Case Study: Nike

1. What are the pros, cons, and risks associated with Nike’s core marketing strategy? Nike’s mission is to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world (*if you have a body, you are an athlete) (Nike, Inc., 2015). Nike offers sporting shoes, apparel, and numerous types of sporting equipment, such as football, basketball, golf, soccer, baseball, swimming, etc. Nike believes in their products before they release the products to the public, Nike researches and tests their products in a laboratory to ensure that their products meet all their claims. The pros of Nike are they test their products to meet the claims that the material in their shirts will not color run when worn, shrink when washed, and will breathe when worn.

The negative media reports of child labor in foreign countries or the ethical behavior of spokes-athletes have affected Nike’s brand. Kalb (2013) stated in an effort to contain the damage, Nike has distanced itself from Lance Armstrong, and just suspended its contract with Pistorius pending further investigation of the murder charges against him. Nike aligns their firm with athletes to promote and endorse their products, which some of the athletes not abiding by their code of ethics resulting in the dismissal of the athlete from endorsing the Nike brand. Nike is in fierce competition with the Adidas Group. Adidas’ mission is to make the Adidas Group the global leader in the sporting goods industry (Adidas Group,

Nike’s research facility processes focus on athletic desire and performance, but when it comes to fashion; the designs change rapidly as do the trends. Therefore if Nike cannot meet the fashion trends consumers will follow the next designer. Nike researches material and processes to ensure their products are in line with their corporate strategy and goals, but the increased cost of products could leave many consumers unable to purchase products. Nike expanding into global markets will increase their marketing strategy, but the exchange rate will affect their cost and may price them out of the local market. A marketspace is referred to as a place where a consumer can purchase goods on the internet (Kotler and Keller, 2012). Nike may do better in global markets by establishing a local marketspace in order to offset exchange rates and reduce costs for emerging