Nike's Marketing Communications Strategy: A Critical Analysis

Marketing Communications
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Word Count: 4109
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Task 1.........................................................................................................................................4
Task 2.........................................................................................................................................8
Task 3.......................................................................................................................................12
Conclusion................................................................................................................................16
Reference List..........................................................................................................................17
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Introduction
The process of marketing communication is used by organizations to attract consumers and
interest them in the organization’s products and services. The marketing communication
process includes advertising the products, building brand loyalty, and interacting with
consumers through direct selling and feedback. This business report aims to evaluate the
methods of marketing communications used by multinational company Nike, Inc. The report
attempts to develop a suitable marketing strategy for Nike, while analysing the importance of
the various elements of the communication process for marketers. Additionally, the report
evaluates the effectiveness of Nike’s marketing strategy during the PyeongChang 2018
Olympic Winter Games.
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Task 1
Using a multinational organisation of your choice with brief description of the latter, its
range of products, analysis of the specific product and profiling of the target market,
critically evaluate different methods of marketing communications being used currently
and evaluate the contemporary internal/external factors that are influencing the board
of directors in decision making for each stage of consumer buying process. Use relevant
marketing theory and models to justify your answer.
Initially established as Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964, the company shifted from selling
Japanese-made shoes to launching its own product line as Nike, Inc. in 1971. Nike is known
for its high quality sports footwear and apparel, designed for comfort, flexibility and high
performance in sports such as football and basketball. In the current scenario, as of 2017,
Nike had earned a gross profit value of over $15 million and a total revenue figure of more
than $34 million (nasdaq.com, 2018).
Nike’s range of products includes products for men’s training and women’s training (sports
apparel and footwear), footwear for casual purposes, customized apparel with team/institute
logos. Nike also sells specialized sports equipment such as backpacks, caps, shin guards,
gloves, footballs and other gear. Meanwhile, Nike has purchased several clothing and
footwear brands, and retails their products as well. These brand include Cole Haan, Umbro,
footwear brand Converse and Hurley (Brenner et al, 2013).
The marketing theory, which can be used to understand Nike’s market segment, is STP, a
combination of three processes-
Segmentation- Market segmentation may be understood as the process of separating an entire
consumer market into specific parts, or segments, the basis for differentiation being the
consumers’ demands, interests, and demographic location (Solomon et al, 2014). In Nike’s
case, the organization employs the psychographic segmentation strategy to identify its market
segments. The consumers who are interested in purchasing high-performance athletic and
sports products are in one segment, while consumers who want high quality comfortable
footwear for regular use are in another segment.
Targeting- As a continuation to the segmentation process, targeting aids the company in
identifying the most profitable and sometimes broader consumer segment (Tanner and
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