Is Nike wrong to try to leverage its American rebel image to build brand awareness in the global market for soccer footwear and apparel? What are the potential drawbacks of this approach?
Standardizing promotional activities has three big reasons. First, it has significant economic advantages. It lowers the cost because it can be spread over many countries. Second, one large effort to develop a campaign will produce better results than several smaller efforts. A third reason is that many brand names are global. A projection of a single brand image avoids confusion caused by local campaigns.
The two main arguments that indicate the drawbacks of this approach of global imaging are cultural differences and local laws. Not in every culture can be expected to be open for this kind of marketing. A negative image on the home country can contribute to a negative image of the brand. Also local laws and regulations can cause problems. Some part of the global marketing can not be done because countries have laws against using or saying certain things in the ads.
In the case of Nike it is my opinion that it is not wrong to try to leverage its American rebel image to build brand awareness. For that, there are three main reasons. One, differentiating from its competitors. Second, to build one image and third, the effort to gain the interest of the youth.
It is very important to differentiate from you competitors by a clear marketing strategy. Nike does this in one single act. Nike does not create different strategies that would imply more cost, less results and confusion in a globalizing world.
In addition, building one image is helping Nike effectively to differentiate from it competitors. Now the difficult question is whether Nike can use its rebel image. And I say: “Why not?” Despite the feeling of some people that it is ethically wrong, the rebels that Nike uses are still great players. Mr. Eric Cantona was indeed a difficult person, but he was such a great player that most people forgave him his stupidities. I for one do not remember Cantona as a bad man, I remember him to be a great soccer player.
The third is attracting the youth to your product with your image. It is not wrong to use idols for that. Again, Mr. Eric Cantona was and is a idol for a lot of European soccer fans.
The developmental stages of a successful campaign help to establish the product in the audience’s mind or consciousness. The stages of the Nike campaign can be described by using the Yale Five-Stage Developmental Model. Yale researchers developed this model while observing the growth of national identity. The first stage of this model is identification. Our text states that “Many products and causes develop a graphic symbol or logotype to create identification in the audience’s mind” (p. 264, Larson). The logo Nike is most famous for is “The Swoosh.” This is the term given to the symbol of winged victory that appears on Nike products. “The design of the swoosh logo was inspired by the wing from the Greek goddess Nike” (p. 3, http://shrike.depaul.edu /~mcoscino/word.html). The Nike logo’s presence can be noted in almost every aspect of the athletic world.
Since its creation, Nike has proven itself as a popular brand and it has created niches by selling products such as footwear, apparels and various types of sports equipment. This paper will attempt to trace the product development of Nike shoes from its origins in conception and design to the manufacturing and production process located in contract factories in developing countries to advertising and marketing of Nike as a cultural commodity and finally, the retailing of the footwear around the world.
"Getting and spending" has eclipsed family, ethnicity, even religion as a defining matrix. That doesn't mean that those other defining systems have disappeared, but that an increasing number of young people around the world will give more of their loyalty to Nike than to creeds of blood, race, or belief. This is not entirely a bad thing, since a lust for upscale branding isn't likely to drive many people to war, but it is, to say the least, far from inspiring.
Nike is a worldwide known business that many people around the globe are attracted to purchase. They make a variety of products ranging from shoes and clothes to sports gear, sports products, and many different accessories. Nike is designed for everyone ranging from infants to elderly. Because of their range of age for products, this makes them a huge competitor. Being able to appeal to all ages and styles of people.
