Segmenting and Targeting Markets

                                                                        Market segmentation is the selection of groups of people who will be most receptive to a product. The most frequent methods of segmenting include demographic variables such as age, sex, race, income, occupation, education, and household status. Nike's segmenting market typically target's athletes, both women and male generally from the ages 15 to 35. Nike's targeting market is active people who enjoy high quality sporting goods, especially footwear. To do so Nike focuses on creating premium consumer experiences on product innovation, brand leadership and elevated retail presence. Nike is targeting further geographic expansion and farther marketing penetration in all regions. Though disciplined operating management, the company still continues to target long range mid teen earnings per share growth.

Developing and managing products

                                                                      Throughout Nike's business years they've managed to produce millions of sneakers and clothing as well as sponsor famous athletes and music stars. Nike always aims for innovation products that minimize environmental impact by reducing waste throughout the design and developing process. For Nike to begin their product developing process for a new product they begin with comprehensive systems thinking around the domains of design, manufacturing and the life cycle of a product, including the possibilities for closing the loops on material, product use and end of life. Innovation takes off after catching sight of technological shifts. Once all that’s done incorporating the considered design is put into all Nikes key categories, basketball, running, football, soccer, etc. For Nike to keep their vision of reality going they focus on designing products that are fully closed loop: produced using the fewest possible materials and designed for easy disassembly , while allowing them to be recycled into new products or safely returned to nature at the end of their life.

Integrated Marketing Communications

                                                                          "Integrated Marketing Communications: is the coordination and integration of all marketing communication tools, avenues, functions, and sources within a company into a seamless program that maximizes the impact of consumers and other end users at a minimal cost. Nike fully embraces the concept of integrated marketing communications. Their integrated approach includes traditional advertising such as, billboards, magazines, and television. Sponsoring sporting events and players, such as the super bowl and Tiger Woods. Nike engages in online marketing initiatives by allowing consumers to consumers to customize their shoes though Nike id. They also spend a great deal of money in search marketing. With this approach Nike is allowed to communicate their message constantly across all media outlets, and at the same time share their most important message  with the consumer , which is use Nike products and you will increase your performance regardless of sport you are involved in.

Product Concepts

                                                                        "Product concept: Management philosophy that a good product creates its market, and does not require heavy marketing expenditure. Nike produces a wide range of sports equipment. Their first products were track running shoes. They currently also make shoes, jerseys , shorts, etc for a wide range of sports which include, track and field, baseball, ice hockey, tennis, soccer, football, lacrosse, basketball and cricket they sell them for those sports also. The Nike Hindsight glasses design uses Fresnel lenses, which were originally made for lighthouses and provide a wide aperture and short focal length. Even though the lenses reduce image quality, the idea is that since they are located only on the sides of the glasses, little clarity is lost in the process as the eye only detects motion in that area. Nike designed the glasses for cyclists, but the design could be handy in a more wide range of activities where detecting motion beyond the usual 180 degrees would prove advantageous. People such as marathon runners to track and field athletes could benefit from this since they are doing a lot of movement.

Sales promotion and Personal selling

                                                                      "Sales promotion: is marketing communication activities, other than advertising, personal selling, and public relations." "Personal selling: is a purchase situation involving a personal, paid for communication between people in an attempt to influence each other." For Nike to promote themselves to gain more sales they largely depend on finding accessible store locations. To caught the eye of their consumers Nike uses a number of famous athletes that serve as brand ambassadors such as, the Brazilian soccer team, Lebron James for basketball, Lance Armstrong for cycling, and Tiger Woods for golf. Nike also sponsors events such as hoop it up and golden west invitational. Nike's quality products, loyal customer base and its great marketing techniques all contribute to its huge success. Nike utilizes personal selling techniques in all of their retail stores. First starting with sales associate in these stores they are the individuals that communicate directly with the consumers who are interested in Nike products. They are suppose to be knowledgeable of the brand and should be trained in asking customers the right questions in order to find out what they are looking for.  To do so Nike sends representatives to retail stores to keep sales associates up to date on their merchandise and the technology behind it to give the consumer a better feel for the product.         

