, athletics,
golf and cross training for men, women, and children. Nike also sells shoes for outdoor
activities such as tennis, golf, skateboarding, association football, baseball, American
football, cycling, volleyball, wrestling, cheerleading,
aquatic activities, auto racing and other athletic and
recreational uses. Nike is well known and popular in
youth culture, chav culture and hip hop culture as they
supply urban fashion clothing. Nike recently teamed up
with Apple Inc. to produce the Nike+ product which
monitors a runner's performance via a radio device in the shoe which links to the iPod nano.
While the product generates useful statistics, it has been criticized by researchers who were
able to identify users' RFID devices from 60 feet (18 m) away using small, concealable
intelligence motes in a wireless sensor network. In 2004, they launched the SPARQ Training
Program/Division. Some of Nike's newest shoes contain Fly wire and
Lunarlite Foam. These are materials used to
reduce the weight of many types of shoes.
Nike has contracted with more than 700 shops
around the world and has offices located in 45
countries outside the United States. Most of the factories are located
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in Asia, including Indonesia, China, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Philippines,
and Malaysia. Nike is hesitant to disclose information about the contract companies it works
with. However, due to harsh criticism from some organizations like CorpWatch, Nike has
disclosed information about its contract factories in its Corporate Governance Report.
The product range of Nike comprise of shoes, sportswear, watches etc. Its product history
began with long distance running shoes in 1963. (Past 17 years: Air Jordan basketball shoes).
Wide range of shoes, apparel and equipment. For example:
Nike Oregon Digital Super Watch
Nike Presto Cee Digital Medium Watch
Nike Presto Cee Digital Small Watch
Nike Ron Analog Watch
Nike Triax 10 Regular Watch
Nike Triax Armored II Analog Super Watch
Nike Women's Imara Fit Digital Watch








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Place









Nike shoes are distributed to Multi Brand store front and the exclusive Nike stores across
countries. While this necessitates a second trip for the customer to come and pick up the
shoes, it allows Nike to offer a much wider selection than any of the competition.
Distribution channels and policy. Should additional channels be added, why? Nike sells its
product to about 20,000 retail accounts in the U.S. and in approximately 110 countries around
the world. Nike sells its products in international markets through independent distributors,
licensees and subsidiaries. Independent distributors have little or no pressure for local
adaptation because the 4Ps of marketing are managed by distributors. Previous it is observed
that Nike as other company were selling footwear through channel partners. We usually
purchase shoes from shop when it is need. However looking growth of India retail industry,
they try to reach 'n' no. of consumers to know their needs betters, and develop their product
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accordingly. At the same time they can increase their prospect and real customer by making
them FEEL.

Nike currently enjoys a 47% market share of the domestic footwear industry, with sales of
$3.77 billion. Nike has been manufacturing throughout the Asian region for over twenty-five
years, and there are over 500,000 people today directly engaged in the production of their
products. They utilize an outsourcing strategy, using only subcontractors throughout the
globe. Their majority of their output today is produced in factories in China, Indonesia, and
Vietnam, but they also have factories in Italy, the Philippines, Taiwan, and South Korea.
These factories are 100% owned by subcontractors, with the majority of their output
consisting solely of Nike products. However, Nike does employ teams of four expatriates per
each of the big three countries (China, Indonesia, Vietnam), that focus on both quality of
product and quality of working conditions, visiting the factories weekly. They also developed
their code of conduct in 1992 and have implemented it across the globe, as its goal is to set
the standard for subcontractors to follow if they wish to do business with Nike. However, due
to a manufacturing network of this magnitude, they have faced numerous violations involving
factory conditions and human rights issues, which have been widely publicized. They have
responded to these issues through the Andrew Young report, the Dartmouth Study, and Ernst
& Youngs continual monitoring, but are still approximately two years away from completely
addressing these problems throughout the globe.







