The Strengths And Weaknesses Of Nike Marketing Essay

The Strengths And Weaknesses Of Nike Marketing Essay Nike is known by everyone everywhere. They have created dominant brand recognition. Nike is the number one athletic apparel company in more than ten countries. They have distribution centers all over the world. The advertising agency Nike has contracted has grown to three offices, each in different countries, to better reach their target audience on a local level. You can go anywhere in the world with the Nike logo and almost anyone would recognize the brand. This show how their hard work in the advertising department has paid off. In 2006, Nike spent $134 million in marketing. With a revenue total of $16.3 billion in 2007, Nike can certainly afford such a large marketing bill. Nike is strong regarding its research and development department based on its growing and ground-breaking product range. The Nike Sport Research Laboratory is responsible for innovative ideas like the NikeID online store where customer can purchase custom made shoes. Nike started out making only sneakers now m akes things from specific sports equipment to performance apparel. Nike defiantly knows how to expand well into the athletic sporting market. Nike has a strong presence overseas and sales their product worldwide. They always have the elite athletes promoting their product. They have Lebron James, Kobe Bryant and before they had Michael Jordan. Those athletes have helped in playing a role in creating brand loyalty. They have achieved this through 40 years of athletic of consistently developing superior products which appeal to consumers both domestically and internationally. Weaknesses One serious weakness with Nike is that they ignore to see problems in their labor and factory conditions. In the 1980s, Nike contracted most of their manufacturing to factories in poor nations such as China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Mexico in order to get the lowest manufacturing costs. Instead of paying higher wages, they were able to increase profits by paying lower wages to people in less developed countries. In 1996 Nike was uncovered for child labor laws in Pakistan. This led to a lots of negative publicity. Many people began to boycott their product. Many human rights groups formed alliance to protest the treatment of employees in these overseas factories. Even students at the University of Oregon, a college which depends heavily on the donations of Nike founder Phil Knight, rallied and signed petitions against the company, which put a strain on the relationship between the two organizations. Nike saw a small drop in sales after this scandal broke. Though this scandal has tarnis hed Nikes reputation for more than 15 years, they have remained on top throughout it all. Another issue Nike needs to address is that it has such a high price for apparel compared to its competitors, granted the quality is high but many consumers are turned away by the expensive price. Opportunities One great opportunity for Nike is to promote their brand as fashion as well as athletic wear. There are many consumers who see some Nike products as a fashion sneaker and wear their sneakers for that purpose instead of just athletic wear. Sneakers like the air force 1s and sneaker collections like the air maxes, Nike dunks, and the Jordan collection are worn as fashionable sneakers just as much for performance. In celebration of the Olympics this summer, Nike revealed a new product line meant to celebrate Nike classics, such as the Air Force 1, the Nike Dunk. Nikes greatest opportunity is Chinas market which is expanding speedily. China was a $600 million dollar business for Nike and the largest business Nike had outside of the United States in 2006. Nike is the leader in the market for sports apparel in China; it still has the opportunity to grab a larger market share, which could result in hundreds of millions of dollars more. Nike is the first company to work with Chinese athletes and create a look which includes their culture. Nike has created a competitive advantage over its competitors. Nike has an even greater opportunity to take advantage of on the China marketplace when they sponsored the 2008 Olympics in Beijing this summer. This event was watched by billions worldwide and allowed Nike to strengthen their relationship with China by proving their products value. Once Chinas marketplace has been established, expansion into other countries can do the same. It has a good judgment of marketing by sponsoring top athletes from different sports. Nike has prominent athletes from all major sports, which allows them to connect with a wide variety of consumers. Threats Some threats that the Nike Company may have are their competitive brands. Since Nike is the highest priced athletic brand name that puts them at risk for losing many of their customers. Nike faces a lot of competition. The shoe industry alone is highly competitive. This competition makes it hard for Nike to constantly set themselves