Introduction

The basic purpose behind presenting this report is to understand and analyze the marketing mix of the chosen company i.e., Nike. Marketing mix is a series of marketing instruments that are used by a company to sell to its target consumers the company’s products or services (Thabit & Raewf, 2018). The effective implementation of the marketing mix has made possible for Nike to enhance its strengths by limiting its weaknesses, and in becoming more competitive as well as easily adaptable to its market. It has also helped Nike in sustaining its profitability. Hence, to ascertain the efficacy of the marketing mix employed by Nike, the report will first provide an overview of the company and will then discuss about the general meaning and definition of marketing mix, and this will be followed by a thorough discussion on marketing mix of Nike.

About Nike

Nike, Inc. is a multinational American company engaged in the worldwide marketing, design, development, and manufacture of footwear, clothing, equipment as well as accessories and services. The word Nike is a Greek term that refers the Goddess of victory (Merikanto, 2019). The firm is located in the metropolitan region of Portland near Beaverton, Oregon. It had a turnover of about $37.4 billion in the year 2020, and in the same year it held the position of the world’s largest sports footwear and clothing provider and a leading sports equipment producer (Moeller, 2018). By 2020, 76,700 individuals were employed globally by Nike (Thabit, & Raewf, 2018). In 2020, it had a worth of more than $32 billion. The Nike brand was previously valued at 29.6 billion dollars in 2017. In 2018, Nike was placed 89th among the biggest US Fortune 500 businesses in terms of total revenue (Polderman, 2020). The firm was started by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight on the 25th of January 1964 as “Blue Ribbon Sports” and was formally named Nike, Inc. on the 30th of May 1971. In addition to its brands like Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Air Jordan, Nike Blazers, Air Force 1, Nike Dunk, Air Max, Foamposite, Nike Skateboarding, Nike CR7, and subsidiary companies’ brands like Jordan Name and Converse, from 1995 until 2007 Nike owned Bauer Hockey and earlier had Cole Haan, Umbro, and Hurley International within its brand line.

Meaning and definition of Marketing Mix
Marketing mix refers to the range of measures or techniques used by a firm to support its market brand or product. A typical marketing mix is made up of 4Ps i.e., price, product, promotion, and place. Nowadays, the marketing mix incorporates several additional segments as essential parts, such as Packaging, Positioning, People, and even Policy (Thabit & Raewf, 2018).

Price here means the worth of a product. It relies on manufacturing costs, segment-specific production costs, a rate payable according to the market, supply-demand, and many others. A variety of price strategies can be implemented, each linked to a global business plan. Pricing may also be utilized to distinguish and improve a product’s image. Product on the other side means the thing that is sold (Pomering, 2017). If the product strategy is not performed adequately by the firm then all the other of its marketing mix strategies will be rendered ineffective.

The place is the selling point. The term “place” refers to the point of sale. A strong distribution or ‘place’ strategy’s major goal in any business is to draw the consumer’s attention and make it simple for the customers to purchase the product. Retailers pay proper place premium. Promotion, on the other hand, refers to all actions carried out to inform the user and trade about the product or service. Advertising, word of mouth, newspaper coverage, incentives, commissions, and commercial awards might also be included in the marketing mix along with direct marketing, competitions, and awards may also be included (Dost, et al., 2019).

The marketing mix is made up of all the concerned aspects (place, price, promotion, and product). They form and manage the business strategy and lead it towards the heights of success. But if they are not handled in adequate manner then it might take years for the company to recover from the losses incurred. Thus it can be said that marketing mix requires a great deal of expertise, market research, and interaction with various individuals, ranging from users to manufacturers and others.

Marketing Mix of Nike

The brand and products included in Nike’s Marketing strategy are analyzed under the 4 Ps of Nike’s Marketing Mix i.e., Product, Price, Place, and Promotion (Alqahtani, 2020). For its tremendous growth, the company has been able to invent unique marketing strategies, including, but not limited to, product innovation, service innovation, marketing investment, customer experience, etc.

Product strategy

Nike sells a wide range of products, including shoes, clothing, and sports equipment. Nike’s marketing mix focuses on high-quality and diverse merchandise for sports fans. It is the market leader in the sportswear business, with the majority of its revenue coming from the selling of athletic shoes. It provides a wide range of items, including specialty shoes for every activity (Merikanto, 2019). For example, it has unique shoe design for footballers, basketball players, cricketers, and for sportsmen and women belonging to other genres of sports. Nike has adapted to changing times and is now creating and marketing smart items that can link to iPod nano, resulting in a combination of products from Apple Inc that monitor the performance of the athletes.

Price strategy

Nike is a global leader in sportswear and sports equipment, and it uses a value-based pricing approach to help the company’s sales and earnings increase. Nike uses this approach to determine how much a buyer is willing to spend on each product. This value is now used to determine the highest price a client is willing to pay for Nike’s shoes, clothes, or sports equipment (Zintsova, Vovk, & Guriev, 2020). This technique guarantees that the firm has kept reasonable pricing for its products which could then become accessible and affordable for majority of its customers. This technique has greatly helped the firm and has steadily contributed to the increase in profits over the previous five years. The pricing is designed to appeal to the premium portion of the market.

Place strategy

Retailers are the most important outlets for its merchandise. Nike has over 200,000 merchants in the United States and has a global presence in over 150 countries (Merikanto, 2019). Nike has production facilities in virtually every nation to reduce logistic costs and to improve distribution efficiency (Merikanto, 2019). In India, the density of outlets around the nation is so high that Nike has to compete fiercely with Adidas, Reebok, and other brands. Nike sells its items on e-commerce platforms too, such as Flipkart and Amazon. Nike can exhibit nearly all of its products to millions of people over the internet as a result of this.

Promotional strategy

Nike’s powerful branding and marketing operations have contributed largely to the enhancement of Nike’s market hold over the years. This is because Nike’s promotional approach in its marketing mix is thorough, aggressive, and it employs all effective marketing instruments including traditional, digital, and social media. Nike does extensive promotions through online campaigns on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook, reaching millions of followers (Zintsova, Vovk, & Guriev, 2020). Nike uses sportspersons as brand ambassadors, leaving a lasting impression on customers’ minds through a range of ads and promotional activities. Nike has also always grabbed the opportunities to market its brand by sponsoring marathons and international events such as the NBA basketball tournament.

Conclusion

To summarize, Nike is a global business that designs, develops, and manufactures sports footwear, clothing, equipment, and services. The brand has changed through time in response to changing customer trends and demands, and its marketing mix has been adjusted to maximize growth and profit. Nike employs a variety of marketing techniques and approaches following their ever-changing 4ps of the Marketing Mix. It’s fascinating to analyze Nike’s Marketing Mix, given how the company has developed over time and in response to evolving client expectations while being the world’s leading athletic brand. Although it is not widely recognized, Nike also manufactures prescription eyeglass frames for the market. Nike also sells items for swimming, tennis, skating, golf, association football, baseball, football, cycling, volleyball, wrestling, and other sports.

References

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Merikanto, S. (2019). Controversal Marketing-A successful strategy to grow a brand or risky approach? Case study: Nike Inc.
Moeller, K. (2018). Sources to Timeline of Nike, Inc. and Nike Foundation History and Public Response. In The Gender Effect (pp. 210-214). University of California Press.
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