Introduction
Among the fundamentals of business success is a good brand creation. The process involves developing a strong brand image and subsequently communicating the brand ID across all media channels that are available. Nike as a brand is at the heart of today’s sporting world manufacturing athletics and sports apparel as well as equipment. Since the conception of the company by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman under a partnership in 1962, the company has grown a lot. The brand has been targeting young males who have consistently been the vital buyers of the company’s footwear (Swan & Zou, 2012; Kaplan & R. W., 2017).
While Reebok has been their main competitor, they have tried to enlarge their niche market in the sporting industry. This has made Nike develop some branding strategies including engaging celebrities to endorse their brand. Some of them include Michael Jordan and Kylie Jenner among others. This has greatly enhanced the marketability of their products. Another reason they have contributed to the tremendous growth of their global market share is aggressive marketing, the creation of new products and production of superior quality products (Ringen, 2018; Nike, 2017: Nike 2018). This has seen their turn over increase significantly, therefore, generating Nike increased revenue. However, since Nike was incepted, it has undergone a lot of transformation that has helped them realize a positive impact, particularly on the male athletes.
Nike Today
The company’s primary business activity has been engaging the design development and global marketing of quality footwear, apparel, equipment and also accessory products. It is among the top producers of quality athletic shoes in the world selling their products via their retail accounts in the US and through their various independent distributors, their subsidiaries and all those who are licensed in other world nations. Since their first slogan “Just Do It,” they have managed to nature some basic standards related to Olympics and sporting ( Lashinsky, 2015: Yong, 2018: Lindzon, 2018).
The brand evolution
Having been founded in 1962, the company was called “Blue Ribbon Sports.” Their primary goal back then was supplying the American consumers with low-cost Japanese port wear while maintaining high quality to break the monopoly that Germany had in that industry. The first shipment was in 1962 whereby 200 shoes were delivered. By 1971, they were already manufacturing soccer shoes of their own leading to the launching of Nike brand bearing a swoosh trademark. Their secret has been producing hi-tech commodities. Presently, this is possible since these technologies are found within the computers. They do design, create and develop the shoes while machines do the work of making the shoes. Besides, the Nike incorporation employs diverse technology which includes acceptance of computer programs on, use of intranet in their headquarters and also the web page that allows customers to conduct sales (Boudway et al., 2017: Expanding The Field, 2018; Butler-Young, 2018).
However, it has not without turbulences as there was a break up between the brand ambassador Tiger Woods and the incorporation in 1972, though a new deal was established with Jordan in 1980 that led to growing and expanding of the company (Nike, 2014; Holmes, & Bernstein, 2004). Currently, their traditional and non-traditional channels go beyond 90 countries, not forgetting that they own factory stores and outlets .additionally, they run websites where consumers can purchase their products. This has seen them create a lot of jobs globally.
The celebrity face of Brand Nike
Endorsement of brand Nike by different celebrities like Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, and lately Kylie Jenner among others have made the brand remain valuable and unique. The decision to collaborate with celebrities is a good strategy since they act as the spokespeople. This put the company in a good market position by generally extending their popular personalities. In the same manner, the ambassadors reflect the social stature as well as their popularity in their expertise areas to the Nike Brand. Also, the personalities create a distinction between other brand and Nike hence attracting a more prominent group of customers. These celebrities are mostly drawn from the youth bracket and particularly males who are assumedly good purchasers of more footwear as compared to other people. Again, the celebrities’ are young and successful to attract their age mates who can identify with them (Segran, 2017; Nike, 2016; Datamonitor, 2012)
Other famous personalities who could be possible endorsers for Nike could be design models as well as professional dancers. This is because such people can fit into the company’s product offering like athletics apparel and sporting footwear. This would make the brand attractive as models attract due to their positive image to the company. The model’s appearances and physical attributes enhance positive memory on the customers of the specified brands (Locke et al., 2007; Datamonitor, 2009).
Conclusion
Nike as a brand has amassed wealth and commanded a significant market share. This is attributed to the significant evolution the brand has been through. Their main target market has-been young males since they are the primary consumers of the company’s footwear. Since competition in the footwear industry is stiff and is ever changing with the change of customer preferences, it can be very challenging for Nike to fail to position itself well in the market. That is why they do not tolerate substitute products. Reebok who is the brand’s primary competitor has also strategically placed themselves to gain a more significant market share.The celebrities’ who endorse for Nike enhances the company’s products marketability hence making the company carry on their celebrity face of the brand regime.
References
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