1. Introduction
In recent years, marketing has become an increasingly important aspect of business operations, and effective marketing strategies are essential for companies looking to succeed in today's competitive market. Nike, a global sportswear brand, is one such company that relies heavily on marketing to maintain its position as a leader in the industry. With a strong brand image and a loyal customer base, Nike has enjoyed significant success over the years. However, the changing market landscape and the emergence of new competitors have made it essential for Nike to continuously evaluate and refine its marketing strategies. This research aims to explore the marketing strategies employed by Nike and provide recommendations for improving its marketing effectiveness. In particular, this study will focus on two key areas: clarifying the brand positioning and transforming the marketing concept. To achieve these objectives, a thorough analysis of Nike's current marketing strategies will be conducted, with a particular focus on the brand's target audience, product offerings, and marketing communications. The study will also examine the marketing strategies of Nike's competitors to provide a comparative analysis of the industry landscape [1].
The sportswear industry has experienced significant growth in recent years, driven by increasing consumer demand for active wear and at leisure clothing. As a result, the industry has become highly competitive, with a growing number of brands vying for market share. In this context, effective marketing strategies have become essential for companies to differentiate themselves from their competitors and connect with their target audience. Nike is one of the most successful and well-known sportswear brands in the world, with a reputation for innovative products and powerful marketing campaigns. However, in recent years, Nike has faced increased competition from new players in the industry, such as Under Armour and Lululemon, as well as from established competitors like Adidas and Puma. These new competitors have introduced innovative product offerings and adopted new marketing strategies that have challenged Nike's dominance in the industry.
The primary objective of this research is to analyze Nike's current marketing strategies and provide recommendations for improving its marketing effectiveness. Specifically, this study will focus on two key areas: Clarifying the brand positioning: The first objective of this research is to explore Nike's brand positioning and provide recommendations for clarifying its brand identity. This will involve analyzing Nike's current target audience, product offerings, and marketing communications to identify areas for improvement. The study will also examine how Nike's competitors position themselves in the market and identify best practices that can be adopted by Nike. Transforming the marketing concept: The second objective of this research is to explore how Nike can transform its marketing concept to better connect with its target audience. This will involve analyzing Nike's current marketing strategies and identifying opportunities for innovation. The study will also examine how Nike's competitors are using new marketing channels and technologies to reach their target audience and identify best practices that can be adopted by Nike. In addition to qualitative research, a quantitative research method will be used to conduct a survey of Nike's target market. The survey will be distributed through online platforms and will collect data on consumers' attitudes towards Nike's marketing strategies, their brand loyalty, and their purchasing behavior. The quantitative data collected will be analyzed using statistical methods to identify any significant correlations or patterns in the data. Finally, the findings from the qualitative and quantitative research will be synthesized and analyzed to draw conclusions about Nike's brand positioning and marketing strategies. The research will aim to identify any areas of improvement for Nike's marketing approach and provide recommendations for future marketing efforts. Overall, the mixed-methods approach used in this research will provide a comprehensive understanding of Nike's marketing strategies and brand positioning, incorporating both consumer perceptions and market trends. The findings from this research will be valuable for Nike's marketing team and could potentially inform future marketing campaigns in the highly competitive athletic apparel industry.
