Introduction
Nike is an American footwear and apparel firm that has global market coverage. The firm operates in a very competitive industry together with other top brands such as Adidas and Puma. Nike has embraced e-marketing as a way of gaining competitive advantage over other market competitors. This move has been beneficial to the firm, as it has witnessed an increment in sales volume. E-marketing has increased the market scope for this firm. This research is focused on analyzing how Nike has adopted e-marketing in its market strategy.
Brick and Moter and E-Marketing used by Nike
Nike has been operating in Brick and Motar market for a very long time. Brick and motar market has been the main market for this firm. However, the management has been keen on using applying modern technologies. This has seen it embrace e-market in the current society.
The management has been advancing in technology, and currently Nike is one of the leading firms in the apparel industry that has advanced in the use of virtual market. The website of Nike is well developed to support e-marketing. However, this is possible in the European and American markets. The firm is yet to capture international markets in countries considered to be less developed in infrastructure. The firm still operates in pure brick and motar markets in African countries and most of the Asian countries.
Brand Image
Brand is one of the most important asset within an organization. Brand is the most important asset that a firm can ever own. With a strong brand, a firm is always assured of growth in the market. Establishing a brand is a complex process that requires the management to convince the market of the quality of the product.
The brand Nike is one of the strongest brands in the market of apparel industry. The market trusts this brand as it has been positioned as a brand that cherishes quality. The management has been able to outsmart other competitors in making this brand very strong. The logo for this brand is a swoosh, as demonstrated below.
Nike Logo
The brand name Nike has been growing consistently over the years. The name has become very popular not only among the athletes, but also with other market segments in the apparel industry. The popularity of this brand has surpassed that of other competing firms such as Adidas and Puma.
In order to reach this position, the management has been keen on endorsements by known celebrities. Nike has been striving to attract the African market. As such, it used Didier Drogba of Ivory Cost in West Africa. This is one of the most celebrated African footballers. The use of this celebrity has helped this firm increase its market share in this region.
The Target Market
In marketing, it is always important to define the target market. This always helps in ensuring that marketers understand the approach they should take in marketing. For Nike, the target market has been the athletes who use their products in their games. However, as it grew, the management realized that the market was going beyond the athletes. Other members of the society who wanted simple sportswear and other casual wear were also visiting their shops. The management had to consider coming up with a strategy that would help capture the new markets. Currently, the management has come up with segmentation approach in its market. Besides the initial segment of the athletes, the firm has segmented its current market on demographical basis.
Competitors
In this industry, Nike is facing serious challenge posed by the increased market competition. Market has become very competitive as new firms come into the market.
The main competitors for this firm in this industry are Puma and Adidas. These firms have established themselves in the market for a very long. Adidas is one of the leading footwear firms in this industry. Both Adidas and Puma are German firms. However, there are many other locals firms operating in this market.
Market Proposition
Market propositioning is one of the important strategies that a firm uses in order to gain competitive advantage. When communicating to the market on the brand image, a firm should choose the most appropriate communication approach. The best approach to communicate this information to the customers will be based on the market segment. When the target market is for the youths, then the most appropriate means of communicating this message is through the social media.
Such social media as Facebook, YouTube, and Tweeter are some of the most relevant social media that can be used. When targeting the general market, mass media can be appropriate. This firm has been using unique selling proposition, making it different from other competitors. The fact that this firm uses the social media in communicating their brand proposition in the market makes it unique.
Updating the Marketing Mix
In the current competitive market, a firm must keep focus on the dynamics that take place. Most of the products of Nike are sold throughout the year. However, there are cases when there are special events like sporting events, the sales would always shoot. During such occasions, the marketing approach would be based on that event. This has enabled Nike come out strongly as a firm with the capacity to meet expectations of the market irrespective of the season.
Design and Creativity of the Website
Many firms are currently embracing online marketing in various industries. For a firm to be competitive, it must be in a position to come up with unique designs that would help it differentiate itself from others. In their websites, this firm has made use of animation in a special way. In their websites, there are different sections for different products, each focusing on a particular product. An animation of a popular athlete winning a race wearing a Nike boots would be used to advertise the shoes. Similarly, it would use an animation of a renowned footballer when advertising a track suite or any other related product. The website has been designed in a way that makes it easy to navigate through. The online store has been arranged in a way that convinces the market that this is the right place to be.
Nike has designed various advertisements in different ways. In order to strengthen their online marketing, the firm has prepared pop-ups in various popular sites such as Yahoo. Although this can be annoying to the viewer who may not need the information at that time, it is helpful to the firm because it acts as a constant reminder to the customers of the existence of the product in the market.
E-commerce
The primary objective of adopting e-commerce is to increase sales within the market. Many scholars have emphasized on the relevance of e-commerce in the current society. Nike has been able to use e-commerce to increase its sales in the market. Although the brick and motar remains the primary approach this firm uses in the market, the firm is embracing e-marketing in order to reach out to the section of the market that cannot be reached by other firms.
One of the best development that this firm has made in the e-market above its competitors is the mobile-strategy. Most of the firms that have applied e-marketing depend on desktops or laptops to support purchase of their products. However, in Nike’s mobile strategy, customers with internet-enabled phones can visit the stores and using their mobile phones and complete their purchase using this gadget. This has given it an advantage over its market competitors.
The marketing management has been working on an approach that can help them personalize their products. Although this this has not been very successful due to variability of the market, the firm has made some success in this approach. The marketing management has been segmenting the market based on various demographical factors and the regions of the customers. In each region, the adverts and sale strategy would be based on consumer behavior in that region. It has also customized its products based on the target market.