Advertising and Public Relations

                                                                             "Advertising: impersonal, one way mass communication about a product or organization that is paid for by a marketer, public relations: a field concerned with maintaining public image for business, non-profit organization, or high profile people. In 1982 Nike aired its first national television ads, created by newly formed ad Weiden Kennedy agency, during the New York marathon starting a successful beginning to their advertising campaign and still is intact. Nike introduced the world to one of the most famous and easily recognized slogans in advertising history, during a 1988 meeting of Nike's ad agency Wieden and Kennedy and a group of employee's. The saying "Just do it" captured Nikes corporate philosophy of grit, determination and passion. Nike uses such activities as for their advertising including agreements for product sponsorship with professional athletic teams, celebrity athletes, and numerous college athletic teams to help popularize there product worldwide.

Retailing

                                                                           "Retailing: all the activities directly related the sales of goods and services to the ultimate consumer for personal, non business use. Nike is the largest manufacturer in athletic footwear and apparel worldwide. Nike sells its products in over 180 stores countries worldwide through its company owned retail stores Nike town and internet sites, as well as through retailers like foot locker and dicks sporting goods. Nike divides its sales into four regions across the globe, the United States, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, Central and South America. With Nike just specializing in the development and sale of athletic footwear, apparel and equipment, it keeps them focused on bringing new products to their retailers to help keep them at the position there in.

  

Consumer Decision Making

                                                                            "Consumer behavior: processes a consumer uses to make purchase decisions, as well as to use and dispose of purchased goods or services; also includes factors that influence purchase decisions and product use.' Nike is transforming its organizational structure from a product innovation orientation such as shoes, apparel, and equipment, to a consumer experience one such as basketball, soccer, and running in order to deliver richer stories for the product. To do some Nike takes several surveys explains why they make their products instead of what are their products through speeches collecting past data on previous products then implying  to products to create a new experience for the customer.

Developing Global Vision

                                                                      "Global vision recognizing and reacting to international marketing opportunities, using effective global marketing strategies, and being aware of threats from foreign competitors in all markets". The way Nike focus on its global vision is through its long term strategy focused on innovation, collaboration, transparency, and advocacy to prepare the company, to thrive in a sustainable economy. To do so Nike considerers design combines sustainability principles and innovative performance products for athletes by reducing toxics and waste and increasing the use of environmentally preferred materials. Using GX a web based marketplace designed to share intellectual property, to capture sharing and licensing patents that, when used by someone else, could lead to unlimited innovation in helping solve sustainability issue's. Work more with contract factories to train them in the implementation of specialized lean manufacturing, so that decision making is closer to the worker through skill building, teamwork and understanding. Using sports more to promote social change, because it builds networks of social entrepreneurs and community innovators and for its ability to drive positive social, economic and cultural change. And last to aim ahead of the curve of mandatory regulation, energy price increases and volatility and consumer pressure, by their formation of new coalition of consumer companies called business for innovation climate and energy policy, which is advocating for strong U.S climate and energy legislation with the aim of creating a level playing field through a cost on carbon and unblocking innovation that is essential creating technology and infrastructure solutions.

Corporate irresponsibility

                                                                             Enron Corporation was an American energy company located in downtown Houston Texas. Before Enron went bankrupt in late 2001, they employed about 22,000 staff, and were one of the world’s leading electricity, natural gas, communications and pulp and paper companies, with claimed revenues of 101 billion in 2000. At the end of 2001, it was brought out that Enron's reported financial condition was altered institutionalized, systematic, and creatively planned accounting fraud. The scandal affected the wider business world causing the dissolution of the Arthur Anderson accounting firm. Enron filed for bankruptcy protection in late 2001, and in 2004 they emerged from it in 2004. Being one of the biggest and complexing bankruptcy cases in U.S history, a new board of directors changed the name of Enron to Enron creditor’s recovery crop, to focus on reorganizing and liquidating certain operations and assets of the pre bankruptcy of Enron.

The marketing environment

                                                            Nikes management analyzes its internal environment by making decisions based on that analysis, seeing what customers would want in their products also called their target market, and how the external environment shapes and remolds that. Because of that Nike's marketing research, the company has decided to revamp its apparel division to be more fashion savvy, and there shoes to be more innovating. Nike creates designs for men, women, and children, running, basketball, and cross- training is some of its top selling product categories. Factors such as social that deals with people's values, demographic people’s age an race, economic technological all affects Nikes marketing environment with all these they learn what’s in, what could be change to improve current products and what should be best for future products keeping Nike ahead of competition where they like to be.

