He set the tone and direction for a young company created in 1972, called Nike, and today those same words inspire a new generation of Nike employees. Corporate goal is to carry on his legacy of innovative thinking, whether to develop products that help athletes of every level of ability reach their potential, or to create business opportunities that set Nike apart from the competition and provide value for our shareholders. It started with a handshake between two visionary Oregonians - Bowerman and his University of Oregon runner Phil Knight. They and the people they hired evolved and grew the company that became Nike from a US-based footwear distributor to a global marketer of athletic footwear, apparel and equipment that is unrivaled in the world. Along the way, Nike has established a strong Brand Portfolio with several wholly-owned subsidiaries including Cole Haan, Converse Inc., Hurley International LLC, NIKE Golf, and Umbro Ltd. Nike’s world headquarters is located near Beaverton, Oregon, a suburb of Portland.
“The Halo Effect” The “halo effect” is the idea that when the overall population sees a product on or used by a celebrity, they will be more inclined to purchase the product because they want to mimic there role model. For years, sporting companies have used this belief, by using athletes to sell there products to fans. A perfect example would be Under Amour’s latest commercial, entitled “Footsteps” using star athletes like Cam Newton and elite track and field runner Monica Hargrove. As the athletes train hard the camera zooms in on the athlete’s shoes promoting their signature Charge RC shoes. Companies like Gatorade, Nike, and Under Armour place their products on athletes to increase the sales of their merchandise.
Case Overview Tom Harge’s challenge was to “expand the playing field” in emerging markets with a range of affordable, durable, and easyto-produce sports shoes that could effectively reach the huge untapped segment in “Tier Three” countries. Tom Harge, a 17year Nike veteran who had spent years in the Footwear Department in the United States, as well as in Latin America, was chosen as the Director of Emerging Market Footwear. His task was to direct and develop the World Shoe Project, Nike’s foray into the bottom of the pyramid. Two-and-a-half years later, Nike had done just that: developed and produced the World Shoe Series 100 and Series 400, footwear lines manufactured under specific guidelines for emerging economies. By late 2000, Nike had sold roughly 2 million pairs of World Shoes in China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and other Asian and Latin American markets.
Nike has been able to brand its company by establishing solid partnerships, mergers and/or subcontracts with other companies and corporations, such as Converse, Hurley International, LLC, Umbro, LTD., etc. Their world headquarters is situated in Beaverton, Oregon but they operate in six continents and directly employ over 35,000 people. Nike’s mission is stated to be to inspire every athlete in the world with their products and services. On the company website, Nike states the following: “Our goal is to carry on his legacy of innovative thinking, whether to develop products that help athletes of every level of ability reach their potential, or to create business opportunities that set Nike apart from the competition and provide value for our shareholders.” Mostly all of Nike’s products are manufactured by independent contractors, with footwear and apparel being created outside the U.S. and equipment products produced both within the U.S. and abroad. Nike now takes a holistic approach to its production and marketing of products so that the company continues to grow in products and profits, but also shrinks in its waste energy and water uses in the environment.
Executive Summary Nike hired Team B to develop a marketing plan for the launching of a new line of, “light weight” cleats called Nike Shark. The introduction of a new light of cleats will start at the international level. The Brazilians and Nigerians have a strong athletic support base that will give Nike the opportunity to position this new product with a competitive edge because of the chosen locations. Brazil is the headquarters for production of Nike Sharks. The target audience is ages six to 47 years who embrace the world of sports in football, soccer, baseball, and track.
• Summary The UEFA Champions League is the premium European club soccer competition; some say it’s even bigger that the FIFA world cup as a soccer clubs success is measured by the number of champions league titles they have , any soccer fan knows that you can watch soccer at its highest level during this games and that is why companies try to do their best promoting their products during these games and what makes this event so special is that UEFA champions league as it name suggests is a league which goes on for 9 straight months, which makes an amazing opportunity for companies to promote their products. Television channels that have the right to stream the games also make a lot of profit from advertising during the games as 150 million people watched last year’s final, which is a lot more that the number of people who watched the super bowl that very same year. Ford Motors is one of the six main sponsors along Heineken, MasterCard, UniCredit, PlayStation and Gazprom. By sponsoring such an event Ford is able to directly reach its target customers for 9 straight months every year. Since a large percentage of Fords potential customers in Europe are soccer fans and it’s likely that they watch the UEFA Champions League.