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Pricing
Nikes pricing is designed to be competitive to the other fashion shoe retailers. The pricing is
based on the basis of premium segment as target customers. Nike as a brand commands high
premiums. Nikes pricing strategy makes use of vertical integration in pricing wherein they
own participants at differing channel levels or take part in more than one channel level
operations. This can control costs and influence product pricing.
Nike uses Price Leadership strategy and value based pricing. This is when a company sets is
price based on the value the consumer places on the product. Nike has spent a lot of money to
promote their brand as top of the range. Customers buy the product for the Nike symbol and
are willing to pay high prices regardless of the products actual value.

PROMOTION
Location, targeted advertising in the newspaper and strategic alliances serves as the
foundation of Nike advertising and promotion effort. The athletes and other famous sports
personalities are always taken as brand ambassadors. They form the prime building blocks of
their portion strategy. Nike has been one of the top retail industries for quite along time. This
is because they sell quality products, customer loyalty, but most of all, its great marketing
techniques. Promotion is largely dependent on finding accessible store locations. It also avails
of targeted advertising in the newspaper and creating strategic alliances Nike has a number of
famous athletes to create a great deal of attention to their products. Nike has signed the top
athletes in many different sports such as the Brazilian Soccer Team (especially Ronaldino,
Renaldo, and Roberto Carlos), Lebron James and Jermane O'Neal for basketball, Lance
Armstrong for cycling, and Tiger Woods for Golf. Sponsoring of events is another great
promotional technique for Nike. It brings attention Nike's products. Web sites are a great
promotional tool as they cover these events. Such events include Hoop It Up and The Golden
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West Invitational. Nike also personalizes websites. They make the websites exclusively for a
sport such as www.nikebasketball.com, nikefootball.com, and www.nikegolf.com.
Nike also has earned the Emmy
Award for best commercial twice
since the award was first created in
the 1990s. The first was for "The
Morning After," a satirical look at
what a runner might face on the
morning of January 1, 2000 if every
dire prediction about Y2K came to
fruition. The second Emmy for
advertising earned by Nike was for a
2002 spot called "Move," which
featured a series of famous and
everyday athletes in a stream of
athletic pursuits. In addition to
garnering awards, Nike advertising
has generated its fair share of
controversy:
Nikes focus is still on track and field
and for the most part track athletes are their target market. One of the first individuals to
endorse a Nike product was a man who exemplified their style and way of conducting
business, Steve Prefontaine. Prefontaine was a household name in the late seventies and has
gone down in history as one of the best American track and field athletes ever. Prefontaine
was a friend of Knight and had been coached by Bowerman at the University of Oregon.
Prefontaine embodied what Nike wanted as its differential advantage of other companies due
to his brash attitude, high talent level, and cavalier mentality. Nike marketed itself as a new
and innovative shoe company that constantly had the athletes performance in mind unlike
existing companies who focused on their products appearance and durability. Nike infested
their market with bright colours, new styles, and technology information pertaining to their
products. This is why Steve Prefontaine and Nike was a tremendous tandem in the early years
of Nikes existence. The introduction of the AIR JORDAN line helped to create new lines of
basketball shoes, including the AIR FORCE and AIR FLIGHT lines of basketball shoes and
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apparel. Also, a new innovative technology was a layer of air cushioning in their shoes; this
was truly a differential factor for Nike when placed in comparison with other shoe
companies. Nikes sales jumped to over $3 Billion in total. Nikes AIR JORDAN shoe was
the best selling and most popular basketball shoe on the market. The AIR JORDAN shoe
reached a point in the mid-nineties when a small picture of Michael Jordan at practice
wearing different shoes sparked a booming inquiry all over Chicago. One store alone
received over 300 phone calls asking if they had the shoes in stock.
The market Nike in which they wanted to target Jordan towards now was the athlete of any
age. Nike began to produce sizes from infant on up. Nike created commercials that glorified
Jordan and displayed his humbleness. In the commercials Jordan did things that young and
old people alike always dreamed of doing. Most of the commercials included Jordan soaring
through the air, seeming to be hung from the sky with the chorus, If I could be like Mike
playing in the background. Jordan would then drop out of the sky and dunk the basketball. In
one commercial aimed towards younger children, Jordan played the Warner Brothers Loony
Toons Characters. For an older generation Nike created
a commercial where Jordan is on a dimmed basketball
court and a booming voice comes in and says, What if
my name werent in lights? Can you imagine that? . . I
can? This commercial marketed Jordan as human
being and not the untouchable being that he is
sometimes projected to be; this was aimed to help the
average person relate to Jordan.
Nike started its web site in early 1999, but it did not grow into a usable, interactive web site
until six months later. Most of the items found in the brick and mortar stores are also found
at Nike.com, with prices being about the same. Since Nike is using multiple channels for
distribution, it does not want to create conflict by "undercutting their retail partners prices"
(Manning, 1999), but wants to give consumers alternative channels to obtaining their
products. The web site can be seen from all over the world, but only in the US can items be
bought. Nike.com has an alliance with UPS to deliver all their products to the consumers'
doorstep in under three-days. The biggest problem with shipping and handling is the
cost. For a $70 pair of shoes, expect to pay $11-$16 for shipping alone (Manning, 1999).


