Introduction
The company’s marketing development plan is an important tool for achieving the company’s goals. It implies the development of specialized steps that will help increase profits and provide for possible difficulties in the development of the organization. This approach also helps to reduce possible costs and will help to take a competitive position in the market. Adhering to the marketing plan of the company, it is possible to predict the outcomes of its activities and subsequently evaluate the results of the work done. An integrated approach in this case increases the efficiency of the organization. In this paper, the marketing plan of the world-famous Nike company is considered to provide information for analyzing the productivity of its activities and identifying competitive advantages.
Introduction of the Company
Nike is a well-known brand that produces and sells sportswear and shoes around the world. The company originated in the United States of America and quickly gained worldwide popularity. Interbrands concludes that the value of the brand in 2021 is $42.538 billion (“Nike”, n.d.). The company occupies a leading position in the sporting goods market, and its main competitor is Adidas. Over the years, Nike has secured its place as a manufacturer of high-quality sportswear and continues to do the same (Pandey, 2017). The company’s advantage is also brought by the constant use of innovative technologies, democratic prices, and constant collaboration with famous personalities such as film and television stars and athletes.
Competitive Analysis
Any company faces a wide variety of competitors when entering a particular market. In the field of sportswear and accessories, this level is very high and many brands either compete in it or unite to become leaders. The main aspect that helps the company to maintain its position under research for such a long time is the improvement of production technologies and an increased level of loyalty and commitment of customers around the world. The main companies that can compete with Nike for first place in the sports market are Adidas and Puma.
The analysis of the market and the company’s rivals is necessary to make the most balanced and thoughtful decisions. As already mentioned, Nike’s first rival is Adidas. This brand also sells sports equipment, sports equipment, and shoes. Another similarity is that Adidas uses popular faces such as Kanye West and Beyonce in its advertising campaign. Like Nike, Adidas uses various new technologies and environmental initiatives, using organic cotton and not resorting to the use of plastic. Despite such significant collaborations, the company is still somewhat inferior to Nike in its popularity. However, the main disadvantage of the brand under study in front of Adidas is lagging in rapidly developing markets such as China. Nevertheless, Nike has such an advantage over the brand as an effective cost strategy. Thus, the organization reduces its production costs to increase profitability as much as possible or reduce selling prices. This policy helps the company to reduce production costs.
The second rival of Nike is Puma, which positions itself much better than all other competitors. The main difference between Nike is that they mainly produce sports models, upgrading them in every possible way. Puma, in turn, interprets more fashion in its models, which attracts a greater number of diverse customers, giving the company a significant advantage. Nevertheless, both companies use various innovations to develop the most high-quality products, but Nike has a marketing advantage, as it has a unique approach to advertising its products and finds the necessary leverage with the public. At the same time, due to these circumstances, the company has higher prices compared to Puma, which often repels customers, and they prefer rivals. Another marketing advantage of Puma is the frequent provision of discounts and promotions for buyers, which cannot be noted at Nike.
Marketing Strategy
Nike’s marketing strategy is based on such main aspects as the brand itself, a logo called Swoosh, and an advertising slogan. The business is engaged in investing in brand creation through emotional marketing. The company invests a lot of effort into developing new and better products that will meet all the needs of customers and help strengthen its competitive position in the market. A strong tool for achieving customer engagement is the conclusion of partnership agreements with sports celebrities. Among such personalities, Michael Jordan or LeBron James may be noted.
Product
The first important component of any company’s marketing policy is the product. This aspect can be defined as a product that the company puts up for sale. Each product is produced at a specially designated price and it is determined depending on the market, quality, and target segment. The main product of Nike is the development and sale of various lines of sportswear and accessories. The main goal of the brand is the constant introduction of innovations in the creation of its products, the introduction of a unique design, and quality improvement. These aspects bring the company the greatest competitive advantage and bring more profit. The main task is also to develop sports equipment to achieve the highest sports results in the first place. In particular, it is worth noting that Nike applies a product diversification strategy in its activities. This includes the production of not only clothes and shoes, but also sports equipment and accessories. Diversification is central to the product strategy of the company under study.
Place
Nike’s channels of distribution are divided into two main categories. The first is the sale of manufactured products to international markets through wholesalers. The main online retailers for the organization are, for example, Amazon. This is the largest channel for the company, as it distributes its products worldwide. The second way is to sell directly to customers through built-in and factory outlets and a website, which is the most productive (Ampountolas et al., 2019). Comparing distribution channels, direct sales to the target audience provide a higher margin for the company.
