Nike Inc. Is An American Sports Brand Company That Was Founded In 1967: Business Management – Marketing Assignment, MU, Ireland

Marketing Proposal – NIKE                         

Company and Sector

Nike Inc. is an American sports brand company that was founded in 1967 by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman. Emerging as one of the most desirable clothing brands for athletes. While being one of the most popular brands for athletes Nike nevertheless expanded its range of products to accessories and apparel like instruments for sports, digital devices, and eyewear being just some of the new lines. Over the 40+ year course of Nikes growth to the top of sporting brands, Phil Knight has existed in the leadership of this company.

Nike was recently named as the “ most important brand in this globe ”. (Powell, M., Jul. 2015).

According to Jacob Shine (2019), Nike is gaining a stronger grip on the global sports apparel market, with a significant lead over its closest competitor Adidas in terms of market share.

Approach to Marketing

 Nikes approach to marketing can be summarised by comparing it to the Galactic approach, meaning, invest heavily in marketing, using emotional advertising that everyone can relate to, offering premium products at premium prices, and selling their products primarily through third-party retail outlets. They promote their vast range of products through Team sponsorship deals, TV advertisements, Social media adverts, and approaching iconic world athletes. Through each tool, Nike can target a global audience and target specific markets through different sports or desired athletic levels. When Co-founder Phil Knight was interviewed for his book ‘Shoe Dog’ he went on to say ‘Life is growth, you grow or you die’. Depicted from this quote we can see Nike’s mission to stay evolving in the market and desire to stay at the pinacol of its sector worldwide.

Nikes worldwide power is evident in an article by (Badenhausen, K. Dec. 2016) where Nike announced a lifelong agreement with Global Giant football star Cristiano Ronaldo. Only the 3^rd lifelong agreement by the company in its history but evident from this is the first in class to be able to approach the global superstars of world sport. It is evident to see from this how Nike uses sports idols to advertise and make products more appealing to sports fans around the world. Nike has been using celebrities to promote its products since the beginning of time.

Nike is vastly recognized for its ‘Swoosh Logo’. The importance of Brand identity through slogans and logos is evident in today’s society where the image is everything.

 Marketing Research Sources

Because I’m fascinated by how Nike Inc. uses direct marketing to reach out to specific audiences and target markets, I’ll be conducting my research on the main Nike Inc. website. It’s easy to see how they keep their ever-growing fan base loyal by visiting their homepage. I’ll also be monitoring their content on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube to get a better understanding of their digital marketing strategy.