Nike, inc.

Case Summary (Resumen del Caso):
Nike began in 1962 originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports. The company focused on running shoes for athletes by famous athletes. Because Nike has been committed to create innovated footwear for serious athletes, this helps begin to build a cult in the United States. In the 60’s and 80’s Nike began to market their product by using athletes. Specifically in the1980’s the company recruited Michael Jordan to be their spokesperson thus making one of the best marketing decisions of all time. Because Jordan personified superior performance Nikes 50/50 bet paid off the Air Jordan Line flew off the shelves and revenues hit over $100 Million dollars in the first year alone. In 1988 the company began to air probably the most famous and memorable ad campaign JustDo It which shows the manifestation of what Nike’s attitude of self empowerment through sports. Nike began to expand overseas to Europe they succeeded overseas by modifying their brand to specific sport demand, which In Europe is soccer. Nike got their big break at the 94’ FIFA World Cup the Brazilian team that was the only team Nike sponsored Won. The win basically transformed Nike in Europe froma shoe company into a brand that Emotion, Allegiance, and Identification. It helped launch Nike into other international markets.
In the next decade Nike has really focused on international markets, specifically China. During the 2008 Olympics Adidas, Nike’s rival was the official sponsor of the summer games. But Nike thought strategically by getting special permission and proceeded to ambushmarket. Nike sponsored most of the Chinese teams and 11 out of the 12 US basketball team high profile team members. That same year in the Asian region grew 15 percent to 3.3 billion and Nike’s international division grew to 53 percent. Therefore Nike’s ambush marketing strategy during the Olympics was a lot more effective then Abdias’s sponsorship. By using endorsements form high profileathletes such as Tiger Woods, the company has been able to expand to even greater success by expanding to new athletic footwear, apparel, and equipment product categories. In tennis Nike has teamed up with Maria Sharapova, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal to push its line of tennis gear. People have gone so far to say that the 2008 Wimbledon match between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer a five hour longNike commercial that has been estimated at 10.6 Mil. Nike also teamed up with 7-time Tour De France champion Lance Armstrong and produced the LIVESTRONG campaign, which manufactured and design the LIVESTRONG bracelet and sold over $70 Million. Nike created commercials that show Armstrong sending a message of survival and Willpower. Nike continued its marketing domination by teaming up with thepowerful APPLE INC. and created an exclusive application Nike+ technology in doing so the company grew 60 percent in its shares. Today Nike dominates not just the footwear market with a 31 percent market share globally everything from wristwatches, swim caps, basketball equipment, women and men sports attire, and sports culture. As a result of the company’s perfect marketing Nike is a topathletic and footwear manufacturer in the world, with a corporate fiscal 2009 revenues exceeding $19 Billion.

Información de la compañía:
Nike, originalmente conocido como Blue Ribbon Sports, comenzó en el 1962 por dos hombres de Oregon: Philip Knight y Bill Bowerman.
Sobre los fundadores:
Bill Bowerman fue un entrenador de atletismo en la Universidad de Oregón. Siempre estaba buscando maneras dedarles una ventaja competitiva a sus atletas. Sus experimentaciones incluían diferente superficies de correr, re-hidratación y –lo más importante- innovaciones en zapatos de correr. Desafortunadamente, los fabricantes establecidos para zapatos deportivos en los años 1950s ignoraron las ideas que le ofreció y entonces él comenzó a crear sus propios zapatos para sus atletas.
Phil Knight era...