Marketing Nike Essay

Growing up there was one brand that all professional athletes used in my eyes, Nike. The Swoosh, was the icon that all kids had to have, and why not? All the big time players not only had it, but endorsed it. Ads, which had Michael â€Å"Air† Jordan, Bo Jackson, or Wayne Gretsky â€Å"The Great One† doing amazing physical feats, always, motivated the crowds. The Nike company new this, and blasted it marketing campaign through all sorts of media. In this essay I will break down this multi-billion dollar company’s marketing techniques in the areas of: customer value, promotional items, marketing’s four p’s of the marketing mix, the segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) approach to market the product, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), environmental trends, the largest customer base, its competitors, and ethical marketing for this corporation both stateside and overseas. Putting these athletes in the ads is just one way to build value for a company. From Ashford universities â€Å"Principle of Marketing† by â€Å"Sara White† We are introduced to marketing with the definition of marketing as â€Å"an activity designed to stimulate exchanges that have value for customers, partners, and society at large†. With this definition of marketing intact the question that still is out pondering is what is value? â€Å"Value was defined as the perceived trade-off between benefits and the sacrifice required to take possession of those benefits†. To break it down further we will look at customer value. Customer value is a title for the cost of a particular trade for the purchaser (buyer) instead of the company (seller). Looking into a selling Nike abroad, whatever a customer may pay in the United States may not be the same overseas. The first thing is to look at is how the current client group influences the market in the states. Nike had a humble start with creators Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight trying to improve on the track shoe of the day. The former â€Å"Blue Ribbon Sports Company† now known as Nike wanted to increase value into their product by having athletes endorses it. So they found the person that they thought would be the best at building future customer value, Steve Prefontaine. During his college time he never lost a race on his home track, and was exposed to national notoriety with is fourth place finish in Munich. This was one of their first successes in marketing. As popularity for their product rose the selected new sports models to display the shoes on the track. This really kicked of the sale of the shoes. Seeing how this success worked at their home setting, taking it to other countries should be no problem. Paving the way with athletes that had above average ability in their field was how Nike struck the marketing campaigned. Finding someone in another country that could spark the same influence over the masses would keep thing on track for Customer value overseas. This would all depend on what country we planned on taken our product to. The last thing that we are going to look at with customer value is the four utilities of customer value. The four utilities are: Form, Time, Place, and Ease of Possession. The form in the four utilities shows what effort Nike puts into their product that makes it desirable. Part of this desire is the quality and showmanship they place in every item. The other part is who they put in their invention. This was very clear in the mid-80 when Nike was the company that took on NBA rookie Michael Jordan, to represent their company’s goals. Being one of the leaders of in business, time is important. Nike put their product out when they need to. They also change it enough to keep things fresh. Time also goes along with place. Not only does the timing of releasing product play a huge role, the place does as well. Lastly, ease of possession is just that, how easy will it be to get the product. Included in this is can I get my item fixed or replaced easily also. With internet available in almost everyone’s pocket from smartphones to tablets getting Nike’s items have become very accessible. With ease of possession we have to look at what trends are working or not, so that we may fix them. Understanding these four utilities just scratches the surface of what we need to know. To be more in-depth with a strategy we must look at the targeting and market mix portion of promoting. In order to utilize the four utilities properly we must look at the STP approach of marketing. This Approach involves segmentation, targeting, and positioning looks at what a byer values. â€Å"Segmentation can be defined as the process of splitting a market into smaller groups with similar product needs or identifiable characteristics, for the purpose of selecting appropriate target markets. Targeting (or target market selection) refers to: An organization’s proactive selection of a suitable market segment (or segments) with the intention of heavily focusing the firm’s marketing offers and activities towards this group of related consumers. And positioning (which is sometimes referred to as product positioning) is: Positioning is the target market’s perception of the product’s key benefits and features, relative