Nike Marketing
Nike is an international brand, among the most renowned global companies and the undisputed leader on the industry of sports wear. Promoter in its industry, Nike has captured the attention of all media, public and scholars for both its successes and failures. Nike is seen as both a business organization as well as humanitarian company, which sponsors numerous charitable events and other social activities. Also, they offer young talents sports scholarships and the chance to become world-known athletes.
Nike’s products include a wide array of shoes and clothes, for all sporting events, from swimming, tennis and volleyball to football and baseball. The products offer the highest quality and are therefore sold at high prices. An interesting feature of the Nike products is given by their extensive consumer palette. Unlike other sports ware producers who only manage to target one market, Nike has managed to become the main provider for three different target audiences: teenagers, young adults and adults. The young adults are individuals of ages between 21 and 25, whereas the adults are those individuals of 25 years, or older.
The main reason for which the American manufacturer has been able to capture the attention of all three consumer categories is, first of all, brand.
2. Nike for Adolescents
Nike’s marketing strategy is without a doubt based on promoting the brand. And the teenagers target market is the one most influenced and responsive to the Nike brand. Sports ware is a fashion trend, a statement of personal beliefs and of belonging to a certain category of rebel teenagers, who do not desire smart clothing, but casual clothes. Nike gives them that. Moreover, the manufacturer encourages adolescents to purchase their products and feel comfortable and trendy while wearing them. Their encouragement comes from the company’s logo, Just Do it!
Nike’s successful approach of teenagers also derives from the company’s ability to contract international sports personalities to advertise their products. Among the most renowned personalities which featured in Nike commercials, one could easily point out football players Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, golfer Tiger Woods, tennis players Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova or racer Michael Shumacher.
All these individuals represent icons, in the eyes of the young consumers. As such, when the young fans see their idol wearing Nike apparel or shoes, and even encouraging them to purchase those items themselves, they automatically feel the need be like the sports personality they admire so much. Therefore, they want to buy Nike sports ware and the company’s purpose has been met.
A third item which lead to the successful approach of the adolescent consumers was the custom made designs of the Nike products. To better explain, the company manufactures specific lines of products destined to the young consumer. They enrich and modernize the product line for teenagers each year, at least twice, once for each season: spring-summer and autumn-winter. The products designed especially for them, as well as the need to remain in trend, once again inoculate the teenagers with the need for Nike apparel and shoes.
But since the Nike products are high quality products, sold at increased prices, which also include the right to wear an international brand, teenagers are rarely consumers of their own. In other words, they need their parents’ money to finalize the purchase. But the parents will not pay large sums of money for a pair of shoes just because it says Nike on them. These being said, the American manufacturer was forced to develop better ways to approach the adult market.
3. Nike for Adults
Nike felt compelled to develop proper marketing strategies for the adults’ target market, for two major reasons. First of all, these adults are the parents of the teenagers and must approve of the purchases desired by the adolescents. In this order of ideas, when the adults are parents who supervise and approve, Nike had to convince the parents that there was more behind the international brand. Parents has to realize the high quality of the Nike sports ware and realize that one product bought from the manufacturer would last much longer that other products and is therefore worth the additional money.
From a second major stand point, the adults’ target market had to be regarded as a buying force, not just supervisor and approver. This approach became necessary when not all adults are parents and even more, regardless of their quality of parent or not, the adult is himself a consumer and a sports practitioner.
In regard to the second approach, where the adult is the force which increases the company’s sales and therefore profits, the marketing campaign had to be focused on those features which interest the adult buyer. These features, included in the Nike commercials, revolve around an emphasis on the high quality of the Nike apparel and shoes, as well as the encouragement and support towards a healthy life through sports activities.
Nike encourages adults to change their life styles for the better, to practice more sports and become healthier. They also advice the adult customers to stop postponing the moment of exercise and Just Do it!
4. Nike for Young Adults
The successful approach of the target market formed of young adults is due to the specific approach Nike has managed to implement. In this order of ideas, they understood that the young adults are a particular market, different from adolescents and adults, but not entirely opposite to them. As such, the target market formed of young adults is characterized by numerous features common to the teenagers’ target market on the one hand, and the adults’ target market on the other hand.
Otherwise said, the best approach of the target market formed from young adults is achieved by a combination of the features particular to the teenagers and the adults over the age of 25. The marketing strategy for the young adults had to consider the following features:
Young adults are rarely parents, therefore not a decisive force, but a buying force
Young adults are interested in fashion trends
Young adults are also interested in a healthy life style though practicing sports.
5. Conclusions
Nike shoes and apparel are high quality products, sold at rather high prices and the company’s market strategy is basically focused on forwarding the Nike brand. The company’s logo, Just Do it! is addressed to all customers and potential customers of all ages. Nike promotes a healthy life style, with lots of exercise in it. And such a lifestyle is desired by all individuals, regardless of their group age.
The teenagers’ target market is attracted by brand and Nike’s association with their icons; adults are attracted by the high quality of the products and the promotion of a healthy life style through sports; and the young adults are attracted by both fashion and emphasis on sports.
Bibliography
Iacobucci, D., 2001, Kellog on Marketing, Chichester John Wiley & Sons
Goldman, R. And Papson, S., 1999, Nike Culture: The Sign of the Swoosh, Sage Publications
Solomon, M.R., 2003, Conquering Consumerspace: Marketing Strategies for a Branded World, New York AMACOM Books
Stroud, D., 2005, the 50-plus Market: Why the Future Is Age Neutral When it Comes to Marketing and Branding Strategies, Sterling VA, Kogan Page
Washington, R.E. And Karen, D., 2001, Sport and Society, Annual Review of Sociology, Volume 27
Nike and the American Body, American Studies at the University of Virginia, http://xroads.virginia.edu/%7Eclass/am483_97/projects/hincker/nike.html, last accessed on January 21, 2008
Official Website of Nike, http://www.nike.com/index.jhtml, last accessed on January 21, 2008