apart from their competitors. As an pioneering leader, Nike is regularly the source of replication. For every new improvement, Nike has a very short lead time before their competitors release a similar product. The industry itself is becoming increasingly price competitive. Nike produces a high quality product and sets its prices as a result. Nike is well known as a first-rate priced product. With this sort of replication, competitors can sell similar products for a cheaper price. Price sensitive customers will then go with Nikes competition. Nike has many competitors, just looking at the shoe industry. While they are currently the best in the industry in terms of market share, in 2005, two of Nikes largest competitors, Adidas and Reebok, merged into a single company in an attempt to close the gap between themselves and Nike. When Nike b ecame the victim of public scrutiny over its oversea factories, both companies started to make improvements in their oversea factories to improve their image over the industry best. Another strong competitor is New Balance, a privately owned company based in Massachusetts which produces mostly women sneakers. New Balance is dedicated to selling products that are made in the U.S.. With Nikes poor public opinion of overseas manufacturing, this could be a big benefit for New Balance. New Balances commitment to customer loyalty allows them to spend less on marketing. Other competitors include Skechers and Puma. Skechers main focuses is on stylish footwear, using popular media personalities such as Carrie Underwood for its marketing. The German based company Puma is also a rapidly growing company. Puma introduced a five year plan starting in 2006 to expand into India and China, as well as launch five new product lines. Companies like these are not big enough to be a threat to Nikes succe ss now, their swift growth makes them possible threats in the near future, and Nike will need to monitor their success. Recommendations Nike is obviously the top of its business, but no company is invincible. Nike has several avenues of advancement. If they want to continue to build on lead and maintain their dominate status in the industry, they need to take a hard look at their mission and define it in S.M.A.R.T terms. This will give the company a constant goal and a direction to move in instead of being complacent waiting for its competitors to catch up. They need to make it clear not only that they want to stay on top, but how they will stay on top. They have a unique opportunity with Google their and Joga.com. The ability to reach some of their target customers in such a fashion could be a huge marketing advantage. The site needs to be finished before other networking sites take over. Nike needs to know what its competition is doing and needs to prepare to counter anything the competition puts up against them. The most important thing they can do is improve labor circumstances in factories. The hard part for Nik e is maintaining low costs while still keeping the brand equity they are known for. In order to do this Nike needs to have fewer suppliers and more calculated relationships with the ones they already deal with. Making these adjustments, their reputation will become positive and they can gain back the customers they lost due to negative publicity. Nike has always been associated with high quality retail products. They now need to be associated with the same type quality when it comes to labor and manufacturing conditions.

Name of case

Texas Instruments (TI), a high-tech semiconductor giant, gunning for the technology boom, went up like a rocket, and proceeding in the wake of the technology bust, came down like the stick. The business free fall jolted TI. Its giant feet, it figuratively reduced, to fit in their customers’ shoes. Fitting in their shoes is renewing customer awareness, and walking in them is focusing on their happiness. BTS USA, a global supplier, trained the TI’s executives and managers in learning how to walk toward the customer-centric direction. Ironically, the quickest walk from TI to its customers is on that road that threads through the heart of the front-line employees – the ones that should have walked first in the customers’ shoes. Review/Analysis of the Case The nostalgic expression â€Å"customers waited in line† conjures up a unique image of a cross of Pied Piper and Lady Luck, both legendary personifications of power and fortune – the twin business goodies coming out of the technology boom. At its height, TI had its hands full of such goodies. The Pied Piper’s power was in his magic pipe that lured rats to follow him in a long line. TI needed a jolt to wake up to the call of those customers that waited in line who, unlike Pied Piper’s rats, were people with human wants and needs to satisfy. TI needed a jolt to wake up to the call of its Lady Luck who, in the wake of the technology bust, was running out of luck. Then, BTS USA, a global supplier of computer-based simulations of learning, came in and played