to the offerings of competitive products. † With the number of competitors only the rise it is important for an organization to forecast what the consumers buying trends are. Nike, although one of the largest establishments in their field, they still are not untouchable. They have to stay a success by continually improving on the products. Nike leads the way with new technology that innovate all sports. In the late 80’s the introduction of Nike air did this well. Again they launched a promotional campaign that introduced a series of ads by Bo Jackson one of the top athletes at the time. They saw the future of what their clients wanted, Air. It was the first shoe out on the market with air in the sole. Following the marketing targeting set at this point propelled them ahead of their competitors. To stay ahead of the game the implementation of the four P’s is the next tool to evolve business plan. The four P’s that come from the widely used â€Å"marketing mix† developed in the 60’s includes production, price, place and promotion. â€Å"Product: The combination of tangible goods, services, and beliefs offered at a specific price. † To stay on the breaking edge of athletic gear with rivals on your heels they have to produce a â€Å"product† that reaches the masses. The creations did just that, they made it tangible for all with a specific price. â€Å"Price: The amount of money or other consideration a customer must exchange for the offering. † Nikes merchandise because it was ahead of others cost a little more. At the same time they could justify their cost due to the fact the merchandise operated better than anyone else’s. â€Å"Place: The strategy by which a company gets the right goods in the right quantity to the right place. † Because Phil and Bill both had roots on the west coast mainly Oregon, this is where the perfect place to offer the product out of was. Now, a global sensation you can get it from any corner of the world. â€Å"Promotion: The advertising and selling activity a company undertakes to create demand for the offering . † The only real way to endorse this type of product is to show the benefits in different people that use it. This not only sums up the four P’s but gives examples of how it applies to this enterprise. While putting all of these aspects together there has to be a way to track certain trends to be more productive. This can be done by customer relationship management or CRM system. CRM is a good tool to utilize once your product has hit the market. This system tracks the companies’ relationship with the purchaser. The data collected will be from sale and overall marketing . Some items that might be pulled from this information are demographics of the individual buying an item. This is so important to direct and promote ads to those that will actually be utilizing them. When I got my first pair of Nike shoes I was stoked. They were everything that I wanted and more. I was fast to show them to my friends. At that point I would have done anything that Nike asked me to (I was a typical kid). Inside the box was a card and at the time I did not understand what it for. It had questions on it like race, age, sports that I played in at school level†¦etc. This was there way of finding out who is buying their goods. Some places will add in rewards or freebies to get their customer feedback. This information can also give feedback on when to promote certain items so that there will be a larger return. Now that all the information is being tracked and fixed, we can now see how it does abroad. In the 90’s Nike wanted to figure out how to reach an even larger fan base. Soccer was the ticket to gain that popularity not only in one country but almost every country in the world. At the point of taking production to another country the process of building customer value and marketing kind of starts over. Knowing this Nike took players from the World Cup-winning Brazilian National team. They redesigned the uniforms and pulled in some US teams as well . This organization could go a little farther by endorsing other sports as well. One of the most important things about going into other countries with this appeal line is to see what effects it has on the area. From â€Å"Principles of Marketing† by â€Å"White† there are a couple of things that affect the marketing environment. The acts that affect the environment are actors and forces . They both exist in two different categories Micro environment and Macro environment. In Micro-environment actors are individuals like: stockholders, board members, competitors, public, and customers . In this category there are also forces which include: Strategic moves by, competitors, Channel partners, Changes in consumer behavior . Macro- environment deals actors with leaders in Culture/society, Politic, Economics, Technology development, Finance and Law . Forces in Macro-environment are; globalization, Technology and media . Let’s see how this looks with Nike. If Nike is to be a success in other countries they have to know how they are going to affect the environment where they go. They also need to know how other countries can affect them. An example of this would be in the Middle East females are not treated as equals. Therefore it