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Blog Post #12 - Promotion

Nike’s promoting and marketing of their products is the main key factor on why they are the leading brand in sports and athletic wear. Some of their forms of promotion that they used to promote their products include:

Social Media: Nike has one of the largest following on all of Instagram with 300 million, along with a large presence on X (Twitter), TikTok, and FaceBook. Nike uses the social media platform effectively to get in touch with its millions of users and to attract new target markets around the world. They have brought huge attention to new markets with the help of running different campaigns through social media.

Advertisement: Nike’s strongest strategy to promote their products is their advertisement. Their partnerships with giant companies such as Apple, have helped increase brand awareness as well as increasing their markets. Most notably however, are their endorsements of mega-star athletes such as Christiano Ronaldo and LeBron James. Their most famous partnership being with basketball icon, Michael Jordan, where the Air Jordan shoe brand came about. This deal is considered the most successful endorsement deal in history. 

Public Relations: Nike’s goal is to keep great relations with their customers, making sure they build brand loyalty and having customers keep returning to their business. They do this by offering services, both in person at their retail stores, or online on their website. Along with launching campaigns catering to specific groups of people, Nike puts forth their top efforts to make all of their customers happy and seen. 

Sponsorships: Endorsements of the top athletes from around the world have increased Nike’s publicity drastically. Sponsorships of major events and teams also help promote their brand image such as the NFL, and professional and national soccer clubs. With endorsing different athletes from all across the world, Nike ensures that their brand image is highly represented everywhere you go. 

Direct Marketing: Direct marketing strategy helps Nike to expand its promotion to target markets. The company uses its new products to attract more customers and to make a bigger impact on the market than its competitors. This company increases loyalty with potential customers through direct marketing policy which will improve customer exposure towards Nike. 

Personal Selling: Nike’s customer experience has enhanced with the help of executing the personal selling strategy. Personalized services played an important role to help the customer find the desired Nike products. The store personnel are well skilled to influence the consumers to buy Nike’s products. Personal selling strategy expedites the purchasing process and, in this way, it will contribute to the company’s financial benefits. 

Promotional Strategy For Nike, by Sadnan Bin Sattar, The Strategy Watch - https://www.thestrategywatch.com/promotional-strategy-nike/

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Blog Post #11

Nike’s distribution channels:

Selling products wholesale to the U.S. and other international markets, which is Nike’s largest distribution channel. 

Direct-to-consumer sales, which include inline and factory retail outlets and e-commerce sales through its website are another form of distribution for the brand. Nike also distributes its products through e-commerce companies like Amazon. Online sales through Nike Direct is the company’s fastest-growing distribution channel.

Nike distributes their products throughout many retail stores that are known for selling shoes or athletic wear. Some of these companies include Foot Locker, JD Sports, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Intersport.

With Nike’s distribution channel, the brand focuses on direct selling to the consumers, such as shown with Nike Direct. This form of distributing to their consumers directly provides Nike with higher margins as opposed to wholesale.

With Nike’s own retail store, they offer premium products to consumers for shopping value. Offering premium products at their own retail stores, they tend to attract higher shopping volume. 

Analyzing Nike's Distribution Channels And Retail Strategy, by Mohit Oberoi, Market Realist (July 25, 2020) https://marketrealist.com/2019/10/analyzing-nikes-distribution-channels-and-retail-strategy/

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Blog Post #10 - Pricing & Trends

Pricing: 

Nike’s pricing is a major key factor that makes this company one of the world’s largest sellers of athletic footwear and separates it from their competitors. Nike implements its pricing strategy based on the product’s understanding and determining which price point will be best for their products. 

Nike uses a value-based pricing strategy in order to set its prices according to the consumer perceptions about the value of the company’s products. Nike focuses on delivering the highest quality products at the right price to ensure the best customer experience. 

Nike runs their business in the oligopolistic market, which is a market structure characterized by a few dominant firms that control a significant portion of the market share. Nike are the price leaders in the sportswear industry. Because of this, the company can determine its product prices, use competitive prices, and set attractive prices for different market segments according to its market dominance. 

With special edition lines of shoe products that Nike offers such as Air Jordan or Air Forces, the company specializes in premium pricing for their brand. Nike sets this pricing strategy for the products which create a high level of brand loyalty and also for its leading-edge technology.

