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There is no doubt that all companies are targeting to develop loyal relationships with their customers. Clients loyalty is a key factor that determines companys success. As for me as a client, I am a loyal customer of the Nike brand. Considering the fact that I am fond of sport style and comfortable clothes, I like the brand for its style and design. Moreover, one of the most important factors of my choice is the quality of products. Nike produces the clothes and footwear of high quality and out of good raw materials.
I have perception of the Nike brand as a high quality wearing and shoes for doing sports as well as a casual wear. As for the level of loyalty, I choose only this brand for uniform in the gym. I am doing a healthy way of life that is why I attend the gym 3 times a week. Thus, the sport wearing is very important for me and I buy a new form once in half a year only form Nike. As for the casual wear, I am less loyal to Nike clothes, due to the need of different styles. However, all items of casual wear in sport style have been bought from Nike. I consider Adidas Company to be the main competitor of Nike, Inc. Thus, the research paper is aiming a marketing analysis of Nike, Inc. in comparison with its main competitor Adidas.
Nike, Inc. is a considerable player on the world apparel market. The company is a leader in the athletic segment of clothing and foot wear with $28 billion in annual sales. The top management of the company lays the stress on the customers importance. Thus, the segmentation process is an important part of companys strategy. As for the geographic criterion of segmentation, Nike, Inc. is an international company that is presented all over the world. The company has divided the geographic segments into the following regions: North and South America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. It is important to notice that the company used the strategy of differentiation. Nike, Inc. is orienting on the peculiarities of the country or region, for example, due to high popularity of American football in North and South America, there are many items for this type of sport presented in the Nike stores of these countries. On the contrary, England stores have the range of products for rugby and European market is full of clothes for soccer.
From the demographic point of view, Nike, Inc. is targeting all gender groups of all ages. There is a range of clothes for men, women, girls and boys. However, the company mostly targets the market of sporty and active people in the age group from 15 to 45 years old. Analyzing the price level of the companys products, the assumption can be made that Nike, Inc. is targeting the segment with middle and upper middle income level.
The companys logo is Bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. (if you have a body, you are an athlete). Consequently, the company is targeting both professional athletes and people that are not doing sport. However, the common social criterion of the segment is sports style of clothes. Thus, the company is targeting men and women from 15 to 45 years old with middle and upper middle income level and the preferences to sport style of clothes.
Comparing the Nike, Inc. with its main competitor, it is important to say that the companies have many characters in common. Both of them are offering the clothes and shoes for profession athletes, for amatory sportsmen and for casual wear of sport style. Both of them are targeting men and women in the middle age and with middle income level. However, due to the fact that Adidas is a German company, its main target marker is Europe, when the majority of Nike sales are targeted at Northern America.
Nike, Inc. is offering a wide range of products for its clients. The company is dividing the goods into the following groups, shoes, tops and t-shirts, hoodies and pullovers, jackets and vests, pants and tights, shorts, surf and swimwear, accessories and equipment. At the same time, each products group is subdivided into more detailed categories, for example Nike shoes are for the lifestyle, running, basketball, football, soccer, training and gym. Moreover, the company is offering different colors, styles and modifications of the same product.
As for Adidas products strategy, the company is offering three groups of products. They are shoes, clothing and accessories. Each of these categories can be filtered by the gender, age, product category, brand collection and even technology. Thus, both of the companies have rather diversified product range and high quality of service that are applied by the companies in order to satisfy the sport wear product needs of the customers.
The distribution strategies of Nike, Inc. and Adidas have much in common. The companies are selling the products in their own stores that have only the products lines of either Nike or Adidas. In addition, both of the companies are distributing their clothes, shoes and accessories through the intermediaries and retailers. The customers can often see these two brands in the same store of sportswear. There is another distribution channel that is considered to be rather profitable. Both Nike, Inc. and Adidas are trying to develop the cooperation with the private sport teams and even national sport teams of different sports. Thus, distribution strategies of Nike, Inc. and Adidas are very similar.
Nike, Inc. as well as Adidas have set the price level that is oriented on the middle and higher than middle level of income. The average price for the brand shoes varies from $100 to $200 . Thus, the conclusion can be done that Nike, Inc. and Adidas are using the value pricing strategy. The companies are not orienting on the cost of the products, but the key criterion for the price settlement is the perception of the brand by the customer and their attitude to it. The price levels of both brands are higher than their real cost-based price. It is also caused by the fact that the companies have been on the sport market for a long time and their goodwill is rather high.
Promotions strategy is paid especial attention by Nike Company, because it helps to acquire customers attention and their loyalty. The company is uses all communication tools in order to rich each target group. Outdoor TV and internet advertisement, sales promotions and direct marketing are applied by the company in their promotions strategy. However, one of the most effective means of marketing that are used by Nike is public relations development with famous sportsmen. The company has developed cooperation with soccer players Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and basketball star Lebron James. This type of promotion is rather effective, because these sportsmen are famous and have many fans that are the target audience of Nike. On the contrary, Adidas is uses the same marketing means as Nike, although, Adidas is developing business relationships with the sport teams. They are mainly the sponsors of European soccer teams such as Real Madrid.
Thus, both of the companies have an effective marketing strategy that includes all elements of the marketing mix. They manage to create good products, provide effective distribution and price strategy, and at the same time reach many clients and develop loyal relationships with them. As for the marketing strategy improvement, Adidas and Nike need to pay more attention to the public relations development with the video bloggers that view the sport products and give the feedback about them. In such a way, the market share might be increased and the target audience reached more effectively.
Due to the mission statement of Nike, they are positioning the company as a source of inspiration and motivation for athletes and sport people that are reached through providing high quality sport clothes and foot wear. The slogan of Adidas is rather well-known by the customers, it is Everything is possible. In such a way, the company lays the stress on the fact that sport helps people reach their goals and the company is a helper in doing sports.
Thus, taking everything into account, a conclusion can be done that both of the companies are rather strong and competitive on the market. However, in my opinion Nike, Inc. is much more successful in marketing. It manages to persuade the customers more effectively and capture their loyalty. That is why Adidas should launch the actions of marketing strategy improvement. I would recommend Adidas to pay especial attention to the US market with takes a considerable share of the global market. In such a way the company will be able to increase the market share and , consequently, companys profitability.