would not be a good idea to start up only female sporting lines there. Another example of how they could be affected by the environment is the culture is different that the US, some countries that would use their product cannot afford American prices. This would cause a new marketing scheme. A good place to start is checking the CRM to see what trends these cultures prefer. So currently who is Nike’s biggest byer? Nike hits such a wide range of sports, from their start in track, to sponsoring golfer Eldrick â€Å"Tiger† Woods. Almost every sport today has some kind of influence from Nike. The largest in today’s market is probably the NFL. The National football league has just signed up Nike to create some new gear for this 2012 – 2013 season. The great thing about Nike is it now has sister labels that produce more than just athletic products. â€Å"A significant event in Cole Haan’s timelines happened in 1988 when Nike acquired Cole Haan . Thence, international flagship stores and more outlets opened making the reach to influence the use of quality and fashionable footwear become broader and wider . † â€Å"Then the technology of Nike Air was incorporated in the design of women’s shoes which made a mark on Cole Haan’s emphasis on providing comfort and protection not only for men but also for women. This was the first at that time and the demand for Cole Haan shoes continued to rise . † Nike seems to be unstoppable but they are only a small percentage of the market. There are so many different shoe companies out there today. If an individual can get it in the States they can get overseas via the internet. A few brands that compete with Nike are: Reebok, Adidas, Asics, and New balance. But they are not close to the company that distributes to over 170 countries. Unfortunately although Nike from the stand point of business is a great company they have a dark side also. Ethics is gaining power in the business world. People are tired of seeing cooperation’s destroy morale of the world and marketing is no different. There is a responsibility to the public to give honest communications and things that are not going further corrupt children mind. A lot of marketers will play to children’s weaknesses. Rebecca Clay wrote an article on advertising to children. The article goes on to explain that children’s psyches are not to the level to decipher fact from fiction. This weakness is exploded and ads well over load kids with ideas of toys and games that they do not need nor should they have. One case of unethical marketing goes deeper than what we can see. It was what was going on behind the curtains. According to† Mail Online† that put out an article on Nike, about the treatment in the converse factory . They continue on to say that the employees are under paid, making around 50 cents an hour. Terminology such as; dog or pig from supervisors are thrown around in a derogatory way. This is a decade after Nike came under fire for their child labor seat shops in Indonesia. Should something be done to this marketing tycoon? Some kind of apology should come to the public not only in America but to the world. This is part of their obligation to the society has a whole. As kids we can be drawn into many different that catch our attention. Mine, like many juveniles was following the dream of growing up to become a professional athlete. It was the lifestyle at the time that seemed effort less. Nike open my eyes to this more than probably any other brand. The slogan† Just do It† was what I needed to pursue my goals. For a while it felt as though they were not just talking about sports but life who knows maybe they are. Whatever it may be there marketing plan from the start of the back of a trunk; to multibillion dollar cooperation is one of the best. Going through the marketing world with Nike we covered the following: customer value, promotional items, marketing’s four p’s of the marketing mix, the segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) approach to market the product, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), environmental trends, the largest customer base, its competitors, and ethical marketing for this corporation both stateside and overseas. References: (n. d. ). Clay, R. A. (2000, September). Advertising to children is it ehtical. Retrieved Jan 11, 2013, from American Phychological Association: http://www. apa. org/monitor/sep00/advertising. aspx Fripp, G. (2012). .segmentationstudyguide. Retrieved Jan 14, 2013, from www. segmentationstudyguide. com Reporter, D. M. (2011, July 13). Mail Online. Retrieved Jan 13, 2013, from daily mail: http://www. dailymail. co. uk/news/article-2014325/Nike-workers-kicked-slapped-verbally-abused-factories-making-Converse-line-Indonesia. html uknown. (2011). History & Heritage . Retrieved 01 10, 2013, from Nike, inc : http://nikeinc. com/pages/history-heritage unknown. (2013). A History of Cole Haan. Retrieved jan 13, 2013, from Shoe metro delivering sole satisfaction: http://www. shoemetro. com/t-history-of-cole-haan. aspx unknown. (2013, jan 13). Forbes: profile and News. Retrieved Jan 2013, 2013, from Forbes. com: http://www. forbes. com/companies/nike/ White, S. (2012). Principles of Marketing. San Diego: Bridgepoint Education,inc.