Nike also practices a skimming pricing strategy, where they set higher initial prices for newer products. Similarly to phones or cars, when Nike launches a new shoe, they set the initial price rather high, as it gradually goes down as months go on, and even lower once a newer replacement model follows. By implementing this strategy, Nike tries to skim money from the customers who want the product and are willing to purchase it at that price. After a newly designed product has been out in the market for a while, Nike lowers the price of those products. 

Nike utilizes its pricing strategies successfully both to maximize its profits and emphasize high value in promoting its products. From Nike’s pricing strategies, we can understand that Nike upholds its position as the market leader in the athletic footwear market.

Trends: 

Opportunities: 

The growing demand for health and fitness products represents a substantial opportunity for Nike. As consumers place a higher value on wellness, Nike can expand its product range to cater to this trend.

Threats:

A reduction in demand for health and fitness products would hinder the amount of revenue the Nike brand would make. A trend in economic fluctuation could also make many consumers steer away from the company, in suit for a more affordable option. 

Nike Swot Analysis 2025, by Nina Sheridan, Latterly.org https://www.latterly.org/nike-swot-analysis/

The Pricing Strategy of Nike, The Strategy Watch  https://www.thestrategywatch.com/pricing-strategies-of-nike/

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Blog Post #9 - Services

Nike offers a variety of services for their brand to make the customer experience more convenient. The three services include:

The Nike Performance Stylist: a service where they take any work out of the shopping experience for the customer. They are style experts who work with customers to create looks based on their needs and preference. They help establish the brand as an expert in their field. They also present an opportunity for the brand to introduce customers to different products or a wider range. 

Nike+: Nike provides customer service by encouraging loyal customers to join Nike+, so the brand can build a community of engaged customers. Nike+ users are encouraged to upload their fitness regimes and provide support for others. This fosters a deeper relationship between customers and the brand and, crucially, keeps them coming back.

Twitter/Social Media Service: Nike has one of the strongest customer service accounts on Twitter. They feature a dedicated Twitter account, Team Nike, which provides support seven days a week and in seven languages which include English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Japanese.

What is Nike Product and Service, by Jackie Coleman (August, 25, 2022) Bliss Tulle - https://blisstulle.com/what-is-nike-product-and-services/

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Blog Post #8 - Brand Details

Brand Characteristics of Nike:

Innovative Marketing: Nike’s innovative marketing, such as their most famous slogan “Just Do It,” is very inclusive, as it does not just apply to the lives of athletes, but to the everyday working people. Inclusivity is one of the major factors in the Nike brand that makes it the biggest in their market. Many people can’t relate to actively doing a sport or exercise, but many can relate to the everyday struggle. So implementing a slogan that encourages people to put in their best effort no matter the challenge leaves an impact on a demographic of people that were not a part of the target, which further expands the company's market value.

Quality and Style: Nike strives for the highest quality style that is best functional for athletes. They do this while maintaining a fashionable look, seeking to hit a balance between what the consumers want and having the functional ability that athletes need. Nike builds brand loyalty with its consumers, as they create numerous lines of products that cater to different sports and activities, along with women’s and children's clothing. 

Innovation and Authenticity: With the Nike brand, the main focus for all of their products is their innovation and authenticity. With some of their lines such as the Air Forces or Air Jordan’s, Nike always tries to be the first to push and break boundaries on what is possible for athletic footwear. This demonstrates that the Nike brand strives to be the leader in innovation in their field. Authenticity is another goal that Nike always continues to meet. With advertisement campaigns featuring the top athletes from around the world repping the Nike logo, it sends the message to their consumers that their product is one of the best that money can buy. With these two traits in the Nike products, it offers a larger demand for consumers, along with brand loyalty. 

Audience Focus: As explained in previous posts, the Nike brand excels in their sales. The company makes it really convincing to buy their product, but they make it even easier to actually purchase them. Nike was one of the first brands to implement online shopping and sales, along with investing in digital technology to make the customer experience easier. This innovation caters to the customers wants and needs, allowing them special services that they probably could not get in person, which gives the Nike company more brand loyalty. 

Nike is one of the most popular and most recognized sports and athletics wear in the world. The Nike company is the largest market in their field, as they run with multiple extensive lineups such as Air Jordan, Air Force 1, and Converse. With marketing like no other, the brand has established themselves as the world leading brand is sportswear. Along with products that are inclusive, innovative, and stylish, and the brand having a heavy focus on their audience, it is no secret why the Nike brand has such loyalty with its customers, and why the brand is in the position that it is in today. 