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Nike recently launched has two big campaigns on its web site. One is dealing with Mrs.
Jones (Marion Jones) and her opinions on real issues involving the sports business. These
can be captured on the web site, with actual dialogues of the commercials. The other
involves a series of commercials that actually invite consumers to interact with their web
site. The viewers see half of the commercial on television, but the other half can only be
viewed through their web site.

Nike pays top athletes in many different sports to use their products and promote their
technology and design.
Nike's first professional athlete endorser was Romanian tennis player Ilie Nstase, and the
company's first track endorser was distance running legend Steve Prefontaine. Prefontaine
was the prized pupil of the company's co-founder Bill Bowerman while he coached at the
University of Oregon. Today, the Steve Prefontaine Building is named in his honour at Nike's
corporate headquarters.
Besides Prefontaine, Nike has sponsored many other successful track & field athletes over the
years such as Carl Lewis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Sebastian Coe. However, it was the
signing of basketball player Michael Jordan in 1984, with his subsequent promotion of Nike
over the course of his storied career with Spike Lee as Mars Blackmon, which proved to be
one of the biggest boosts to Nike's publicity and sales.
During the past 20 years especially, Nike has been one of the major clothing sponsors for
leading tennis players. Some of the more successful tennis players currently or formerly
sponsored by Nike include: James Blake, Jim Courier, Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewitt, Juan
Martn Del Potro, Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal, Pete Sampras, Marion Bartoli, Lindsay
Davenport, Daniela Hantuchov, Mary Pierce, Maria Sharapova, and Serena Williams.



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NIKE AND INDIAN MARKET
Nike's operations in India began in 1996 when the athletic footwear market was dominated by
Reebok and Adidas.

SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS
POLITICAL FACTORS
The government of India had highlighted on the development of local apparel production and
the dominance of local brands within the national market to develop the Indian apparel
industry. This policy marked the increased resistance towards the entry of foreign brands into
the country. Rules stated that the operation of foreign brands within the country required an
agreement with a Indian partner where the latter holds majority of the company's share. The
late 1990s has marked the linearization of the Indian economy and restrictions towards
international fashion brands have been removed. The favourable government policy has
opened the doors for Nike India to establish independent and fully owned subsidiaries to
increase its presence in the market.

ECONOMIC FACTORS
Worldwide operations of Nike have been affecting by the Asian economic crisis. Nike
footwear and clothing production is concentrated in Asia. The increase in material and labour
costs has added to the fall in revenue. Indian economy has been one of the best performers in
the world in recent years. The annual growth rate of 9.6% and 9.2% in 2006 and 2007 have
been impressive and added the purchasing power of middle-income group in the country.
However, growth has been vulnerable during the recession. As a result, growth projections
for 2009 have been revised down to 6.5%


SOCIAL FACTORS
The younger generations quest for involvement and professionalism in sports has determined
the success of marketing campaigns. People are more fitness conscious. Consequently,
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exercise and fitness clubs are gaining reputation. The resulting surge for quality sports
apparel and equipment has increased prospects for development. Upscale of labour and
factory conditions in production facilities at manufacturing units and the sponsoring of social
events has increased the 'Social Responsibility' image of the company.

TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS
Quality of product owes in large part to the use of valuable information technology and its
application in production and distribution function. Advantages of economies of innovation,
design, segmentation and differentiation have depended heavily on the effective use of
management information systems. Nike India leverages technological advantage from its
leadership status and strong international presence.

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
Competition is very fierce due to the number of multi-national and Indian companies
competing for sales. The Indian market represents a complex structure where sportswear
brands like Nike, Reebok and Adidas as well as lifestyle brands like Puma, US Polo and
Indian Terrain are fighting it out in the sports lifestyle segment. India is the only market
where Reebok has sprinted ahead of Nike and Adidas. Reebok owns 40% of the market
share, followed by Adidas (20%) and Nike ( 15%).


MARKETING STRATEGY AND ITS IMPACT ON SALES
GROWTH
The marketing strategy of Nike in the Indian market can be analyzed by dividing the timeline
of Nike's existence in India into two distinct components
Embracing International Endorsements
Manipulating customized Indian Promotions





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EMBRACING INTERNATIONAL ENDROSEMENTS

Nike has earned international reputation through its strong brand endorsements worldwide.
Our belief in performance-oriented shoes backed by high value advertising has enabled us to
stay ahead in the race for leadership in the sportswear industry. Over the years, Nike has
become synonymous with sports celebrities like Michel Jordan and Tiger Woods. Our
marketing in India hasn't had a head start despite our advantaged brand awareness enjoyed in
the market even before the establishment of Nike stores in the country. This was a period
when India didn't really figure in Nike's marketing promotion activities.
Indian sportswear market had been characterized by unprecedented complexity and market
dominance by Adidas and Reebok that had entered the market prior to Nike. Adidas and
Reebok enjoyed a lion's share of the Indian market. Nikes penetration into emerging markets
like India and China had to be backed up by high advertising expenditure. However, Nike's
marketing budget globally was $5 billion (ranging from 11% to 15% of sales annually)
whereas the spending in India was significantly lower.
During this phase, Nike carried its international brand image into the Indian market. The
marketing strategy aimed at capturing the Indian market by airing Nike's portfolio of athlete
endorsements. Though this gave the impression of a cost saving system that completely
wiped out advertisement developmental costs, its effectiveness was at a low level. The rate of
increase in sales in the Indian market was measured. Advertisements endorsed by
international athletes were highly represented football, basketball and golf etc., which were
the centre of attraction in Europe and America. However cricket, football and tennis
dominated sports in India. A basketball advertisement endorsed by Michel Jordan was
besides the point to the masses.
Reebok, on the other hand Indianised its ad campaigns right from the start, signing on high
profile sportsmen like Mohammad Azharddin (Captain Indian Cricket team ) , Bhaichung
Bhutia ( Captain Indian Football team) and Dhanraj Pillai ( Captain Indian Hockey team ).
Reebok built its promotions around cricket, not only through endorsements but also through
sponsorships of regional and local cricket associations. Even Adidas changed its advertising
approach by signing Indian tennis star Leander Paes and Cricket icons Sachin Tendulkar and
Virender Shewag. Nike owned close to 40 stores at the end of 1998, whereas Reebok through
its aggressive marketing had earned market dominance and invested in nearly 100 retail
outlets by that period.
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MANIPULATING CUSTOMIZED INDIAN PROMOTIONS