Desegregation and the Future Essay

The civil rights movement was one of the most pivotal periods in United States history, and Martin Luther King was one of the most influential. In Martin Luther King’s speech, â€Å"Segregation and the Future†, to convey the theme of freedom he uses rhetorical devices such as repetition and metaphors. In his speech, the use of repetition was used to better convey his points and to let the audience know what he wants with clarity. An example of this repetition is when he repeats the word, â€Å"leaders†. His use of repetition for the word leaders was to remind the National Committee of Rural Schools that they are supposed to lead with a purpose and that purpose according to Martin Luther King was to better educate both white and black students with equal treatment. He wants the leaders of the committee to lead others in a better way of thinking, and to stray from current ideas that infringe on the rights of African Americans. Another example of repetition in his speech is his use of the words, â€Å"not the way†. He wants the audience to know he views would impede upon their cause. He lists violence, hate and bitterness as things that are, â€Å"not the way† to help with their cause. The second prominent rhetorical device that Martin Luther King used were metaphors. One example of a metaphor that coveys the theme of freedom is when compares a, â€Å"festering sore† to segregation. Martin Luther King’s comparison shows his contempt for segregation and how freedom is always the better choice. Comparisons to negative objects or situations, put things like segregation into a more personal and more understandable meaning, making this metaphor powerful. A second example of King’s use of metaphor is his comparison of the Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board to a â€Å"joyous daybreak† that ended the â€Å"long night of human captivity†. Martin Luther King uses this comparison to show how momentous this Supreme Court decision was. The Supreme Court ruled that segregation in schools was unconstitional, became a huge step toward equality and Martin Luther’s comparison shows this. Martin Luther King’s use of repetition and metaphors makes his speeches more inspiring and more emotional to others. Without his use of rhetorical  devices, his speeches would fall on deaf ears and wouldn’t have caused a movement toward equality. His use of repetition and metaphors in this speech better display his themes of freedom and have inspired America for years to come.

Leading and managing people Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Leading and managing people - Essay Example The bar and restaurant supervisor in consultation with manager should take pro active role in identification of right candidate for bar and restaurant service. In addition to the technical attributes, the candidates moral character and other legal aspects have to be well verified so that the bar and restaurant supervisor wouldn’t face any problem in future. The most pre requisite for any bar and restaurant supervisor will be to maintain balanced coordination between his up line and down line. He must update the manager about the daily progress and must make his team members follow the same in reporting the progress they make every day. This will facilitate building winning teams in terms of customer relations and customer satisfaction. This would certainly ensure the customer repetitiveness and hence would have the potential to boost up the bar and restaurant sales. He must take enough care in upgrading the skills and knowledge of bar and restaurant members for providing valuable customer service. They may be properly trained through some well designed training programmes. Identify the motivational factors and try to inculcate the same to achieve the defined goals. Each member of bar and restaurant must be well aware about their specific roles in providing unique customer service. The customer expectations in terms of staff relationshi p and service have to be fulfilled. Several times, the situation may force the bar and restaurant team members to take their independent and sudden decisions and hence they have to be trained accordingly to meet the demand of the valued customers. As a bar and restaurant supervisor, he has to thoroughly understand about the various theories and styles of leadership. Hence he has to be upgraded with these skills through extensive inductive training programmes. At the same time, he should also understand the expectations of bar

Technology in Education Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Technology in Education - Research Paper Example PDAs vs. hard form books: Portable digital document devices are part of schools, colleges, universities, libraries. People sit in cafes, parks, travel in metros and have this digital device that contains many books in them. It has added to the economy aspect as well, for example large number of books are available online now which were not in past and people had to pay for it or go to markets to get them, with so many books available online, mere download enables books in your digital device, and they don’t even cost anything in terms of the digital memory, being thin on resources in terms of digital consumption, these books consume merely a few kilobytes or megabytes of space which has become an irrelevant term in modern times considering how much of space and capacity has been created in the computers in present day. Diplomas, certifications and courses are conducted online. Video conferencing is a gift of