the role of a hero. The Training and Development play was a typical example of a book-line theory put on a real-life practice. That is, an external change (technology bust), stirred an organization (TI), that egged on a problem (dissatisfied customers), which required a consultant (BTS USA), in carrying out the following basic process (training and development): Diagnosing needs, gathering data, planning actions, building teams, developing groups, and conducting evaluations (Davis, 1981, p. 261). Analysis of Findings In real world, TI would need all pair of hands to give its customers a lift, and all pairs of feet to walk in their shoes. To satisfy customers, product quality and price should meet their expectations, and services should match their perceptions. Product quality and price is performance-driven while customer service, on the other hand, is behavior-driven. Training and Development seems to emphasize behavioral processes rather than job performance (Davis, 1981, p.271). The pairs of hands and feet – that produce products with quality and price the customers expect – belong to the front-line employees. Therefore, their level of training priority must be stamped: High. Recommendations TI would achieve competitive advantage in real world by totally satisfying its customers. It would require organization-wide changes that would transcend major traditional turfs with diverse conflicting goals: Marketing aims at increasing volume, Production, minimizing cost, and Finance, maximizing profit. Amid the radical change, Training and Development, according to Davis (1981, p.257), plays a vital role as a â€Å"change agent† that breaks through, if not breaks down, the organization’s turfs, stimulates sweeping changes across-the-board, at the same time, rolls those turfs together into one harmonious work force. Summary and Conclusions TI’s ultimate climb to the top must be steered with durable ROI at the bottom. What awaits TI at the summit is a highly coveted business trophy – customers-waiting-in-line reality. To earn such trophy needs no magic from Pied Piper and Lady Luck. TI must only enlist all pairs of corporate hands in a â€Å"Total Customer Satisfaction Boot Camp.† After fitting up to great shape, all the pairs of corporate feet would be let loose to walk in their customers’ shoes. Walking together hand-in-hand while commanding a view of the top, TI’s climbers and their customers alike, would loudly cheer, â€Å"We’re Number One!† References Davis, K. (1981). Human behavior at work: Organizational behavior. Arizona. McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Keats’ presentation of time Essay

Compare and contrast Keats’ presentation of time, transience and mortality in â€Å"Ode to Autumn† with that in â€Å"Ode on a Grecian Urn and â€Å"Ode to Nightingale†Ã‚  During the period of 1814- 1820 Keats was at his most successful throughout this time he wrote both of his major poems â€Å"Ode on a Grecian Urn† and â€Å"Ode to a Nightingale†. Another flourishing poem of his was â€Å"Ode to Autumn† which he wrote shortly before his death. In this essay I will be addressing many areas, clarifying Keats’ thoughts and feelings. To do this I will compare and contrast the way in which Keats presents time, transience and mortality I will then explain how this idea is a delusion and how Keats realises this. To conclude these ideas I will find evidence for resolution to this point in â€Å"Ode to Autumn†.  Keats is very conscious of mortality for the duration of both â€Å"Ode on Grecian Urn† and â€Å"Ode to a Nightingale† because Keats feels this apprehension he tries to escape by imagining immortality. Keats writes â€Å"struggle to escape† (line 9) in â€Å"Ode on a Grecian Urn† and this reveals Keats is questioning himself, along with why he cannot escape the thought of eventually dying. Many emotions are expressed while he goes through this experience. Keats feels very envious of the nightingale and this is shown in â€Å"tis not through envy of thy happy lot† (line 5). Keats wants to escape from this depression and also the knowledge of mortality. The main idea of this escapism shows Keats trying to go back to the state of Innocence; he may feel that he wants to be able to enjoy his life with his brother again and to also not have to worry about life’s troubles. In â€Å"Ode on a Grecian Urn† and â€Å"Ode to a Nightingale† envy can be linked to escapism, as Keats feels this envy he gets led to wanting to find escapism. In â€Å"Ode on a Grecian Urn† Keats writes â€Å"Thou foster-child of silence and slow time† (line 2) this may suggest that Keats is envious of the figures on the urn and how they are still able to enjoy their child hood and also their child-like innocence. Keats enjoys being around the figures on the Urn and also seems to associate them with beautiful people and this is shown in this quote where he describes them as â€Å"happy, happy† (line 21). Since this feeling he may envy the thought of the figures on the urn being immortal, Keats does not actually know whether these people are immortal but he thinks that is the case. This is because he may feel that mortals cannot be happy with the thought of eventually dying and as these figures appear happy they therefore must be immortal. There is similar situation in â€Å"Ode to a Nightingale† the atmosphere starts to become rather intense and Keats then quotes â€Å"away, away!