Marketing of Balaclava in Nike Assignment

ESSAY 2

Table of Contents
PART 1............................................................................................................................................3
Describe the factor that includes in the marketing of balaclava in Nike.....................................4
The Role of business in Society ......................................................................................................1
How ethical choice impact upon other companies......................................................................2
Application of Ethical theories -..................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

PART 1
Describe the factor that includes in the marketing of balaclava in Nike.
As per the case of Nike, the marketing of balaclava creates negative impact upon the
customers as well as company's brand image and this is consider as an ethical question because
the marketing of balaclava includes the pictures that is worn by young black model in T-shirt
which is quite similar to special forces material and also looks like gang, thus it looks menacing
when it is wear by any person (Mauri and et.al., 2019). On the other social media, person also
state that through the advertisement, Nike wants to target those young people who are involved
in gang crime. Thus, this black model people creates negative impact upon the customers and
thus, it reflect that Nike wants to target the gang culture or racist for profit. Therefore, as per
people's perspective this marketing image threaten and depicts gang culture, further many of
them think that this is done for the purpose of profit. Thus, it clearly reflect that it does not meet
the ethical criteria of marketing

The Role of business in Society
The social responsibility of companies has becomes the central in the public. It is very
important and mandatory for the company to create the positive impact on the society. However,
the impact of advertisement of Nike products appearers aims at youngster aiming for gang-
inspired look (Dentchev, Haezendonck and van Balen, 2017). It is fact that company is not
operating a vacuum. The product marketed by the company presenting that this product is used
for people who use to do criminal activities as they wear on there face. This result is leading
negative impact on the society and youth. The role of business is to satisfy the human needs but
it is also very important that company should abide by all the ethical practices and laws because
businesses are the integral part of the society. It is important to maximise the expectations of
stakeholders in which society plays a major role as if stakeholders are not satisfied it will lead to
affect the productivity of the organisation.
Stakeholders are the are key to achieve the desire goals and objectives of company as they are
directly or indirectly connected to the company.
Society is one of the key stakeholder which is affected by this case of Nike as it has
giving negative message to the people living in the society that may create criminal culture
(Kannan, 2018).
Customers: This case of Nike has also affected trust and belief of customers due to this,
the brand image was badly affected which also affect the customers purchasing decisions.
Investors: They are also affected by this case of Nike as the share prices of company
falls which is not fine for the investors as they are also having loss. Nike has lost the truest of
investors too with this style of marketing of products.
Employees: They are also affected by this marketing of product of Nike as they
employee moral is greatly influenced. Low moral ultimately leads to strong labour turnover
which is another biggest lose for the company as it may be happen that skilled labours of the
company leave the organisation.
Government: Government is another stakeholder that have majorly affected by the this
marketing of products as government authority are answerable that how they give the permission
for advertising this product in criminal style (Cegarra-Navarro and et.al., 2016).