Nike, Inc, by Debbie Carlson, Britannica Money (May 15, 2025) https://www.britannica.com/money/Nike-Inc

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Blog Post #7 - Packaging

The most iconic and modern Nike package is made from recycled and recyclable materials, offer clean, symmetric lines, and are well-known to display the conspicuous tick on a plain orange background. The Nike brand has also been working on innovations to cut down on the amount of cardboard they use within their packaging. Called the “One Box,” the brand’s custom shoe box design, where the Nike team created a durable shipping box with a 51-percent reduction in waste for single online orders regardless of the shoe inside. Nike has also made great efforts, working on making the boxes more durable, preventing damages upon shipping and returns. This design used to cut back on the resources the company uses to create their packaging, helping better the environment while still making sure your package is delivered to your house safely. 

Nike and Their Packaging Pride, Design Packaging and Tapes https://www.designpackagingandtapes.co.za/nike-and-their-packaging-pride/#:~:text=The%20most%20iconic%20and%20modern%20Nike%20package%20is,the%20conspicuous%20tick%20on%20a%20plain%20orange%20background.

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Blog Post #6 - Competition

Nike’s Top 5 Competitors Are?

Adidas: Adidas is a German multinational corporation founded in 1949, and they are Nike’s oldest and most formidable competitor. Adidas is the largest sports manufacturer in Europe and the second-largest globally after Nike, as the two companies compete for market share, mind share, and endorsement deals cutting across all product categories, including footwear, apparel, and equipment. Adidas vs Nike is one of the most iconic rivalries in the business world. 

Under Armour: Founded in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A., the company focuses on innovation, brand building, and expanding its product line. Despite Nike being a significantly larger and more successful brand, Under Armour is a faster-growing company with a more focused niche in the athletic apparel market. 

Puma: The German manufactured sports brand Puma, is the third largest sportswear brand in the world behind Nike and Adidas. The company that has majority of its sales in Europe, the brand’s competition with Nike is pricing, as they offer lower prices for their products, along with special, high-tailored products to favor the wealthier guests. 

New Balance: New Balance is one of Nike’s main competitors in the athletic footwear industry. Unlike the previously mentioned companies, New Balance is a privately owned business from Boston, USA, that specializes in running shoes. Unlike Nike, its nimble size makes it more agile and quickly responds to changing customer needs. New Balance focuses on creating innovative products and developing new technologies for their running shoes. Their commitment to domestic manufacturing helps the company highly price their products that consumers will buy. 

Skechers: The American footwear company founded in 1992 is a major competitor in the athletic footwear industry. While Sketchers is not as big of a brand compared to Nike, the brand does have a competitive advantage as they offer a cost-effective solution for their customers. Skechers also specializes on following and capitalizing on trends, making their competition with Nike in the athletic footwear department intense. Overall, while Nike has a more substantial brand presence, Skechers offers more affordable products.

What is Nike’s Position and Market Share in the Athletic Ware Department?

The position that the Nike brand holds in the athletic wear department is being the leading in marketing/branding and sales. Collaboration with famous athletes from all across the world, catering to all ages and races, along with campaigns and advertisements promoting inclusion and diversity makes The Nike brand one of the biggest figures in their field. In terms of sales, Nike bases its business model on a direct-to-consumer approach. The company designs, develops, markets, and sells its products directly to consumers through its retail stores, e-commerce site, mobile app, and third-party retailers. Its focus on direct-to-consumer sales allows it to control the customer experience better, generate higher margins, and collect valuable customer data.

Nike is the world’s leading athletic footwear, apparel, and equipment company, with an estimated 27.4% market share in the athletic footwear market. Overall, Nike’s competitive strategy focuses on innovation, brand building, and expanding its direct-to-consumer channels.

Nike Competitors Analysis, by John Hughes, The Business Chronicle: https://businesschronicler.com/competitors/nike-competitors-analysis/

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Blog Post #5 - Target Market

Nike’s Target Demographic and Psychographic

Age: Compromises of millennials (ages 26-41) and gen Z (ages 9-25) generations of people. This is because these age groups are more inclined towards fitness and having an active lifestyle. The Nike brand heavily focuses on the age range of 15-45, as those ages generally engage in physical activity more than other ages. Nike has also been catering to the 55+ age range with many using their athletic wear for casual clothing, which adds a significant amount to their market value. 