technology and is largely used in educational sector, not just in the domain of students but also for the organizers and top heads of educational departments all over. The manner in which education is being spread has also changed as a result of technology. More than hard form of educational resources, it is the soft form of educational content that is in practice and business. E- Libraries have over taken the conventional libraries. Note books have been replaced by the digital note books. Tablets, laptops, mini computers, desktops, mobile phones, portable readers, electronic readers, all are depictive of the digital sources which are used for educational purposes. For example specially designated and designed digital equipment has been introduced for a specific purpose of educational imparting. This device comes in form of a... It is stated that the mankind has explored many ways for its comfort. It has been a continuous process and it has been achieved in steps with improvement from one phase to another. Technology has changed the outlook of our entire life, the entire pattern of how we go about things, how things are perceived, how they are adopted and accepted. Communication is being performed through it, which is an essential tool of technology. This tool has been put into effect in different disciplines of life, and education is one of them. Technology and communication, that were both analyzed in this essay have been brought together to facilitate the purpose of modern and quality education and it has been put to good effect in many zones. While education has been a continuous quest, and it is through education that these changes and developments have been made, yet education too has undergone the modes in which it can be acquired. In conclusion, the researcher states that technology is bound to incre ase the spread of education in times ahead, at the same time it would open more dimensions of educational ease and spread in all parts of the world. It is also mentioned that although libraries look more deserted now, yet it is the omnipresence of technology that is more dominant. With every day advancements in informational technological field, one can only guess what would be the future outlook, but one can for sure say that it is the betterment of education that will come along it as the technology and science proceed.

Supply Chain Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Supply Chain Management - Research Paper Example Each member of the group was assign to a particular subject to work on. We wanted to start things of quickly as our experience from last year showed us that it is usually left for the last minute. To start with I was personally rather fortunate since my group was rather organised and from the start we did not have any 'no shows' or any attendance problems. We did not have an obvious leader within the team and all tried to put an equal amount of work and effort and I believe we managed to achieve this rather smoothly. In all, I felt we managed to work very effectively as a team and all members were contributing and involved in work. We decided to divide our analysis and assign a letter to one person, to research and draw out the main points. I for my part was responsible for hurdles of supply chain aspects which I believe were not that crucial to the analysis and thus I chose to look at two aspects, not just one. We all were developing our power point presentation and the report all together, more towards the end I tried to make sure that the slides were friendly looking and put all together. I am also one of the presenters since most of our members were not very keen on presenting; I decided to do this as I believe it to be a rather challenging but interesting part of the project. Personally, the field trip was quite interesting and wonderful. ... A hand on experience on supply chain activities in a real life situation is examined. While I was doing the research, every member of my group seemed organized and enthusiastic about the project, I felt comfortable working with them. Everyone managed to complete what they were supposed to do and the project was completed with no trouble. I decided not to present, as other members' language seemed more fluent and smooth. Student 4: I have spent a lot of time reading on the topic and done a lot of general research, consequently I could contribute some points to each section of the report. Along with country analysis we all have done some Experience and industry research to be able to evaluate the strategy for the company in relation to its potential entry supply chain theoretical framework. I was also actively taking part in presentation and report preparation contributing many improvement ideas, some of which have been used (Power Point slides' background colours). I was the person coordinating the work of my group. I was sending e-mails informing all members about the progress we were making and plans for upcoming meetings. I was keeping the attendance sheet from all the seminars, lecture workshops and group meetings. Additionally I always tried to make sure we comply with all the requirements of the course (regarding the presentation and the report). I think that the group meetings lacked a clear goal at the start but after the third week we had more regular meetings and a greater work ethic as a team. We had not appointed a leader at the start, which would have probably been best. One member of the group took charge by organising meetings, keeping us informed and generally pointing us in the right direction.