How ethical choice impact upon other companies.
Ethics plays an important role in every company such that sometimes ethical
requirements for the business are codified into law, environmental regulations, minimum wages
etc. Thus, it creates positive and negative impact upon business performance.
Positive impact: If the company uses ethics in marketing then it creates positive impact
upon the business such that it build customer loyalty and also helps in enhancing the company's
reputation. Apart from this, it also gain financial advantages as well. For example, Patagonia
which is one of the top designer of outdoor clothing insist the people to buy less and also build
the a reputation for being ethical, through a campaign of “Don's buy this jacket” which grab
attention of many customers and rethink for this advertisement (Kornum and et.al., 2017). Thus,
it this advertisement continues to be real message that if you don't need this then don't buy this
jacket. Thus, it create positive impact upon the customers and also attract wide range of
customers too. Therefore, ethical decision used by the business maintain confidentiality and this
increases the sales.
Negative Impact: It is evaluated through the research that customers follow large
number of advertisement in every day but when they believe that advertisement is true when
actually it is false, then customers may be harmed. Therefore, mislead the advertisement creates
negative impact upon the customers as well as affect the brand image too. For example, recently,
one Danish Advertisement featured an image of Pope wearing a particular brand of sneakers and
thus, it offended many Catholics. Further, in the advertisement of skin cream which may suggest
that user's skills will look and feel better when they used it. But actually it is not so because it
cannot include the text which guaranteeing the disappearance of Wrinkles. Thus, it clearly reflect
the negative impact upon the customers as well as company. Therefore, make sure that company
must use ethical marketing that helps to attract customers and also sustain the brand image of the
firm too.
Recommendations
It is necessary for Nike to reflect upon the ad and take proper measures so that in future company
will not promote this type of ad. The company can follow several recommendations which are as
follows :-
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 First of all Nike can create an ad by following ethical principles and laws. For this they
can form a policy or procedure through which the ad will be developed. The management
can also get involved in viewing the ad before it is launched (Kolk, 2016).
 Nike should do a press conference or release a statement to apologise for the ad given. It
will result in creating a positive image in society. In this company can involve youths
which will help in inspiring other youngsters.
 The company can create another ad in which such images or things are removed. They
can establish a positive image in society and retaining their customers.
 Nike can make changes in balaclava products that is changing its design. By this they can
maintain brand image in the market and also reduce their loss.
 An apology statement can be published on social media regarding this ad. It can be
consulted with stakeholders.
By this company can ensure that ethics are followed in ad. Moreover, the negative image
that is created can be improved. It will help in giving justification about this ad in society.
Alongside it, company can ensure that proper actions are taken and no such ads are developed in
future.
Application of Ethical theories -
Ethics refers to moral principles that guides the behaviour of the individual or group of
individuals that are performing the activities. There are various reasons to understand the ethics
and approaches of managing the ethics in marketing activities of an organization. When
organisation have misconduct ethically it will affect the reputation of the firm. Unethical
behaviour of an organisation may be related with marketing of the product, pricing, distribution
or communication etc (Nguyen, B. and et.al., 2015).
Sometimes, marketers designs such types of schemes that are appearing illegal that may
results in scandals and legal issues. Therefore, companies should focus on identifying potential
risks and activities of marketing that may result in lack of ethics of the firm while marketing its
products and services. One of the best example is the marketing of balaclava by Nike company.
Due to which firm have to remove the sale of the product from its website. Because, the
marketing of the product is creating the look of gang.
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Marketing is an important function of the company that has blamed to be unethical by the
society people of the country. Marketing plays an important role in creating huge impact on
community, society, environment etc. It is important function because it helps the firm to
develop plans, policies and marketing campaign for marketing of goods or services. The case
study of the marketing of Nike can be linked with various famous theories of marketing that
defines the proper ethical behaviour of the organisation while marketing its products and
services. The ethical theories will help to describe the principles and morals or the benefits of
ethical marketing for the community as well as for the society (Parsons, Maclaran, P. and
Chatzidakis, 2017). These ethical theories are as follows -
Utilitarianism theory -
Utilitarianism is one of the major ethical theory that is based on the ability of the person to
predict the likely consequences of the actions. For an organisation, the choice of the way of
marketing of the product or service that provides maximum benefits to the people living in the
society will be most ethical approach of marketing. Therefore, Nike should consider the way of
marketing balaclava the new product of the firm. So that, it will not create bad impact on the
image of company among youngsters of the country. The theory is based on the assumption that,
greatest good must be for greatest number of people that are living in the communities. In case of
Nike, the decision taken by majority of the people should be responsible for wrong decision of
the firm related with marketing. There are two categories of Utilitarianism theory that are Rule
Utilitarianism and Act Utilitarianism etc (Tatlow-Golden, M. and et.al. 2017). According to Act
Utilitarianism, person or a company performs a particular activity that will provide benefits to
large number of people in spite of focussing on personal feelings or laws etc. Whereas, according
to Rule Utilitarianism, person or the firm should consider rules and laws. It seeks to provide
various benefits to people living in society but through proper means. Therefore, Nike should act
as Rule Utilitarianism while conducting the marketing activities for balaclava. So that, the
marketing will not provide the message of terrorist look to the society. So that, it will not
communicate wrong message to the people.
Kantianism theory -
Another major type of ethical theory is Kantianism theory of ethical behaviour. The theory is
one of the best example of deontological theory of ethics. It was developed by Immanuel Kant.
According to this theory, whether the actions of the individual or an organisation is right or
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wrong does not depends upon the result of the action rather it depends upon whether it will fulfil
the responsibilities. According to the author morality is the major principle that guides the
behaviour. People are morally responsible for their own actions. Therefore, Nike should consider
the moral ethics before conducting marketing activities for launching its new product for the first
time in the market. Company does not consider the morals therefore, it results in negative
