Nike Brand Marketing
Bret Dougherty, February, 2003
I. Topic Introduction
Nike is a marketing and advertising behemoth not only in the sports marketing world but also in the business and media world today. This research page is to provide a quick glance at the marketing strategies Nike is currently utilizing in the world of brand marketing. With these explorations, I would like to introduce some viewpoints on the trends that Nike is facing in the ever-changing world of athletic footwear marketing in upcoming months.
The questions that I would like to explore are:
What are some changing trends in marketing footwear?
What are some innovative examples of product placement and social marketing by footwear companies that are utilized today? Will this year's influential Supreme Court case of Kasky v. Nike play a changing role in these examples?
My intended audience for this topic are readers of Sports Business Journals, Nike marketing enthusiasts, and "Nike Heads". This research is based out of UNC-Chapel Hill and Davis Library located at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Keywords-
UNC Library Catalog, UNC-CH Libraries
Sport? And Market?
Nike AND Marketing
Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
Nike and Product Placement
Nike and Supreme Court
Advertising and Shoes
Search Engine on Web, http://www.google.com/
Nike and Advertising
Nike and Oregon Project
Nike and Retro Shoes
Nike and Guerilla Marketing
Section II. Books, VideoTapes and CD-ROMs from UNC-CH Libraries
Print Sources
1.) Nike Culture: The Sign of the Swoosh/ Robert Goldman and Stephen Papson.
Location- Davis - Call Number: HF6161.S65 G65 1998
2.) No LOGO: Naomi Klein
Location- Davis- Call Number: HD69.B7 K585 2000
3.) Michael Jordan and the New Global Capitalism: Walter LeFeber
Location- Davis - Call Number: GV884.J67 L34 2002
Print Sources that I can get from the UNC Libraries:
| ADWeek | Park Library ADV - mar .M345 |
| AdBusters | Park Library Serials |
| BrandWeek | Park Library HF5801 .A414 |
Non-Paper Source from UNC Libraries
He Got Game: Film directed by Spike Lee - Call Number UL Media Resources Center 65-DVD736
Section III
Electronic Indexes and Databases Sources
"Whole New Ballgame - Nike races to tie Name to other Sports in U.S. and Beyond" (2002, December 4) The Commercial Appeal, p. C1 Retrieved February 2, 2003 from Lexis Nexis Academic Database
Keenan, Faith "A Mass Market of One" BusinessWeek, 3810, p. 68 (2002) LexisNexis Academic Database. Ebscohost. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Academic Affairs Library, 2, Feb. 2003 <http://eresources.lib.unc.edu/cgi-bin/external_database_auth?A=P|F=Y|ID=12|URL=http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe>
Harris, K. "Nikegoddess.com a hit: research commissioned by Nike helped it reach women online." pgs. 34-42 (2001) SPORTSDiscus via UNCLE. EbscoHost. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Academic Affairs Library. 3, Feb. 2003 <http://www.lib.unc.edu/>
Stevenson, Seth "How to beat Nike." The New York Times, p. 29 (2003) LexisNexis Academic Database. EbscoHost. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Academic Affairs Library. 3, Feb. 2003 <http://www.lib.unc.edu/>
Vince Carter shoes can't get airborne: Raptors star sidelined: Slow sales add to woes Nike faces on several fronts. (2003, January 18). Financial Post, pg. FP6. Retrieved February, 1 2003 from LexisNexis Academic Database
Herzog, Boaz. "Nike Walking a Fine Line to Attract Elite and Midmarket Consumers" NewHouse News Service (2003). LexisNexis Database. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 3 Feb. 2003 <http://eresources.lib.unc.edu/cgi-bin/external_database_auth?A=P|F=Y|ID=12|URL=http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe>
Section IV.
Web Sources on Your Topic
1). Title of Web Page: Wired Magazine, The Ultimate Running Machine
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.08/nike.html
Description: Article that explores a training camp devised by Nike to train runners through the use of high technology. The Camp is modeled upon a former Soviet -style training camp that incorporated scientists to reengineer neuro-mechanics, blood chemistry, and brain waves. This project (Oregon Project) has been developed by Nike to improve U.S. Marathon running in the United States. the runners are Nike sponsored, and the runners are part of the U.S. Marathon team.
