Nike

Brand Management
Nike

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Nike was created in 1971 by Jeff Johnson, the company’s third employee. But the spirit of the brand was born in 1962 with the enthusiasm of Phil Knight. He wanted toprovide high quality running shoes designed especially for athletes by athletes. This phrase has been the image of the brand until nowadays.

The Brand equity of Nike is based on performance,innovation and quality. Since the beginning, Nike has relayed on producing the best shoes for those who are sporty, winners and achievers.

Related to the Keller’s pyramid, Nike achieved salience in theearly stages of its live. They started investing large amounts of money in endorsements and advertising showing the top U.S athletes exceeding their selves (Steve Prefontaine was the first one). Nikewas increasing salience while it was creating performance and imagery by the associations between the brand and those achievers and sporty.

In 1984, came the new fashion-conscious of sport clothesand Nike had to change its marketing plan creating a new formula that included the first Nike’s mass market television advertising.
Since then, they have reinforced Nike’s judgments and feelingsimproving its quality, brand portfolio and keeping the winner andthe aggressive image. Moreover, they tracked consumer perceptions three times a year to identify marketplace trends.
Finally, Nike hasachieved resonance with its consumers; it has a high level of loyalty, it created a “real-sporty” community and it has an active engagement. The last financial numbers in the case show that Nike was thenumber one athletic footwear and apparel company in the world. Nike had earned over $13 billion in revenue and its stock was around $82 per share.

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The irreverence characteristic of Nikeadvertising in the U.S did not succeed in Europe because there was a cultural gap between the two audiences.

Knight had founded the company with the attitude to do whatever it would take to defeat...