In 2010 the Conservative David Cameron arrived in Downing Street after 13 years of Labour rule, alongside the Liberal Democrats, thus forming a so-called hung parliament. Obviously, it is argued that David Cameron’s government was the one that took credit for the great success of the Olympic Games, while Tony Blair defended his role in the bringing of the Games to London in several newspapers. Just as Blair, David Cameron committed to the sports legacy, by promising his government would continue to fund and invest in sporting infrastructure and by hoping to create a School Olympic Games as well. However, the rivalry between the two major parties in the United Kingdom is not the only issue that the political world faced. In fact, the wish
Adidas has especially been gaining ground on Nike boosted by its strong presence in sponsoring the European soccer tournament where it sponsored eventual winners Spain (Torry 2012). According to Marketing Weekly News (2012), Adidas is also planning on moving into the more fashion-aligned market of teenagers which could see it improve global market share. NEO, a fast fashion adidas sub-brand aimed at teenagers is Adidas’ attempts to enter new apparel segments that will even pit it against the likes of H&M and Zara in an effort to gain market share and squeeze more profits out of mature industries. Another threat of entry is posed by Under Armour Inc. an established company in the athletic sportswear in the USA which in 2009 decided to enter the U.S athletic footwear market creating competition in a market which had been dominated
"What is the cause behind the local and international success of Nike in an industry which should be a perfect competition?" Competition and Strategy December 17, 2014 Table of Contents History2 The Athletic Footwear Industry3 Porters Five Force Analysis4 Suppliers5 Buyers5 Rivalry6 Threat of new entrants7 Threat of substitute goods8 Competitive differences between emerging and mature markets9 Business Strategy10 Main Competitor Analysis13 Final Remarks and Conclusion16 Exhibits17 Works Cited18 Company History In January 1964 University of Oregon track athlete Philip Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman founded Blue Ribbon Sports, a company that would later become the global leader and giant in the manufacturing and sales of athletic shoes, apparel, performance sportswear and sports equipment known as Nike Inc. Their initial goal was to break Germany’s domination of the industry and provide American college athletes with high-tech footwear to increase their performance by acting as a distributor for Japanese shoemaker Onitsuka Tiger (now ASICS). When relationships with their provider deteriorated seven years after it’s establishment, Blue Ribbon Sports decided to launch their own line of products in June 18,1971 starting with a soccer shoe called “The Nike”; the first shoe to have the Swoosh logo, which is considered one of the most successful logo designs of all time. The company later decided to rename itself to “Nike” in 1978. The company developed and refined innovative soles based on Bill Bowerman’s “waffle sole” idea, which would grip different racing tracks more efficiently, resulting in the company reaching 50% market share in the U.S. athletic shoe market by 1980.
STYLES AND TRENDS: STRATEGIC CHOICES In December 1993, Mohammad Ali Tariq, CEO, Styles and Trends met his two partners, Shahzad Elahi and Nadira Sabahuddin to discuss strategic choices for their fledgling knitwear manufacturing company. Whereas they had operated as a small stitching unit serving very limited markets over the last four years, sanctioning of their loan from a financial institution would be the green signal for expanding into a fully integrated unit capable of manufacturing high quality knitwear for major foreign buyers. Tariq recognised that choosing attractive markets in the beginning would be the key to success as the knitwear field was becoming increasingly competitive. To date, Shahzad had managed the bulk of the company's operations with occasional help from Nadir and overall guidance from Tariq, and Tariq wondered if responsibilities and the magnitude and duration would have to change with the onset of the new unit. He wanted to ensure that all the partners understood and agreed on not only the marketing strategy, but also the management requirements the new venture would impose.