Value of Planning in the Urban Development Essay - 2

Value of Planning in the Urban Development - Essay Example Traditionally, planning concentrated on improving the physical conditions of the houses and streets with response to prevailing circumstances whereby this contrasted with the new aspects of urban planning. City planning process is highly a complex matter, as it must put into account characteristics together with the long-range welfare of people of that particular urban area or city (Barney, 2006). It follows a systematic process that involves series of studies and surveys, land-use development plan, transportation system plan, budget preparation, not forgetting that it has to receive a unified master plan approval from several agencies or legislative bodies. The history of urban development is a controversial subject in the States. Many planners at the beginning of 19th century used to consider total costs of urban planning as opposed to its benefits and this drew a very different picture. However, as time went by, urban community planning took a turning point with a progressive approach where planners concentrated on maximizing the difference between costs and benefits and did not necessarily consider minimizing costs. This was in response to the fact that minimizing costs and at the same time minimizing benefits was of no value, not to the planners nor the country. The history of America reveals that American cities increased and expanded in the early decades of the 19th century. Due to their expansion, geography born rise to city planning as most of the vital roads by then existed for two centuries earlier. As a result, they winded up in erratic areas in local ways and around topographic areas. Afterward, the presence of equipment for construction permitted straighter roads hence planners persisted in establishing a good framework for developing the urban community transportation network (Weiner, 2008).  

Xala by Sembene Ousmane Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Xala by Sembene Ousmane - Essay Example â€Å"Xala† articulates the emerging African world, freed from the rule by France. Once the colonial powers exploited the African people; now it is the turn of the rich and the influential to continue with that legacy. The protagonist in the novel El Hadji Abdou Kader Beye is an associate of the forum of businessmen of the country who have joined together to take charge of the country’s economy and apparently to check the inflow of foreign capital. That was just a superficial act. Such businessmen were hand in glove with the foreign businessmen even after the country attained independence. Their disposition was only for public consumption and to mislead the gullible people of the country. The newly formed coterie, of which El Hadji was involved, used approaches and principles identical to that of the colonial businessmen whose place they had occupied. For aggrandizement of power and wealth, they employed corrupt and dubious methods. The colonial powers had left behind t hem a poor Senegalese economy with weak infrastructure. The societal norms were still guided on non-traditional lines with unequal relationships between the two genders. El Hadji intelligently clubs the tenets of Islam to his business goals. Means are of no consequence to him for profiteering and being a Muslim, his status symbol is the number of wives he owns and their palatial houses. His manipulation of the tenets of Islam does not yield good results in the long run and the law of divine retribution works to undo his ill-gotten wealth. The author has something stunning to reveal about the male/female relationships in the country where majority of the people practice Islam. Muslim women are not powerless, as articulated by the Western scholars and sociologists, but while remaining within the four walls of the house, they exercise power in their unique style and dominate men. The gender relations El Hadji’s wives are not quiet and submissive women. The author also introduces another strong woman, Yay Bineta. El Hadji’s third marriage transpires not because he wants it, but on account of the guile of Yay Bineta. El Hadji submits to her manipulations and is compelled to accept her judgment into marrying. The author writes, she "did battle with [El Hadji] in the ancient, allegorical language preserved by custom."(7) During the arguments and counterarguments her feminine viciousness and biting language is liberally employed and she chides him that he is scared of women. His bravado is just an exhibition for showing to the outside world and she castigates him that his wives wear trousers within the house. Such observations must have hurt the ego of El Hadji. Thus the author succinctly argues that the Muslim men in Senegal are the tools in the hands of their wives and they dance to their tunes. Women in Muslim families are generally figured out as humble servants confined to the four walls of the house and they have no freedom whatsoever. They may be restricted when they go out of house on special occasions accompanied by husband or any other male member, but inside the house their rule prevails. The depiction by the western historians is faulty and women are not meek and obedient. El Haldji commands his wives, but their reactions cannot be taken for granted. His wife number two, Oumi N†Doye is a skillful manipulator and she has perfected the art of torturing him mentally and gets her demands fulfilled from him. El Haldji is just the supporter of the three families and he does not enjoy their genuine affection and his bunch of children invariably greets him to demand money. His energies are spent in managing his business and more so his families. When in the end he suffers losses in business his wives desert him. His wife number one stays with him till the end. By depicting the life of El Haldji, the author depicts the societal conditions