Price
The next component of the marketing strategy is the price. This aspect is defined as the amount of money that is set for a certain product or service. Nike bases its pricing strategy on the opinion of its customers and the value of its products. This approach is used to determine the cost of a particular product that customers are willing to pay for it. The most effective company Nike uses a value strategy. Using this method, the brand was able to increase its price range, without resorting to discounts and promotions to attract an audience. Nike aims to produce and provide the highest quality products at the appropriate price. Thus, the best customer experience is ensured. To use this strategy more successfully, special departments conduct a continuous analysis of the sportswear and footwear market and investigate changes in trends among customers.
Promotion
The promotion also occupies a significant place in Nike’s marketing strategy. This phenomenon is a set of specialized actions for communicating a particular product to a potential client of the company. The company under study conducts this activity through various traditional and digital platforms. The main aspects of Nike’s branding are its logo, slogan, and signature sign. Moreover, in its advertising, the company is heavy on the message about the importance of a healthy lifestyle and sports. All this is used in the quality of Internet advertising on various platforms connected with the port, through social networks and influencers, since such promotion has a positive effect on the choice of buyers (Subagyo et al., 2021). Furthermore, the brand resorts to the use of outdoor advertising, such as billboards and digital signage. Lowery states that “Today, outdoor advertising is increasingly seen as a part of experiencing cities, clustered in entertainment districts” (2019, p. 22). Despite the development of Internet technologies and the withering of this method of distributing information about the company’s products, it still brings a significant part of the organization’s profit. Thus, Nike gets the opportunity to reach as many audiences as possible in person and virtually in different demographic and psychographic conditions.
Competitive Advantage
The competitive advantage of a company can be called it’s brand equity. Research shows that “building a strong brand with significant equity provides a host of benefits for firms” (Keller & Brexendorf, 2019, p. 1409). The main components that influence this indicator are the increased level of customer trust and the quality of their service (Dupree, 2020). Moreover, the involvement of the audience in the process of forming the company’s value policy also becomes important. Thus, we can conclude that Nike is a leading sportswear brand because it has created high-level brand equity. Further, Nike is characterized as an organization that has a strong customer orientation and knows all its needs and desires. In addition, the company is constantly conducting research on the constantly changing trends in the sportswear and equipment market. A well-designed marketing policy allows the brand to present the best developments to the market earlier than competitors do. The last companion is important to mention the image of the Nike brand, which retains its reputation for a long time.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that the company has a significant competitive advantage in several aspects at once. As already mentioned, the strategy of innovation of production technologies and product design significantly increases the interest of customers and increases loyalty. Therefore, the distribution of products around the world contributes to gaining an even more committed audience. The weak side is the significantly high price of Nike clothing, shoes, and accessories since not everyone can afford to buy them. However, this price is also justified by the high quality of the goods. Moreover, the audience analysis conducted by the company fully justifies the establishment of such high prices. Finally, the promotion of the company is also its competitive advantage. This is because the brand advertises itself both online and offline. Moreover, he attracts popular personalities from the sports sphere to this process, to whom the public often listens.
References
Ampountolas, A., Shaw, G., & James, S. (2019). The role of social media as a distribution channel for promoting pricing strategies. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 2(1), 75-91. Web.
Dupree, A. R. (2020). The impact of Nike Inc.’s utilization of sustainable business practices in their marketing strategy on brand equity, brand image and brand loyalty. Economics and Business Senior Individualized Projects.
Keller, K. L., & Brexendorf, T. O. (2019). Measuring brand equity. Handbuch MarkenfĂĽhrung, 1409-1439. Web.
Lowery, B. (2019). Outdoor advertising. Interdisciplinary Journal of Signage and Wayfinding, 3(2), 21-28. Web.
Nike. (n.d.). Interbrand. Web.
Pandey, B. C. (2017). Nike Inc-complete analysis: SWOT, PESTLE and marketing strategy. BookRix.
Subagyo, G. E., Rukmini, M., & Limantara, A. D. (2021). The effect of promotion through social media on purchase decision with viral marketing as an intervening variable. Proceedings of the 2nd Borobudur International Symposium on Humanities and Social Sciences. Web.