2. Nike’s Information
Nike Inc. is a world-renowned manufacturer and marketer of sporting goods, founded in 1964. The company develops, designs, manufactures and sells a wide range of sporting goods and equipment in a variety of fields, including athletic shoes, sports apparel, sports equipment and accessories [2]. Nike is widely recognized and trusted by consumers around the world for its innovation, quality and brand image. Throughout its history, Nike has launched a series of landmark products and marketing strategies, such as the Air Jordan series of athletic shoes, Just Do It brand advertising and personalized customization service Nike 1D. These initiatives not only provide useful references for the formulation of Nike's future development strategies, but also provide useful references for other companies [3]. As a world-renowned sports brand, Nike has successfully won the favor and recognition of global consumers with its excellent product quality and unique brand image. By 2021, Nike has become one of the most valuable sports brands in the world, with a brand value of over 30 billion dollars. Nike has thousands of retail stores and distributors in the global market, and has made its online sales available through its official website. In the athletic shoes market, Nike has been leading. According to the 2019 market share data, Nike has a 36.2% share of the global athletic shoes market, surpassing its main competitors Adidas (19.9%) and Puma (9.6%). (9.6%). Likewise, Nike holds a significant market share in the global sportswear market. In addition to the consumer market, Nike has a leading position in many sports. For example, in soccer, Nike has been the sponsor of several national soccer teams and has sponsored several World Cup soccer events. In addition, Nike also has a significant influence in the basketball field, and several teams in the NBA league are Nike's sponsors. It can be seen that Nike, as a company with a long history and excellent brand image, has an important market position in the global Van domestic. At the same time, Nike focuses on providing consumers with personalized and customized products and services, and actively uses social media platforms to interact and communicate with consumers in order to win their trust and production love. By building a positive and healthy brand image, the brand is driven to become stronger.
3. Analysis of Marketing Strategies
3.1. Customer
When analyzing Nike's marketing strategy, it becomes evident that the brand places a strong emphasis on meeting the unique requirements of its customers. Nike recognizes the diverse needs and preferences of its customer base and tailors its product offerings accordingly.
Nike offers a wide range of product lines, including running, basketball, soccer, training, sports, and leisure. Each product line features distinct design styles that cater to the individual preferences of various customer segments. By providing a diverse array of options, Nike ensures that customers can find products that align with their specific tastes and activities.
Moreover, Nike understands the importance of after-sales service in enhancing the overall customer experience. The brand goes above and beyond to provide excellent support, including services like home delivery and installation. By offering these convenient services, Nike aims to enhance customer satisfaction and foster loyalty.
Nike's customer-centric approach is further reflected in its commitment to personalized customization. The brand offers various customization options, allowing customers to design their own shoes and apparel. This level of personalization enables customers to create products that are uniquely tailored to their preferences, fostering a sense of ownership and individuality.
In summary, Nike's marketing strategy revolves around understanding and fulfilling the diverse needs of its customers. By offering a wide range of products, providing exceptional after-sales service, and promoting personalized customization, Nike ensures that customers feel valued and satisfied. Additionally, through active engagement on digital platforms, Nike establishes a strong connection with its customers, fostering brand loyalty and driving customer retention [4, 5].
3.2. Cost
In Nike's marketing strategy, high pricing strategy is regarded as an important strategy tool because Nike's products are positioned in the high-end market. However, the cost of this high pricing strategy is relatively high for the average consumer. However, Nike is able to attract consumers' attention by continuously improving the quality of its products and services, as well as customizing its services to consumers' individual needs, and keeping its brand image and social media marketing active. These added values for consumers attract them to pay for high prices with a view to gaining a better product experience and brand image recognition, thus increasing the market share and brand loyalty of Nike's products. Therefore, Nike's success in the high pricing policy path is also based on its development and maintenance of a series of factors that consumers care about and are interested in, in order to be able to gain a foothold in the market.
3.3. Convenient
When examining Nike's marketing strategy, cost considerations play a significant role in shaping the brand's approach to customer satisfaction. Nike understands that customers value affordability and seek products that offer a balance between quality and price. Nike strives to offer products at various price points to cater to a wide range of customers. While the brand's premium product lines may have higher price tags, Nike also provides more affordable options without compromising on quality. This pricing strategy enables Nike to reach a broader customer base and appeal to different segments of the market. Additionally, Nike implements cost-saving measures in its supply chain and production processes. The brand collaborates with manufacturers and suppliers to optimize efficiency, reduce production costs, and maintain competitive pricing. By managing costs effectively, Nike can offer products at competitive prices while ensuring profitability. In conclusion, Nike's marketing strategy takes cost considerations into account by offering a range of products at various price points, optimizing its supply chain and production processes, and leveraging economies of scale. The brand effectively communicates the value it delivers to customers by highlighting the balance between quality, performance, and price. By addressing cost-related factors, Nike aims to meet the diverse needs of its customers while maintaining profitability and market competitiveness.