The year 2005 marked the launch of customized Nike promotions for the Indian athlete. Nike
launched its Cricketing arm and introduced its first cricket shoes AIR ZOOM YORKER. This
was followed by the launch of cricket shoes for batsmen AIR ZOOM OPENER. A marketing
strategy to be successful in India had to design promotions pitched around cricket. The
marketing department pointed out that it was critical to connect emotionally with the
customers. The same year Nike wrestled its rights to become the official kit sponsor for the
Indian cricket team for the next 5 years, beating Adidas and Reebok. The privilege was
earned by paying Rs.1.96 billion to the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Nike Cricket
was a new wing and the contract showed the fans Nike's loyalty to Team India, and its
commitment to the market. The deal bought in fresh momentum to Nike India. Besides, the
contract with BCCI allowed Nike to launch official BCCI cricket merchandise comprising of
replica team T-Shirts and jerseys, kit bags and backpacks. The deal was a huge branding
opportunity and sale of licensed merchandise during 2005 earned $20 million. The same year
Nike aired its first Cricket Advertisement during the World Champions Trophy cricket
tournament. The sales figures for the year were an illustration of the effectiveness of the
cricket-based promotions. Sales for the year increased by 40%. The success of the Cricket
promotions was followed by Nikes foray into cricket accessories and equipment.









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ADVERTISING MEDIUM- INFORMATION AGE

The young Indian generation associates itself as a distinctive trend and has its own aspiration
levels, which is a combination of their learning form the West and the evolution of the Indian
mindset. The new generation is more internet-savvy, and has a much higher aspiration value.
70 % of India's 18.2-million web population are under 30 years old, and are growing the
power of blogs in the market as a mechanism for self-expression. As this next generation
gains momentum, Nike's marketing focus should shift towards Internet advertising and
partner the youth in their movement by communicating Nike as a forum for expression and
not as a sales-focused giant.

EXPERIMENTAL MARKETING -DEVELOPING THE
EMOTIONAL CONNECTION

In recent years the concept of creating an experience for customers to help them form an
emotional connection to a brand has become more specialized. Consumer products,
insurance, services etc. are already tapping the youth with the emergence of a whole new
communication and branding strategy focused on experimental marketing. Nike India's
marketing could also move from sports celebrities to the target audience itself, at least for a
short period of time, to enhance their involvement with the product and in turn, the brand.


INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE -AN INDIAN SPONSORSHIP FOR
THE WORLD AUDIENCE
The game of Cricket is evolving and focus has shifted from test matches and one day
international tournaments to Twenty Twenty tournaments. Cricket in India has seen the rise
of Indian Premier League in 2008. The addition of international players in the league has
created a global fan base for the league among cricket lovers. Reebok, Adidas and Puma have
already won sponsorship deals with IPL teams. Reebok is leaving no stone unturned and is
sponsoring 3 of the 8 IPL teams. Snap polls have indicated that every match attracts 18
million audiences worldwide. Nike's GBP 303 million sponsorship deal with Manchester
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United Football Club and GBP 130 million deal with Arsenal Football club have accounted
for 20% of Nike's merchandise sales worldwide. Nike's foray into IPL sponsorship will
increase brand awareness among cricket followers globally. Moreover, Nike India can
increase its collection of merchandise by including replicas of IPL jerseys of teams that have
been sponsored by Nike.
Nike and The Indian Cricket Team
THE Indian cricket team's official kit sponsor was Nike. Nike was also the official kit
sponsor for the Indian cricket team for 5 years, from 2006 till end of 2010.
Its bid was for Rs 196.66 crore. The new contract was for a period of five years beginning
January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2010, and wouls be carried through to the next World Cup
in 2007.
The others in the fray were Adidas and Reebok who bid Rs 127.5 crore and Rs 119.48 crore
respectively.
Winning the official kit sponsorship entitles Nike to get branding on the non-leading arm of
the player's outfit. Offering unprecedented brand exposure at all matches played by the Indian
cricket team, the company feeds off the popularity of the player, the team and the actual sport
itself. The same company is the official licensee for apparel merchandise for the BCCI. They
also are entitled to retail merchandise at branded outlets and BCCI corners.
.As the official licensee for apparel merchandise of Cricket India, Nike actively markets
replicas of the Indian team kit through its vast distribution network in India and abroad.