Nike: An Introduction
Nike is an industry leading maker of sports shoes, apparel and equipment.
The company is operating in a highly competitive market environment.
It is famous worldwide for its unique branding, excellent marketing strategy and for its focus on product quality and innovation.
The brand has experienced faster growth through its strategic investment in digital technology.
The company is known for making great products and offering a matchless customer experience.
Nike is facing intense competition from several brands.
However, it has a strong competitive edge, which has helped the brand retain its market leading position.
Nike’s main competitors include Adidas, Puma, Under Armour, ASICS, New Balance and more sports shoes and athletic apparel brands.
Despite the heavy competition, Nike has maintained its leadership position successfully.
There are several reasons behind its competitive strength. You can read about them in this case study.
However, one of the key reasons that Nike is more successful than its rivals is its successful targeting.
Targeting the right audiences makes a brand a winner.
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Nike is famous worldwide for its marketing strategy and that is what makes Nike a leader brand.
It does not just market its products perfectly but also targets the right audiences more successfully than its rivals.
Nike’s swoosh logo and ‘Just do it’ slogan make it stand out from the crowd of rivals in the world market.
The swoosh logo can be easily recognized by millions of fans around the world.
Nike has targeted both male and female consumers successfully.
Whom does Nike target for its products?
Nike products are not for everyone.
Nike is a market leader but that does not mean everyone wants Nike products.
Everyone is not a Nike customer.
Nike is targeting a distinct segment of customers.
Nike is a sports shoes and apparel brand that is mainly related with athletics and physical fitness.
This is how Nike has positioned itself in a highly competitive industry environment.
The company has categorized its products into six key categories that include Running, NIKE Basketball, the Jordan Brand, Football (Soccer), Training and Sportswear (our sports-inspired lifestyle products).
In this way, you can observe that Nike is targeting various sports activities.
It makes products that are designed especially for sports activities and physical fitness.
As you can see there is a special category of Nike products for training.
Apart from the above listed categories, Nike also designs and sells products for other sport and recreational activities.
These activities include American football, baseball, cricket, golf, lacrosse, skateboarding, tennis, volleyball, walking, wrestling and other outdoor activities.
In 2020, Nike has slightly changed its approach to make it more customer focused.
It has aligned the products in three categories including men, women and kids.
This approach is mainly aimed at creating products that are designed to meet customer needs better.
Nike makes and sells a vast range of athletic footwear products.
While these products are designed mainly for athletic uses specifically, they are also worn by customers in various corners of the globe for leisure purposes.
A vast athleisure market has evolved over the past several years.
Nike has successfully targeted this market and released products that meet athleisure needs across the globe.
According to sources, the athleisure market in 2020 was valued at $284.73 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 8.6% from 2021 to 2028.
Athleisure refers to a special category of clothes that can be worn for both sports and casual uses.
The growth of athleisure trends has been driven by the growing passion among people for outdoor activities and sports.
Growing health consciousness and drive for fitness is among the primary aspects that are driving the after growth in athleisure trends.
Every brand from Nike to Adidas and Lululemon is trying to cash in on athleisure trends.
Based on the above facts you can see that Nike is primarily targeting the athletes and people who love a healthier lifestyle, and who are more dedicated to physical fitness.
However, it is also targeting the people who love to wear such clothes and shoes casually or to look fashionable.
Another important fact about Nike’s targeting strategy is that it makes mainly premium products, which target the higher end segment of the market.
Its premium priced products target affluent customers.
Nike also maintains a heavy focus on customer experience across both online and offline channels.
However, Nike’s popularity is especially high among the young consumers.
It has successfully targeted both the millennials and Gen Z including men and women.
One key factor related to consumer behavior among the millennials and GenZ is that they like to buy from the brands that they consider trustworthy.
When it comes to the Youth market, Nike has achieved critical success and is ranked among the top fashion brands by the millennials and Gen Z.
Nike is also comparatively more successful than Jordan in this area, a brand it owns.
According to a survey the customers in the Gen Z and Millennial segment ranked Nike as the top and most trustworthy as well as the coolest fashion brand.
Young buyers compare Nike with Beatles and Beyonce brands in that Nike has achieved both critical and commercial success in the youth market.
A key thing to note is that while Nike has targeted the athletic market, it has successfully positioned itself as a fashion brand for the youth.
A few last words about Nike’s targeting strategy:
Nike’s largest target segment lies among the young buyers.
The youth consider it a highly trustworthy and cool brand.
Nike also uses several channels to reach and engage the young customers.
Apart from the Nike stores and other traditional channels, the brand is using online channels like Nike website, its various apps, and social media to engage the young buyers.
Nike makes premium products, which also means it is targeting affluent buyers.
The most important thing is its creative marketing strategy, which is also highly effective.
Nike’s swoosh logo and the various marketing campaigns like the ‘Just Do It’ campaign champion physical fitness and youthfulness.
Its innovative marketing strategy has made it a highly popular brand across the globe.
Nike has also increased its focus on the digital channels since the young buyers use these channels more compared to the physical channels.
The company is just as successful in terms of marketing as in the other aspects of business.