2. The Nike Brand
What is Nike?
Nike is the leading designer, marketer and distributor of athletic
footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a variety of
sports and fitness activities in the world.
3. Challenges
The market for sporting goods is intensely competitive in the US and across
geographies. The company competes internationally with a large number of
athletic and leisure shoe companies, athletic and leisure apparel companies,
sports equipment companies and large companies with diversified lines of
athletic and leisure footwear and apparel and equipment. The company faces
competition from Adidas and Puma, a German-based sporting goods companies
having international presence. Nike faces competition from these companies in
athletic footwear, apparel and equipment categories. In the US market, the
company also faces competition from regional players like Dick's Sporting
Goods and Finish Line. These companies design, manufacture and market
athletic footwear.
Declining online retail spending in the US. The US online retail spending
declined by 3% in Q4 2008 versus the year ago, the first recorded quarter of
negative growth since 2001. The online spending, which was showing increasing
trend till Q4 2007, began to de-accelerate in FY2008, culminating in a 3%
decline in the final quarter of 2008. The financial market meltdown that began in
the fall dramatically reduced consumers' discretionary spending power, resulting
in negative online spending growth. Nike has a significant presence in the online
retailing in the US, which contributed a significant portion in its total revenue.
Apart from its physical retail stores, it also offers its products through its
4. Goals
Nike Mission Statement : “To bring inspiration and innovation to
every athlete in the world”
Nike’s goal is to carry on the legacy of innovative thinking, whether
that involves developing products that help athletes reach their full
potential, or create new business opportunities that set them apart
from the competition.
The other principle goal of the company is to create business
opportunities that set Nike apart from the competition and provide
value for our shareholders.
5. New Online Media Plan
Nike has a very loyal consumer following, across the
board in all aspects of sports and fitness. There needs
to be a more consistent way to communicate with the
consumers who are not only loyal followers but also
attract new consumers.
A new plan needs to be but in place to increase online
sales of Nike products and traffic to the Nike websites.
Incorporating more fan interaction and update geared
advertising to inform consumers off all the behind the
scenes and buzz worthy things the Nike brand is
currently unveiling and offering will be a primary focus of
this online campaign.
6. Email and Google
The first thing that I advise for this campaign is retooling the email
list service to incorporate more offers and insight to the consumers.
Email is a difficult concept because it can be considered as spam or
not useful, by adjusting the emails to include more realistic and call
to action offers and information should help combat this.
Google and Google Ad words is also an important tool to use in
online media. Making sure that Nike shows up relatively high in
search engines and gets numerous hits of keywords like “sports
apparel” is a great driver for increasing online traffic and potentially
sales. Also using ad words for sponsored spots on Google’s search
engine is a great way to attract more hits. Using pay per click
method.
Having a good Email and Google Strategy to play off each other is
a great base to attract new consumers to the brand.
7. Social Media Tools
Social Media Tools like Facebook and Twitter have been the
booming interest of online users in today’s world, it provides them
with information on their favorite people and things.
Nike should capitalize on the opportunity of using these social
media tools to increase the fan interaction and dialogue with the
consumer.
Creating verified Facebook and Twitter accounts for Nike and the
numerous subgroups and sports divisions is a key component in
being able to provide consumers with constant streaming
information and in return receive critical feedback seamlessly.
Together Facebook and Twitter can target not only new consumers
all over the world with fan pages and facebook ads and sponsored
tweets, but can also maintain and build the relationship with the
loyal consumers in numerous demographics and sports.
8. Metric Success
The success of this new strategy should be
measured in a couple of key ways, first with
the declining rates of the online sales, I would
like to see a 6 to 7% increase in the online
retail spending from consumers, and increase
in viewership of the Nike websites and
Facebook and Twitter pages.
Also increasing our page rank and relevance
on Google and Google Ad words should help
gage the success.
9. Proposed Budget
Nike spends roughly about 12.4% of it’s revenue in
advertising costs, which equates to roughly $2.8 billion.
About $500 million is spent in endorsements deals .
The proposed budget to be allocated in this new online
media strategy will be roughly $500 million.
11. Timeline
The timeline for this campaign will work in a couple of different
movements. The whole campaign will work over the whole calendar
year, but the peak times of the campaign will be during the
beginning of each key sport season to match each key sport sub
group.
A specific Nike Football strategy will be started in July through Fall
A specific Nike Basketball strategy will be started September
through June
A specific Nike Baseball strategy will be started March through the
summer.
The other sub groups will match up with their respective sport.
The main Nike strategy will work continuously.