Nike’s goal is to remain unique and different from others in terms of the items offered on the market. Arguably, Nike belongs to a monopolistically competitive market as there only a few organizations with the ability to regulate the amount charged for their product which means they cannot make their prices high as this is likely to make customers move on to other available choices (Nike, Inc., 2012). However, Nike can find a balance between the prices to charge for their products and remaining competitive with other companies in the industry. Nike has formed a distinction between the appearance and performance of their footwear and that of their competitors. Although products are differentiated from other companies, they still influence each other because they are items of the same
Consumers must be aware of the changes that might occur in Nike through media and social awareness
Many global companies like Nike, Inc. are seen as role models both in the market place as well as in society in large. That is why they are expected to act responsibly in their dealings with humanity and the natural world. Nike benefits from the global sourcing opportunities, therefore areas such as production and logistics have been outsourced to partner companies in low-wage countries like China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. As a result the company is limited nowadays to its core competencies of Design and Marketing.
Nike’s Asian operations had previously continued to soar generating US$300 million in 1994 in revenues to a whopping US$1.2 billion in 1997. However based on the Asian economic crisis, this had adversely affected revenues, while regional layoffs were inevitable. Nike also performed well in the European market generating about US$2 billion in sales and a good growth momentum was expected, however, some parts of Europe were only slowly recovering from an economic downturn. In the Americas (Canada and the U.S.A.), Nike experienced a growth rate for several quarters. The U.S. alone generated approximately US$5 billion in sales. The Latin American market at this point was exposed to economic volatility; however Nike still saw them as a market with “great potential for the future”.
From their marketing strategies to their selling philosophies, Nike has developed one of the most recognizable and demanded name and logo tandems ever created.
It’s because when I sport the Nike swoosh, I feel as if I representing the Nike brand and the beautiful, driven, fit women I see in their advertisements. Feeling this way gives me the inspiration and confidence to play my best. I feel as if I identify with the women in the advertisements by wearing Nike. “The relationship between persons and the product remains one of the most crucial signifiers within advertisements. Persons in advertisements supply the consumer with a certain identification frame—whether the person is presented as a user or is presented within a lifestyle setting, the viewer is invited to identify him/herself with the presented person.” 202 Brand Culture. The Nike brand does a great job at doing this to their consumers to create brand loyalty. Nike brand users, just like myself, see the athletes using the brands and feel a certain connection to them. Brand loyalty should not only be a goal for brands because of the benefit of having their logo advertised on consumers who fit within their target market, but also for PRICE SOMETHING ECONOMY
...fected by print advertising even if they don’t realize it. Nike uses all different forms of advertising to appeal to all audiences.
Nevertheless, Nike is an extremely diverse company with outstanding organizational structure, impressive marketing strategy, and innovative products. The organizational structure of the Nike Corporation helped them become a leading innovator for the world with creative apparels and shoes. Their intelligent marketing strategies assist them in advertising their products to motive their customers and sell them. Their innovative product motivates customers with great performance footwear and quality designs to take on any obstacles. The Nike Corporation discovers various ways to improve their organizational structure to inspire the world.
international markets. The company wants to generate more than half of its revenue from overseas. In my opinion, Nike’s strategies and tactics are to seek on the opportunity to do the marketing on its radical, rebellious and anti-establishment images to the international markets and to benefit from its use of overseas factories to outsource manufacturing processes. For example,
Nike promotes their sportswear in such a way that their communication objective can easily be achieved. Nike uses following way to interact with their current and new customers:
NIKE, usa rostros de deportistas exitosos como publicidad, les proporciona implementos deportivos y cada logro de ellos, es un logro de NIKE. Mientras mas gente los vea y se identifique con estos deportistas de elite en distintas disciplinas, mas se incentiva al consumidor común y corriente a verse reflejado en aquel deportista, como un tema aspiracional, como un tema de reconocimiento y autorrealización, otra ves tocamos con ambos niveles de jerarquía de las necesidades de las personas, la estrategia de NIKE esta muy bien ejecutada, llevando a que la carrera del deportista sea junto a NIKE y como NIKE lo ayuda, le entrega respaldo, yo también con NIKE tendré el respaldo de calidad, buenos implementos y facilidades para desarrollar mi deporte y mis metas deportivas, sea correr solamente o participar en las maratones que también forman otra parte esencial de la estrategia de comunicación.