reactions of the people living in the society towards the product of the company because, youths
thought that firm is targeting thugs for selling its product that is balaclava. As a result, Nike has
to remove its product from online stores and websites. According to this theory, it can be said
that people are responsible for their own actions. Managers should balance the requirements of
both that is customers as well as company. It should not be detrimental for stakeholders of the
firm (Murphy, P. E. and Bloom, 2017).
According to deontology theory, individuals as well as group should comply their duties while
they are engaged in making any type of decision that involves any type of morals or ethics.
The theory of Kant's is based on categorical imperative. As per hypothetical imperative, people
should obey morals and ethics if they want to achieve their goals and objectives. As per
categorical imperative, binds the person irrespective of their desire and aspirations. Morals binds
the individual or firm because, they are based on facts rather than situations. Author wishes to go
beyond the concept of morality and they has present the ethics of autonomy. They have opinion
that, good will is a better concept as compared with will that is related with duties and
responsibilities of the individual or group. Kant says that, sense of what is good and what is bad
depends upon are awareness towards the concept that people are free and rational that must be
given respect. People should look at their intentions of conducting a particular action. Human s
are free of rational behaviour. It must not be used for the happiness of others. According to this
theory, it is easy to determine the actions of the person (Sulaiman, J. and Syahrivar, 2018).
PART 2
Reflective Statement.
I strongly believe that for any company to operate peacefully and meaningfully, it is
necessary that they give strong emphasis to ethics. It similar to the legal aspect i.e. like every
company works within legal boundaries, similarly they should also operate within the ethics and
norms developed by the society. I am currently working as an Ethical Manager and therefore I
realize the importance of integrating ethical values in organizational activities.
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For becoming an ethical leader, it is extremely important that leaders adopt
characteristics like respecting others, working honestly, placing Humanity above all other
attributes, 0 tolerance for ethical violations etc. I also believe that Ethical Leaders should know
how to do the correct thing even if it is difficult to determine how to do it or the correct thing
appears to be impossible or unprecedented. Rather than worrying about the impact or
profitability, an ethical leader is concerned with allowing only those activities which do not harm
others. There are various other aspects like :-
Leadership by Example :- A leader should himself take the initiative and influence others to do
what is right. When he himself will take first step, employees will acknowledge this and trust
him to follow his lead.
Team Building :- Being an Ethical manager, I personally recommend that a leader needs to
foster team spirit and encourage the integration level motivating them to achieve organizational
goals and creating a positive environment of overall growth rather than individual growth.
It is also extremely necessary to implement high ethical standards in the company in
order to develop individuals and these should be implemented basically on three different
levels :- Laws determine what is right or wrong and making people understand and implement
those practices which are acceptable for everyone. In my experience, leaders often have a tough
time in determining the fine line between ensuring legality as well as ethicality. In order to make
their company highly ethical, a leader must do what is right along with being legal. Policies is
another area where the company can monitor the internal policies and frameworks. Training
practices, employee working hours, hiring policies etc. are those areas in which an ethical leader
needs to be very careful. Individuals i.e. the employees are a true face of the values and beliefs
of a company. I have seen new employees getting directly impacted by the type of culture and
behaviour of the employees so an ethical leader should, by introducing positive reinforcement in
the company can increase the ethical standards.
I think that the responsibility of ethical leader can be fulfilled properly only by that
person who himself has a strong base of Personal Ethics. There are many personality traits
which determine the degree up to which a person is ethical like honesty, loyalty, integrity,
respecting others, etc. I have elaborated on some of these :-
Reputation and Morale :- In order to build the goodwill of the company, a person needs to
ensure that the actions taken by him are correct i.e. they are not inappropriate.
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Law Abiding :- An ethical person will always do what is right and also keep in mind the
humanity aspect rather than deviating on the path that might force them to adopt fraudulent
policies.
However, it has been my experience that although a person can be highly ethical but there
are some conditions that arise which might lead to increase in unethical practices in
organizations. Psychological desires is the major trap which forces a person to become unethical.
These traps reduces a person's ability to distinguish between the right and wrong and he becomes
ambiguous while segregating his duty from his desires and avoiding the powerful stimulus and
triggers which leads to an individual becoming unethical. And when the individuals i.e.
employees working in an organization turn unethical, it automatically creates a negative
environment in the company and leads to an organisation becoming unethical.
Over my working experience as Ethical Leader, I have formulated certain Methods of
Compliance which can be formulated as follows :-
Develop a code of conduct :- To encourage ethical development, a person should create a
proper code which outlines those behavioural characteristics which are acceptable in the
organization.
Reinforce Consequences :- Whenever any person performs any unethical action in the
workplace, the managers should take proper actions based on the severity of the crime which will
create an example before other employees.
Therefore, I can conclude that higher an organization involves ethicality in their
practices, more will be the value of organization in the eyes of the investors and the society. The
employees will be satisfied and the credibility of the company will increase.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Mauri, M. L. and et.al., 2019. Calibration packaging apparatuses for physiological monitoring
garments. U.S. Patent Application 10/201,310.
Kornum, N. and et.al., 2017. Interplay between intended brand identity and identities in a Nike
related brand community: Co-existing synergies and tensions in a nested
system. Journal of Business Research. 70. pp.432-440.
Sulaiman, J. and Syahrivar, J., 2018. The Influence of Marketing Mix 4A and Ethical
Consciousness towards Ethical Consumption.
Murphy, P. E. and Bloom, P. N., 2017. Ethical issues in social marketing. In Marketing the
public sector (pp. 68-78). Routledge.
Tatlow-Golden, M. and et.al., 2017. A safe glimpse within the" black box"? Ethical and legal
principles when assessing digital marketing of food and drink to children. Public health
panorama.3(04). pp.613-621.
Nguyen, B. and et.al., 2015. Ethical marketing: Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. In Ethical
and Social Marketing in Asia (pp. 55-79). Chandos Publishing.
Parsons, E., Maclaran, P. and Chatzidakis, A., 2017. Contemporary issues in marketing and
consumer behaviour. Routledge.
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