Gender: Nike markets both men and women for their products. Historically, the male demographic is a major focus for the brand. Recent years saw the company make major pushes to cater towards the female consumers. With ad campaigns featuring some of the greatest female athletes such as “Equality” and “Dream Crazier,” the company has made a major push to expand their target demographic. With women making up 40% of its membership, catering towards that demographic adds a significant amount towards the company's market value. 

Interests: The target audience for Nike is clearly centered around sports, fitness, and an overall active lifestyle. People who are athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and even casual wearers. Types of fitness and sports activity they cater to include, running, Crossfit, yoga, basketball, football, and more. 

Lifestyle & Values: Nike’s marketing campaigns often highlight themes appealing to a socially conscious audience that prioritizes brands with ethical solid positions. Nike’s audience often aligns with lifestyles centered around wellness, sustainability and social consciousness. 

Geographic Diversity: Nike’s target market spans a global audience, with the brand having a strong presence throughout the world. In North America, Nike focuses is mainly urban, capitalizing on metropolitan areas with high population density, where consumers tend to have more significant disposable income and a preference for fitness and athletic culture. In Europe, the company emphasizes urban centers like London and Paris, targeting cosmopolitan consumers who embrace sportswear’s fashion and lifestyle aspects. In Asia, Nike has focused heavily on lifestyle branding, collaborating with local influencers and athletes to reach the middle class, which exhibits a growing interest in fitness and athletic endeavors. In Latin America, Nike’s marketing is influenced by the people’s cultural activities such as soccer, which is the most popular sport in their region. In the Middle East, Nike targets affluent consumers with high-end athletic products, often linking them to luxury lifestyles. Lastly in Africa, Nike uses grassroots marketing and community engagement to promote sports participation among younger demographics.

Incomer Level: Nike’s primary target market is middle- to upper-middle-income consumers. Nike consumer’s average household income ranges between $50,000 to $150,000. More than half (55%) of all consumers that purchase Nike products report to be high-income earners. However, the brand also accommodates their lower-income consumers who prioritize value. 

Education: According to research, a great proportion of Nike’s consumer base is college-education individuals. This target demographic of consumers are more likely to research products, value brand reputation, and seek innovative, high-quality products, all traits that Nike strives to embody.

Urban vs Rural: Nike caterers to the Urban population. Having a higher population density gives the brand the opportunity to be more aggressive with their marketing strategy due to more people and a significantly higher engagement. They do cater to the rural area with hiking sportswear and other outdoor activities.

Overall, the Nike brand caterers to diverse consumers with varying needs and aspirations. This connection has allowed Nike to cultivate a loyal customer base that spans different age groups, backgrounds, and lifestyles, solidifying its impact on the sports and fashion landscapes.

Cites - Nike Target Market Analysis, (May 16, 2025) by Daniel Pereira, The Business Model Analysis: https://businessmodelanalyst.com/nike-target-market/

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Blog Post #4 - Swot

A Swot Analysis assesses both the internal environment with regard to its Strength and Weaknesses and the external environment in terms of its Opportunities and Threats. 

In this post, it will provide an inside look into the Swot Analysis of the Nike Brand, showing its strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, while revealing how the company maintains such a high position in such a competitive market. 

Strengths: 

Brand Recognition: Nike is the leading name in the sportswear industry, which leverages them to have a popularity advantage over their competitors.

Innovative Products: Nike invests into creating newer products and innovations in order to stay ahead of their competitors.

Global Reach: Nike is a worldwide brand, with its stores and products all being available across the world.

Strong Distribution Network: Creates the ability for Nike to have a strong influence in the furthest parts of the world, and not only in its founding country of the United States.

Financial Performance: Nike is one of the most successful companies in the world, generating significant revenue and profit that has only increased as the years go on.

Weakness: 

Labor: There are many criticisms that surround the labor practices for the Nike products. With much of the manufacturing coming from overseas nations, it developed a reputation that Nike exploits cheap labor, in order to make the most profit off of their product as possible. Stories of the low paid workers working in not the best conditions hinder many from purchasing any Nike products out of morality. 

Debt: The Nike company carries significant debt, which puts a strain on the brands financial flexibility. 

Lack of diversification in product: With Nike being a sportswear business, it comes with a lack of being diverse, which comes in handy when certain products or items become trending to the public. 