Source of Web Site: Wired.com
2.) Subject: Bowerman Track Foundation
http://www.nike.com/nikebiz/nikebiz.jhtml?page=26&item=bowerman
Description: Information posted on Nike's Business site that explains the Nike Bowerman Foundation and the community practices that Nike implements in the community.
Source of Web Site: Nikebiz.com
3.) Subject: The Rivington Club
http://city.superfuture.com/city/reviews/review.cfm?ID=1121
Description: Boutique designed for "Retro and Sneaker Heads" that has become a raging hot spot for urban culture in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Source of Web Site: Superfuture.com
4.) Subject: Kasky v. Nike Supreme Court Case
http://news.findlaw.com/news/s/20030110/courtnikedc.html
Description: Newsbrief from FindLaw.com on Kasky v. Nike Supreme Court hearing that is scheduled to be reviewed by the Supreme Court this year. This case is a landmark case for the Court concerning the First Amendment.
The issue is whether or not corporations can be protected by the First Amendment, and whether or not Nike is liable for their statements concerning their own statements that Nike is "the model for business practices" in Southeast Asia.
Source of Web Site; FindLaw.com review, Feed provided by Reuters News Service
5.) Subject: Retro Shoes and their Popularity
http:www.retroshoes.com/gallery/
Description: Site used by "Nike Heads" and shoe fanatics to search, bid, and buy retro shoes from Nike.
Source of Web Site- Searched through Google.com. Keywords used were Nike and Retro Shoes
Section V.
ID Please
Over the last two years, Nike has taken e-commerce very seriously. Nike has redesigned the way consumers view their shoe purchases and Nike has pounced upon the trend of self-customazation in shoe design. How did they penetrate a new market for shopping is through their web site? The answer is NikeID.
NikeID is Nike's online design portal that allows consumers to customize shoe design. Over the past decade, consumers of the sports and fitness industry along with fashion followers have been demanding more and more innovative ways to make themselves unique in the world. Nike has concluded that consumers want to seize the opportunity to reach out to their consumers by offering different styles and colors to fit their customer needs.
The prevailing question that looms over Nike is whether consumers will want to shop online to customize their shoes without the buying experience of trying a shoe on, or the experience of touch and feel that comes with purchasing a new shoe. For example, to meet this problem head-on, Nike has introduced web kiosks in NikeTown stores across the country to encourage customers to become designers without the physical experience of touching, smelling, or staring at a real shoe. (1)
The web kiosks may have been a partial solution, but Nike still faces the same question that many other web retailers in the past few years were not able to address. Do buyers enjoy the physical buying experience?
Nike seems to recognize this as Jay Wilkins, general manager from Nike ID states; "Size needs to be exact" and "not being able to try it on is a challenge for Web retailers" (2)
Despite the perceived challenge of a physical buying experience, the popularity of NikeID among many Nike aficionados and the teen market continues to grow. Nike continues to drive traffic to Nike ID through suggestions and order requests for shoes throught limited editions that are only available on the Web, and though order requests that can be only handled online.
I do believe that NikeID is a strong vehicle to contue web purchases, and most importantly coustomizing user perferences. Don't forget as Steve Rosner, co-founder of 16 W Marketing, a firm in East Rutherford, N.J., that advises companies on athletes' endorsements, states: "Nike is still the king of Sports Marketing". (3)
Because of Nike's rule and ability to stay on the buying public's fickle tastes for over 30 years, one has to favor Nike's chances in the chase to fit it's customers' sizes and flavors.
Notes:
(1) Faith Keenan, "A Mass Market of One" BusinessWeek, 2 December 2002, p. 68 Also Available (Online): LexisNexis Academic Database
(2) Keenan, "A Mass Market of One" BusinessWeek, 2 December 2002, p. 68 Also Available (Online): LexisNexis Academic Database
(3) Boaz Herzog, "Nike Walking a Fine Line to Attract Elite and Midmarket Consumers" The Commercial Appeal, 4 December 2002, p. C1 Also Available (Online): LexisNexis Academic Database
Three Web Sites
1.) BusinessWeek Online
Business Online Magazine that analyzes trends, tastes, and buying habits in the business world and marketplace.
2.) NikeID.com
Customize your own Nike Shoes
Sports and Fitness company's web site that allows it's footwear to be customized by the buying public through e-Commerce.
3.) Commerical Appeal Article
Pricing Strategies used to direct the sales of the New Air Jordan XVIII
Source of Web Site: http://newgomemphis.com/newgo/core/archives.htm