3.4. Communication
Nike's marketing strategy is known for its innovative and culturally relevant communication methods. One of the key ways the brand has incorporated cultural relevance into its communication is through its product design and marketing campaigns. For example, Nike's release of the Air Jordan 1 model during the Chinese New Year was designed with culturally relevant features, which included Chinese New Year-themed colors and designs. This cultural relevance not only attracts customers but also provides an emotional connection between the brand and its consumers, which helps to increase customer loyalty [6, 7]. Nike's marketing campaigns have also leveraged social media platforms, such as TikTok, to reach a wider audience. The brand has created TikTok challenges, in which users are encouraged to post videos of themselves wearing Nike products while participating in athletic activities. This approach has allowed Nike to effectively target younger audiences, who are known to be highly engaged on social media platforms. Moreover, Nike's communication strategy has been highly focused on empowering and inspiring its customers. The brand's "Just Do It" slogan has become an iconic phrase, inspiring people to take action and pursue their dreams. The brand has also established the Nike Training Club app, which offers a variety of workout programs that are designed to empower and inspire customers to lead a healthy and active lifestyle [8]. In conclusion, Nike's marketing strategy has effectively leveraged the 4C theory, with a focus on convenience and communication. By incorporating innovative product design, multiple sales channels, and culturally relevant marketing campaigns, Nike has established a strong brand reputation and loyal customer base.
4. Suggestions
Firstly, Nike needs to have a clear brand positioning to ensure consistency in its marketing campaigns and messaging. This involves identifying its target audience and tailoring its product design and marketing campaigns to appeal to them. Nike has successfully targeted athletes and sports enthusiasts with its "Just Do It" slogan and product designs that focus on performance and functionality. However, to cater to a wider customer base, Nike can expand its product lines to include lifestyle and fashion products that appeal to casual consumers. This requires a clear brand positioning that maintains Nike's reputation for quality and innovation while also catering to a broader audience. Secondly, Nike should focus on creating more personalized and interactive experiences for customers through digital marketing. Nike has already started implementing this strategy through its Nike Training Club app and Nike Run Club app, which provide customized workouts and training programs to users. However, there is still room for improvement in creating a seamless and personalized customer experience across all digital channels, including social media and e-commerce platforms. Nike can leverage data analytics and artificial intelligence to understand customer preferences and behavior, and tailor its marketing campaigns and product offerings accordingly. By creating a more personalized and interactive experience for customers, Nike can build stronger customer relationships and increase brand loyalty. Thirdly, uphold the concept of innovation and personalization, and improve Nike's brand image and awareness in terms of media promotion, platform cooperation and cooperation with online celebrities. In addition to its own website, social media accounts and traditional media, Nike needs to seek more media cooperation opportunities to expand its brand influence, such as attractive content marketing through various new media platforms; strengthening the interaction with consumers by sharing photos or videos, etc., to enhance consumer engagement and gain their loyalty and identification with the brand. In addition, when choosing to cooperate with some famous netizens and stars, it is recommended to choose to cooperate with different netizens and stars in different markets as much as possible. It is necessary to consider whether the influence of the stars on consumers can match the value of this brand, and whether it can more quickly achieve the purpose of enhancing brand awareness, thus making the Nike brand more approachable, localized and attractive [9,10]. Fourth, it is recommended that targeted localized marketing be carried out. Nike needs to understand more deeply the local culture, social background, and the needs and preferences of local consumers in order to better connect with them and launch products and services in a customized and personalized manner. For example, specialized publicity and promotion programs can be targeted and customized through sporting events, cultural activities and fitness markets to increase brand awareness and sales, etc.