Pricing: The pricing for some of the brand’s products can be out of reach for many customers. 

Opportunities:

Fitness Growth: Many people are seeking fitness and adding it into their daily routine. With this trend comes a growth in customers for the leading sportswear brand in the world.

Rising Middle Class: Other opportunities for Nike include the rise of the modern middle class, which is a very large target demographic for the Nike brand. 

Innovative Products: Technology improvements and innovations have been seen everywhere, and advances such as performance tracking shoes would add a new wave of tech-savvy customers to their door. 

Collaborations: Nike can reach a lower target audience, by collaborating with newer and younger athletes that Kids know more of, such as Anthony Edwards, Justin Jefferson, and Luka Doncic. 

Threats:

Competition: The sportswear market is very competitive, as Nike has to always innovate and improve in order to stay ahead of the competition. 

Economic Fluctuation: A trend of people buying cheaper products.

Counterfeit Products: A threat of products that look like Nike but are made of much cheaper quality that are being sold to customers.

My recommendation to Nike would be to expand more on their products outside of just sportswear, such as sports or workout equipment. Other recommendations would be to maintain the collaboration with athletes, especially the newer generation. 

https://www.latterly.org/nike-swot-analysis/

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Blog Post #3 - Strategy

Nike has many key differentiators that set them apart from their competitors in the sportswear industry. It lies in its relentless commitment to innovation, exceptional marketing strategies, and an unrivaled ability to tap into the wants and needs of athletes and sneaker heads alike. 

Branding and Marketing: The strongest feature of the Nike brand is its unparalleled brand strength. Their simplistic Nike swoosh is one of the most iconic logos in the world that is recognized worldwide, with their brand being on the backs of the top athletes, celebrities, and influencers from around the world. Nike runs campaigns that are very memorable to their consumers, such as the iconic, “Just Do It!” It was simple, yet inclusive as it could be applied to any area in life. 

Innovations and Sustainability: Nike is the forefront of innovations in foot and sportswear. With focus on research and development, Nike sets the standards for performance and style. A key differentiator from Nike to its competitors is that they are practicing becoming a sustainable company. Nike has focused on creating products with lower environmental impact, as they recognize the importance of minimizing their own carbon footprint. 

Inclusion and Diversity: Nike being a worldwide brand, works to embrace the power of diversity and inclusiveness within their workforce and especially their campaigns. Using athletes from many different backgrounds allows them to celebrate and promote sports and activity to all parts of the world. This gives the brand a diverse customer base, giving them further room to expand. 

Nike is the largest and most successful company in their field of sports clothes and branding and what sets this company up to be different from its competitors is its Marketing strategy.

Overall, Nike’s ability to brand and market themselves on a world wide level, with leading advances in new products, and a diverse customer base is the key differentiator between Nike and its competitors. 

https://www.appgecet.co.in/what-makes-nike-different-from-its-competitors/

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Blog Post #2 - What is Nike?

Nike is a publicly owned company founded in 1964, and is world wide with over 79,000 employees. The Nike brand is a business to consumer market, as they are a product which they specialize in making and selling sports/athletic wear. Founded by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman, the headquarters was established in Beaverton, Oregon, where they adopted the Nike name in 1971. The founders had a concentrated targeting strategy, with having a direct target audience of those who are into athletics. Nike operates in over 190 countries, and has reached an annual sale of about $51.3 Million dollars. This brand focuses a lot on its value, giving customers a “you get what you give” experience, holding a high standard for producing great products. Nike’s mission statement is to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. “If you have a body, you are an athlete.” Nike is a brand that strives for Product Excellence, investing in famous athletes to add more worth to their products, which is what makes them one of the biggest brands in the world. 

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Blog Post #1 - Brand Selection (Nike)

For my brand selection, I chose Nike. I chose this brand because I grew up watching a lot of sports, and Nike is one of if not the most successful sports clothing brands in the world. Nike has a major impact on the western side of the U.S. as it was founded in the state of Eugene, Oregon. Nike has had major success collaborating with athletes, creating iconic shoes such as the Air Jordans. As well as creating other iconic shoe designs such as Air Forces, Air Max, and Nike Zoom. Across the major sports in the U.S. many athletes wear Nike cleats/shoes, Jerseys, sleeves, or other accessories during competition. With many popular athletes wearing the Nike brand, it inspires many young athletes to purchase those products. Overall, I chose this brand as it plays a very major part in the sports world.