Comparison and Evaluation of Nike and Adidas Competitive Strategies

Market Regions

According to the reports from Market Watch New York, Nike Company opted to move its operations into six regions; Western Europe, Great China, North America, Eastern Europe, Japan, and the upcoming markets like Beaverton (Liu, 2021, p. 799). The move was to catalyze and enhance its profit base due to the high demand for Nike products in Eastern Europe and China markets. Restructuring geographical locations are to promote connection with most local consumers. The firm’s operation is targeting emerging markets like Australia, India, Korea, and Brazil. The region of Great China contains countries like Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong.

Adidas, on the other hand, has markets in Asian countries, North America, Europe, Latin America, and Russia (HoltbrĂĽgge, 2017, p. 19). The main market focus of Adidas products in cities following the big and growing influence of the population within large cities like Paris, Los Angles, Shanghai, New York, London, and Tokyo. The megacities are playing a significant role in influencing the consumers’ perception of the commodities and the choice of buying. Nike is successful because it covers vast regions and has more stores than Adidas.

Market Segmentation

Nike Inc. has four main consumer segments that are, behavioral markets, population structure, psychographic and geographical locations (Sharma, Kaur, & Syan 2021). Based on the behavioral aspect, the firm produces comfortable clothing, footwear, and other desirable sporting equipment that gives the clients a classy lifestyle. On a demographic basis, Nike manufactures its products in consideration of age and gender. According to the psychographic subdivision, the company tends to satisfy its consumers’ needs by offering an array of commodities ranging from Nike shoes to other valuable apparel. Regarding regional segmentation, the corporation has many outlet stores in different parts of the world. Nike produces goods, which align with the way of life and culture of the people in a given location.

Adidas Group has divided its market based on geographical, psychographic, population, and behavioral features of the clients and according to the consumers’ taste and preference. Furthermore, they have a variety of product segments like originals, style, performance, and Neo. Neo brand is majorly targeting the young age group customers of the firm. Performance sub-brand is to provide sports swear for soccer, exercising, and even forming partnerships with football clubs.

Market Target

The main consumer target for Nike is the individuals who undertake regular active exercises and the people who are seeking fashion wear to keep up with the changing trends for clothing. For effective consumer satisfaction, the company has three categories of products, for men, kids, and women whereas, men’s shoe wear includes; gym and exercising, running, soccer, basketball, softball, American football, etc. for children, the firm provides athletic sport wears that is suitable for the kids. Nike has been targeting mainly basketball players over the decades, but of late, it shifted its attention to soccer games to boost market recognition in the football world.

The market target of Adidas is consumers with a strong interest in physical fitness and other sporting activities (Sande, 2019). It also aims at the loyal customers who have been supporting its product for a long time. Of late, their market bull’s eye is on young people of about 13 – 19 age group who participate in games and sports fanatics. It has good popularity with individuals between 45 and 60. The brand aims at people of age group 15 to about 20 for fashion and design. Similarly, the Adidas group has been focusing on tennis and football players.

Market Positioning

Nike understands the need of its customers; therefore, it produces products that suit the need and gives great experience in use. “For serious athletes, Nike gives confidence that provides the perfect shoe for every sport.” The statement influences the decision of participants to buy products from the firm’s stores. The company’s sportswear is also expensive in the market, capturing more attention of the consumers and creating a definite image of the products (Lee, Kim, & Won, 2018). Nike’s strategy of sponsoring celebrities has made it secure a strong commercial image in the market. They employ professional athletes and footballers to help to promote their products by attracting the consumers’ attention, enhancing the need for them to purchase such commodities.

Adidas Group Company has strategized its market positioning through open-source, speed, and megacities. The firm has a well-established delivery approach that makes it distribute the products to the clients where they are and on time when they need them (Senthilkumar & RubanRaja, 2021, p. 340). They offer great services to the main populated cities changing the product perception in the global market trend. Adidas is using marketing mixes like promotions, prices, and places to create an attractive image in the mind of customers. In addition, they use social influencers and other collaboration to aid in marketing their brands in the main world stages like athletics and football games.

Products

Both Nike and Addis offers closely related product with different brands. Nike, including all subsidiaries, develops, advertises, and sells apparel, footwear, fittings, and equipment globally (Matović, Stanić, & Drinić 2019, p.37). It has six classes of product brands, namely, sportswear, football, running, training, Nike basketball, and Jordan type. Products produced by Nike are caps, sports shoes, body care, bags, and perfumes. Nike has been more innovative in developing products that make the users feel safe and free from injuries during sporting events. Adidas, on the other hand, offers products like eyewear, performance shoes, vintage clothing, superstar sneakers, and perfume.