As any other firm, Nike has developed terms of service that would help regulate its online operations. These terms explains the relationship between the customer and the firm, and the terms of sale. The firm has also made an effort to address cognitive dissonance among its customers. It has clear channels of communication that helps in addressing any post purchase dissonance that its online customers may have in the process of consuming its products.
Developing Relationship with the Customer
Buzz marketing is a strategy that is becoming relevant in the current society. Nike has been making an effort not only to have a large base of loyal customers, but a community where customers can easily communicate amongst themselves and with the firm. The management has been keen on developing a close relationship with its customers by maintaining constant communication with them.
Nike has been using blogs as a way of maintaining a close relationship with the customers. The firm has adopted a special software that helps it survey the amount of time its customers take when they visit the website, and the products they spend more time viewing. This helps the firm define tastes and preferences of these customers in the market.
In order to attract children and youths, who may be the initiators of a purchase process, the firm has developed free online games for them. In this games, the ‘players’ are ordained in a complete attire of Nike, from the cap, armband, the track and the shoes. This promotes popularity of this brand in the market. The firm has also remained active in the social media such as Facebook, Tweeter, and YouTube among others. This constant communication with the customers helps this firm in maintain close relationship and trust with them.
Mining Data of Outside Purchase
With the special software that the firm has adopted, it is in a position to estimate the volume of products that specific customers, especially organizational customers, make in a season. This way, the firm will be able to detect if such organizational buyers have developed new markets other than Nike.
Given the close relationship maintained through various communication channels, the management can reach to them directly and inquire why they changed their loyalty. This way, any form of mistrust or misunderstanding is addressed with a lot of ease.
In its sales promotions strategy, the management has been using various approaches depending on whether the target customer is on brick and motar market or the online market. For brick and motar markets, the use of loyalty cards has been very common. For online customers, the firm has been using download coupons in order to attract more customers to its products.
Although personal sales in not applicable in the online market, the management has been using sales representative to visit selected customers, especially the organizational buyers in the market. The marketing unit has also designed direct mails that it uses to reach out to the customers with relevant information such as new product release, special sales, news of relevant events in the society such as corporate social responsibility.
The marketing management unit recently came up with a tell-a-friend program where customers are encouraged to share their pleasant experience of using the firm’s products with the friends. Nike uses this approach to encourage viral marketing. Through this strategy, one customer would attract another customer who will in turn invite another. The ultimate aim is to develop a web of loyal customers in the market.
Public Relations
The management of this firm has be keen on maintaining a positive relationship with the market and the public. It has embraced public relations as a way of convincing the market that the firm does not just focus on the profits it stands to get from its operations in this market. The firm has developed public relation unit that helps it address issues relevant to this field. This department also operates in the website of this firm.
In their website, Nike has all the relevant information that anyone may need about the company and its products. The company also uses the page to pass important press release, news and product information. As a way of building its brand, the firm has initiated various philanthropic strategies to help improve its relations with the public. It is important to note that this firm still uses the traditional media (mass media) to reach out for a larger market. This helps in increasing traffic to its website.
SWOT Analysis
Nike operates in a very competitive market. It is faced with a number of challenges, as there are opportunities. In order to improve understanding of this firm, a SWOT analysis given below would be of help.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Company
Nike has some special abilities that can be considered its main strength in the market. The ability of this firm to embrace mobile marketing is a special ability that makes it stand out in the world as one of the few firms with this capacity in this industry. To help it succeed in this industry, this firm has come up with a quality control unit in all its branches in order to ensure that it delivers quality products to the customer.
Ability to deliver quality service to the customer has made it develop a special niche in the market making its products popular across the world. The firm is also one of the first firms that embraced value chain management. Through this, the firm has been able to continue satisfying its customers at a cheaper cost. The ability of this firm to adopt the emerging technologies has been considered as strength by other firms.
Despite the above strengths for this firm, it has some weaknesses that have impeded its growth to a given degree. One of the main concerns that this firm has not addressed properly is the issue of environmental management. The products of this firm are known to be very dangerous to the environment.
This is especially so when it comes to the rubber products of this firm. This firm has been criticized, alongside other firms, for polluting the environment. This firm is yet to come up with a clear structure on how it can manage environmental pollution caused by its wastes around the globe. The firm has claimed that it has been engaging in corporate social responsibility. However, this has not been enough to make the public believe its commitment to a cleaner environment.
Opportunities and Threats
In every industry, there are always opportunities and threats that a firm may come across in the external environment. Various opportunities exist for Nike in its operations in the global market. One of the opportunities that this firm has had is an expansive and unexploited market in the third world countries. Most of the apparel firms have focused their effort on building a large base of loyal customers in the leading economies like the United States and the European markets.
This firm has managed to tap into the emerging markets in African and parts of Asia. The stable economic growth in the major economies means that there is increased opportunity for this firm to increase its sales in such countries as the American markets and the markets in Europe. The emergent of an economically empowered youth around the world is also another opportunity that this firm has been able to exploit.
There are threats that exist in this industry that is worth noting. Technology is probably the main threat that this firm faces in this industry. Nike has used technology to reach its current position.
However, it is a nightmare trying to figure out what some of the competitors can do with this same technology. Another biggest threat that this firm faces is the stiff competition posed by rival firms. This industry is one of the most competitive industries in the world. Any slight mistake by the firm may result in a situation where its market share is taken over by other rival firms.
Recommendations
Nike’s adoption of e-marketing has generally been a success. However, the firm has not used its full potential. The following recommendations can be of benefit to this firm.
- The management should increase the presence of its products in its website.
- The firm should embrace market segmentation and ensure that each market segment is provided with the right products.
- The firm should maintain quality both in its brick and motar, and in its online markets.
- The management should engage more celebrities to help strengthen its brand in the e-market.