5. Conclusion
In conclusion, this study analyzed Nike's marketing strategies from the perspectives of convenient and communication. The research revealed that Nike's multi-channel sales approach has improved the brand's convenience for customers. Additionally, Nike's cultural advertisements and social media marketing campaigns have helped the brand to effectively communicate with customers and enhance the brand image. However, there is still room for improvement in terms of personalized customer experiences and more targeted marketing campaigns. The significance of this study lies in providing practical suggestions for Nike to enhance its marketing strategies, which can help the brand maintain its competitive edge in the sportswear industry. The findings of this study can also benefit other companies in the industry by providing insights into effective marketing strategies. It is worth noting that this study has some limitations. Firstly, the sample size is limited to a specific geographical region, which may not represent the global market. Secondly, the study focuses only on Nike's marketing strategies, while other factors such as pricing and product quality were not analyzed. Future research can expand the scope of the study to include other factors that affect consumers' purchasing decisions and conduct cross-cultural comparisons to better understand global market trends. Overall, this study provides a valuable contribution to the study of marketing strategies in the sportswear industry.
References
[1]. Flynn, P.: Nike marketing strategy: A company to imitate. Accounting (2015).
[2]. Li, Q.Y.: Nike's marketing strategy in the Chinese market. China Market 20, (2020).
[3]. Chen, Y., Li, Y.P.: Analysis of success factors of sports brand marketing: a case study of Nike. Value Engineering 15(123), (2012).
[4]. Xu, G.Q.: On the marketing strategy of Nike products. China Commerce and Trade (01X), 2(2012).
[5]. Wang, X.: Sports goods marketing innovation from the perspective of experiential marketing -- A case study of Nike. Sports Research and Education 31(4), (2016).
[6]. Liu, Y.: Research on brand advertising appeal based on social media——Taking Nike's social media marketing as an example. Shanghai Normal University, (2014).
[7]. Feng, J.Y., Yu, Y.Z.: Looking for more "light" and "soft" running shoes, Nike's product portfolio strategy. Nonferrous Metal Industry (12), 52 (2003).
[8]. Zhang, B., Zhang, S.X.: The enlightenment research of Nike emotional marketing to Chinese National sports brands. Sports World (next issue) 07, 6-7 (2013).
[9]. Nie, M.: Nike China marketing strategy research. Doctoral dissertation, Dalian University of Technology (2015).
[10]. Wang, X.: Sports goods marketing innovation from the perspective of experiential Marketing -- A case study of Nike. Sports Research and Education 31(4), 4 (2016).
Cite this article
Luo,Z.;Zheng,S. (2023). Analysis on Nike’s Marketing Strategies Based on 4C Theory. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,36,174-179.
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The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
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References
[1]. Flynn, P.: Nike marketing strategy: A company to imitate. Accounting (2015).
[2]. Li, Q.Y.: Nike's marketing strategy in the Chinese market. China Market 20, (2020).
[3]. Chen, Y., Li, Y.P.: Analysis of success factors of sports brand marketing: a case study of Nike. Value Engineering 15(123), (2012).
[4]. Xu, G.Q.: On the marketing strategy of Nike products. China Commerce and Trade (01X), 2(2012).
[5]. Wang, X.: Sports goods marketing innovation from the perspective of experiential marketing -- A case study of Nike. Sports Research and Education 31(4), (2016).
[6]. Liu, Y.: Research on brand advertising appeal based on social media——Taking Nike's social media marketing as an example. Shanghai Normal University, (2014).
[7]. Feng, J.Y., Yu, Y.Z.: Looking for more "light" and "soft" running shoes, Nike's product portfolio strategy. Nonferrous Metal Industry (12), 52 (2003).
[8]. Zhang, B., Zhang, S.X.: The enlightenment research of Nike emotional marketing to Chinese National sports brands. Sports World (next issue) 07, 6-7 (2013).
[9]. Nie, M.: Nike China marketing strategy research. Doctoral dissertation, Dalian University of Technology (2015).
[10]. Wang, X.: Sports goods marketing innovation from the perspective of experiential Marketing -- A case study of Nike. Sports Research and Education 31(4), 4 (2016).