Based on different categories of products offered, Nike is successful following a strong focus to improve and make their accessories and footwear to be more convenient for use depending on the taste of the client. The level of research and creativity with consideration of customers’ needs has made it have vast consumer base than Adidas. Their products are of high quality and enhance optimal enjoyment during athletic performance. They are good at producing unique products in the market.

Online Sales

Both the firms have been using eCommerce platforms to promote the sales of their brands in the market. Adidas and Nike have realized growth and improvement in performance following the initiation of online shopping (Bentejac, 2021). Internet development has promoted substantial cost reduction for both industries. Concerning online sales, both firms are dominating, successful, and they enjoy optimal advantages associated with eCommerce sales and marketing.

In the coming five years, I would recommend the Adidas Group Company to consider focusing their market target on the Asian countries. First, the Asian economy is emerging with a great number of suitable markets for investments. Countries like China and Japan are improving their sporting activities; therefore, it would be appropriate for the firm to have its brands and outlets in those areas (Nuttavuthisit, 2019, p.62). Second, the population structure is favorable as the majorities are young people who value fashion. This could increase the volume of sales for fashion designs. Third, the level of competition is low since few competitors are offering such products in those zones. Lastly, Asia being a growing continent, have various opportunities that Adidas firm can venture and improve to generate high revenue from the market.

Developing new and unique products like basket kits and shoes in the industry will give Adidas a strong competitive advantage, as consumers will be able to access a variety of commodities of their choice (Hosseini, Soltani, & Mehdizadeh, 2018). Making high-quality brands that capture customers’ needs will promote the desire of clients to purchase products made by the company. Uniqueness makes consumers attracted therefore increasing the sales volume of Adidas products.

Demographic Concerns

Adidas should increase its population target based on different age brackets and gender. When it comes to manufacturing the products such as fashion wears, it would be effective if the firm takes into consideration of people of all age groups since there is no age limit for fashion, allowing many people to be able to buy the products. Based on gender, they should design sport wears that increase comfortability while in action for both males and females.

Lowering Prices

The firm should design a proper price mechanism that will enable its customers to comfortably purchase the products (Jindal & Aribarg, 2021, p. 325). Affordable prices attract a large section of consumers hence raising sales. By taking into consideration the price range of a related firm like Nike, Adidas can slightly lower its product cost to lure more consumers. The higher the number of customers, the more revenue it will get from the sales.

Consumers’ Behavior

The success of every enterprise depends on the customer relationship. Adidas should ensure it offers the best services and products that bring a high level of satisfaction to the customers (Ahrholdt, Gudergan, & Ringle, 2019). They should also pay keen attention to changes in the taste and desires of the target population. Meeting the needs of clients creates trust and loyalty between the parties and then makes the firm have a good image and strong positioning in the mind of consumers.

Reference List

Ahrholdt, D.C., Gudergan, S.P. and Ringle, C.M., (2019) Enhancing loyalty: When improving consumer satisfaction and delight matters. Journal of business research, 94, pp.18-27.

Bentejac, L., (2021) The impact of new technologies on online sales. Web.

HoltbrĂĽgge, D. and Schuster, T., (2017) The Internationalization Strategy of Adidas. The Internationalization of Firms. Case Studies from the NĂĽrnberg Metropolitan Region, p.19.

Hosseini, A.S., Soltani, S. and Mehdizadeh, M., (2018) Competitive advantage and its impact on new product development strategy (Case study: Toos Nirro technical firm). Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 4(2), p.17.

Jindal, P. and Aribarg, A., (2021) The Importance of Price Beliefs in Consumer Search. Journal of Marketing Research, 58(2), pp.321-342.

Lee, J.L., Kim, Y. and Won, J., (2018) Sports brand positioning: Positioning congruence and consumer perceptions toward brands. International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship.

Liu, X., (2021) NIKE’s General Company Analysis Based on It 2020 Annual Report. In 6th International Conference on Financial Innovation and Economic Development (ICFIED 2021) (pp. 799-803). Atlantis Press.

Matović, V., Stanić, M. and Drinić, I., (2019) Impact branding on consumer preference towards buying a certain product: Comparative analysis of brands Nike and Adidas. Ekonomika, 65(3), pp.35-44.

Nuttavuthisit, K., (2019) The Asian Market as Research Context. In Qualitative Consumer and Marketing Research (pp. 51-82). Springer, Singapore.

Sande, A.V.D., (2019) Influence of Celebrity Athletes on the Sportswear Industry: An analysis of influencers’ impact on Nike and Adidas brand image (Doctoral dissertation). Web.

Senthilkumar, R. and RubanRaja, B., (2021) Brand Positioning and Segmentation of Sneakers through Multi-Dimensional Customer Experience Analysis. Journal of Scientific Research, 13(2), pp.335-345.

Sharma, R.R., Kaur, T. and Syan, A.S., (2021) Market Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning. In Sustainability Marketing. Emerald Publishing Limited.

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