NIKE SPRINTS AHEAD OF COMPETITION, YET HAS A LONG WAY TO RUN

The Nike family is a fairly vast enterprise. IT operate on six continents.

Nike began exploring the Nike Max Sight technology in 1997, conducting an initial clinical project, then subsequent research projects using collegiate athletes.

Separate business units within the Nike brand include The Jordan/Jumpman 23 brand and Nike Golf.

The diversity inherent in such size is helping Nike evolve its role as a global company

It has a distribution network of over 1,500 retail stores and 27 wholesale

Nike partnered with Hurley International, a premium teen lifestyle brand founded by 20-year industry veteran Bob Hurley based in Costa Mesa, California.

In 2003, Nike completed the acquisition of Converse, the globally recognized footwear brand with nearly a century of sports heritage, and home of the perennially popular Chuck Taylor All-Star and Jack Purcell footwear.

In August 2004, Nike created the Exeter Brands Group, a wholly owned subsidiary, dedicated to building athletic footwear and apparel brands for the value retail channel.

As on December 31, 2006, the Canadian parent had a 51 per cent stake while institutional holding was about 13 per cent.

Nike India has said that it’s Faridabad and Mokamehghat units are being taken over by Fashion Shoe Private Ltd and BDCL Enterprises Pvt Ltd, respectively.

Q1. Should Nike switch from a focus on celebrities to a focus on its products in its advertising? Discuss the role of marketing research in helping Nike management make this decision. What kind of research should be undertaken?

MR can help NIKE understand

The composition of the market and determine the best way to segment the market.

Decision making process of the consumers.

To what extent are consumers affected by the brand image and how important are celebrities in fostering the image.

To what extent are consumers influenced by product characteristics.

Who are the consumers that that are concerned about product characteristics.

Exploratory research can be done to gain a basic understanding of such issues followed by descriptive research in form of a single-sectional survey.

Q2. How would you describe the buying behavior of consumers with respect to athletic footwear ?

There appear to be 2 segments One concerned with the image of the brand of

shoesOther that focus on product characteristics.

Image segment is more influenced by celebrity endorsement .

Other segment considers product characteristics.

Q3. What is the management decision problem facing Nike as it attempts to retain its leadership position?

What Nike should do to retain its Leadership position in the US athletic footwear market?

Q4. Define the marketing research problem facing Nike , given the management decision problem you have identified.Determine the role that product

characteristics, image, and other factors play in influential consumers choice of shoe brand

What is the market share of NIKE and its competitors.

What are the demographic and psychographic characteristics of consumers who are concerned with the image.

What are the demographic and psychographic characteristics of consumers who are concerned with the product characteristics.

Q5. Develop two suitable research Questions and formulate two hypotheses for each?What is the lifestyle of

consumers who are image sensitive.

Ho-consumers who are image sensitive are young and active

H1- consumers who purchase athletic footwear are not price sensitive.

What I the lifestyle of typical NIKE consumer.

Ho-typical NIKE consumer is young an independent

H1-typical NIKE consumer watches sport on television.

Q6. How can the Internet be used to help Nike in conducting marketing research and in marketing its products

Internet survey can be done asking the recommendation from the consumers

The product innovation idea, new strategies, any demerit of the existing product can be asked through E-mails, websites, Questionnaire .

Through internet the responses could be much faster and the rate of error can be much lesser

Contd..

Users can experiment with hundreds of possible color combinations for their shoes, and also lets them add personal identification marks on their shoes. Using this data input Nike can personalize and customize shoes for its consumers. 

A small questionnaire could be asked to fill after each purchase on web.

Attractive website designing could also be helpful, with the help of some web designers.

Thank you