Who manufactured my clothes

Shirt - made in Mexico
Pants - made in China
Sneakers - made in Vietnam
Hat - made in China

Ethics and Social Responsibility

                                              Over the years Nike has become the biggest leader in the athletic shoe industry and a global entity, but with it ethical issues has been brought up. One example is the Nike sweatshop labor case  that stirred up a big amount of controversy over ethical business practices. Nike being worth 15 billion or more outsourced its manufacturing  plants to different countries in order to lessen cost in making there products, and become more efficiently productive. The outcome of everything was far from what Nike expected , the company put children in hazardous condition for very low subsistence wages violating child labor laws. Nike took advantage of overseas workers an placed them in destructive working environments , putting some of them in departments with chemicals which led them to having skin or breathing problems. With all this going on the discovery became public knowledge instead of confidential bringing the government of other country's to get involved , making Nike take social responsibility for their actions. Nike joined a task force called fair job labor association to access whether companies are abiding by the code and banish sweatshops, in the athletic shoe and clothes industry. To better themselves Nike redeemed itself by slashing over time, improve safety and ventilation, and reduce the use of toxic chemicals. Its good to see Nike took steps to improve the accusations they were accused of  , but should have been taken care of as soon as it they were aware of them.

Strategic planning & Ethics & Responsiblity

                               Nike's strategic planning consist of there mission statement, values statement, and visions statement. There mission statement for Nike is to surpass all competition in the athletic industry. Nike's values statement focuses its commitment to stock holders , and pushing forward to make strides to becoming a company that sets the bar for social responsibility. To end Nike's strategic planning  concludes with there visions statement is simple just remain the leader in there industry, by satisfying the customer with there ever changing needs. Nike shoe company ethics are based around intending to introduce corporate responsibility as a integral part of its business. The company is more leaning towards making sourcing  decisions based not only on prices, quality and delivery, but on management  environmental , health and safety programs. Nike's responsibility is focused on innovation , collaboration , transparency ,and advocacy to prepare the company to thrive in a sustainable economy.

Nike shoe company brief history

Nike's Corporate Mission Statement : 'To be the world's leading sports and fitness company

                                          Nike originated in 1962 by Philip H . Knight, a Stanford University business graduate. Knight who was a member of the University of Oregon track team traveled to japan after finishing business school got introduced to a Japanese firm that made athletic shoes, the Onitsuka  tiger company. Knight got into agreement with the Onitsuka tiger to import some of its shoes in America on a small scale. Knight believed that the Japanese running shoe can be a great competitor for the German products that dominated the American running shoe market. As Knight set up the agreement with Onitsuka tiger, Knight invented the blue ribbon sports to satisfy Onitsuka tiger's expectations that he represented an actual company.With this Knights hypothetical  firm grew to become Nike inc. Knight started off small working with 200 pairs of tiger athletic shoes then became a partnership with his  former  track coach ,William Bowerman , who chipped in 500 dollars to help Knights investment. Bowerman experimented modifying shoes for his team, and worked with runners to enhance the performance of the designs of the prototype blue ribbon sports shoes. Innovation by Bowerman to the shoes would be the corner stone to the company's success, and in 1968 it payed off with the the shoe Cortez being created which became a big seller. With the success of the cortez more shoes were being produced and in 1966 the company rented its first retail space in Santa Monica California then moved to the east coast to Boston. By the end of the decade Knights venture expanded to several stores and 20 employees and sales nearing 300,000. The company reached high levels of growth, but Knight was frustrated by a lack of capital to pay for expansion. In 1971 Knight using financing from the Japanese trading company Nissho  lwai corporation , blue ribbon shoes (BRS) , was able to manufacture its own line overseas, though independent contractors, for import to the United States. With this the company introduced its swoosh trademark and the brand name Nike, taken from the Greek goddess of victory. Founded as a importer Japanese shoes Nike inc., NIKE has grown to become the worlds biggest marketer in athletic shoes dominating there competition from there beginning in 1962 to the present.