† (line 31). Keats is desperate to follow the nightingale, he even considers following it and flying away with it. Keats thought that originally he would be left with a feeling of ecstasy whereas he was left with feelings of emptiness. In â€Å"Ode to Autumn† Keats no longer feels the need to be envious of other things. He now feels that all he can do is ask questions for example â€Å"Where are they† (line 23), Keats unfortunately does not know the answers but he still seems content with asking the questions.  Throughout these three poems Keats has been excessively trying to seek resolution and emotional fulfilment. Unfortunately he cannot find either in â€Å"Ode on a Grecian Urn† nor â€Å"Ode to a Nightingale† whereas he does in â€Å"Ode to Autumn†. In â€Å"Ode to a Nightingale† Keats writes â€Å"Do I wake or sleep?† (line 82) as well as â€Å"was it a vision or a waking death?† because he is searching for these emotions all he feels is that he can do is ask questions and this is because he has no answers for why he cannot seek and successfully find emotional fulfilment. In â€Å"Ode to Autumn† he finally finds what he has been looking for, emotional fulfilment, Keats says â€Å"lives or dies†. He shows that he has found resolution whilst also realising the longer he lingers over the past the more he will miss the present time.  This I called ‘carpe diem’ Keats is no longer bitter and now knows how to appreciate the future and accept his fate. Keats’ imagery ranges among all our physical sensations: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and temptation etc†¦Keats repeatedly combines different senses in one image, which is, he attributes the traits of one sense to another. This imagery performs a major functions in the two poems â€Å"Ode on a Grecian Urn† and â€Å"Ode to a Nightingale†; this is the combining of senses normally experienced as separate experiences. The images could be the ability to sympathise and humanize natural objects. Many examples of this mainly appear in â€Å"Ode to a Nightingale†- for example â€Å"In some melodious plot of beechen green† (line 8/9) this combine sound â€Å"melodious† and also sight â€Å"beechen green†. In stanza 4 there is an excellent use of imagery â€Å"but here there is no light â€Å". Keats then goes on to say â€Å"Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown† (line 39) this is useful as it the image describes light filtering through leaves moved by the wind. The effect that this has is to show that Keats is feeling that death and the thought of eventually dying is draining all the good things out of life.

Gender Is The State Of Being Male Or Female Essay

Sex is biological, determined by factors such as how many chromosomes a person has and genitalia. Gender is the state of being male or female, it is a social construct. Transgender is a person who identifies or expresses a gender identify that differs from the one that corresponds to the person’s sex at birth. Also, a hermaphrodite, is a person having both male or female organs or other sexual characteristics are faced with nature of gender, sexual identity, and what makes up one’s sense of self. A person’s ability to make a choice is defined by the amount of control over the situation. Therefore, one’s gender is a choice. Most people identify with the gender that is aligned with their biological sex, but some people decide to identify with the opposite gender, both or neither. Therefore, one may feel the need to make their physical parts match what is inside their head resulting in sexual reassignment surgery. â€Å"Society views gender as a rigid, innat e thing† (Garner 33). Since one cannot change how they feel inside, a person may change their given gender. There is a narrow understanding of gender. Many people are under the assumption that one is mentally ill, however one wants to make the decision for themselves. First, the Choice Theory was developed by Dr..William Glasser allows one to gain a perspective on the topic of gender roles and gender identity. â€Å"Choice Theory sees almost all human behavior as being chosen† (qtd. in Gardner 31). One is motivated internally, notShow MoreRelatedGender Is The State Of Being Male Or Female?2063 Words   |  9 PagesWe’ve grown up in a society where gender has always been an issue, and quite possibly always will be. Unless we start to entirely alter our thoughts and begin to view gender for what it is and not what it’s been portrayed to be for many years there will not be any change. Can we accomplish something like changing our thoughts to believe in something that’s different from what society has taught us? 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