Brand Positioning-Nike Inc.
Introduction
A company’s brand positioning depicts a lot of its success or failure. According to Sengupta, (2005) brand positioning refers to a marketing strategy that is aimed to make a brand occupy a specific position in the minds of its customers about its competitors. Most companies apply this strategy by emphasizing on its distinguishing features or create a suitable image, especially through advertising. Similarly, Clifton, Simmons & Ahmad (2003) argues that it is target consumer’s main reason to purchase your products in preference to others. Almost all successful companies have made themselves distinct from their competitors; the Nike Company is one among them. It is in this regard that this essay seeks to look into the brand positioning of the Nike Company. It will specifically apply the ‘tool chest’ positioning approach to explaining Nike’s brand positioning. Moreover, this will be achieved by analyzing its three step process; the foundation, the formula and the checklist.
It is no doubt that the Nike Company has successfully managed to build a reputable brand image that is appealing to all demographics around the world. They are perceived to be the kings when it comes to brand positioning or creating a marketing plan for its products. The company has maximized on advertisement to enhance and maintain its brand. Before it launches a product, it first conducts a marketing research and plan. The process sometimes takes a lot of time only to end up with a simple or a handful of words, but this turns out to result from a substantial influence on the company’s brand. Nike has a brand for nearly every market group, from children to adults and to providing sporting wears to all athletic games. They have managed to make their brand ubiquitous. Moreover, they have shifted their focus on products and turned it into an attitude. Nike Company focuses on the production of athletic wears (Bedbury & Fenichell, 2014). It is built on the notion that every person is an athlete. They brand themselves to be producing quality products that are produced in the most honest and ethical way to meet and exceed the needs of its clients.
Brand positioning
This section looks into Nike’s brand positioning through the three ultimate positioning steps.
The foundation
The company was primarily founded to specialize in the production of sporting wears for everyone. It was also influenced by three factors;
The market needs: after conducting a market research, the company identified a market gap that existed in footwear. To meet the market needs it branded its products in eight sporting categories. They included soccer, athletics, men and women training, basketball, sportswear, action sports and golf. It also focused in branding other sports such as tennis, cricket, lacrosse, wrestling and volleyball (Bedbury & Fenichell, 2014). Furthermore, its line of performance equipment included socks, bags, digital devices, gloves, bats, eyewear, sports balls, golf clubs and timepieces.
Nike’s product’s strengths: some of the company’s strengths that make it unique from its customers include;
It uses make to stock client order that provides a faster service to its clients. It is strong in research and development. This is evident in its innovative products as well as the production of high-quality products at a relatively lower cost. It has extensive and effective marketing strategies that have ensured its products are globally recognized (Bedbury & Fenichell, 2014). Further, its distribution chain is strong as well as its customer relationship. Furthermore, another branding strength that the company enjoys is the fact that it depends in overseas manufacturing, and it also has a higher product price as compared to its competitors like the Adidas.
Competitions strengths and weaknesses: the company’s main competitor is the Adidas Company. Adidas has good labor practices as compared to Nike thus that is its major strength over Nike. However, Adidas overprices their products, thus a weakness over Nike.
The Formula
Nike understands the need of having brand positioning. It's driving brand positioning statement is “For serious athletes, Nike gives confidence that provides the perfect shoe for every sport”. It has lived by this statement; it has fulfilled its promise and has never disappointed its clients. It is a global leader in the sporting products industry with a specific focus on enhancing athletic lifestyle.
Its formula thus can be ‘to the serious athletes, the company provides perfect shoes that offer comfort and meets all ergonomics since they are of high quality and are provided at affordable at prices.
The checklist
Nick’s checklist involves; the availability of its products, this is attained through the ‘market to stock customer’ strategy which ensures availability of its products to its customers at any time. Through their strong research and development plans, they constantly produce new innovative products thus they thrive to remain relevant. Further, they have differentiated themselves in the production of sportswear. Furthermore, production of quality products makes them reliable and believable. Moreover, the company has a strong financial stability which enables a continuous surplus of the products thus it is sustainable and enduring.
In conclusion, from the above discussion it is clear that Nike Company has a highly reputable brand. Its positioning can be attributed to its effective marketing strategy and continuous research and development.
References
Bedbury, S., & Fenichell, S. (2014). A new brand world: Eight principles for achieving brand leadership in the twenty-first century. New York: Penguin Books.
Clifton, R., Simmons, J., & Ahmad, S. (2003). Brands and branding. London: Profile Books.
Sengupta, S. (2005). Brand positioning: Strategies for competitive advantage. New Delhi [u.a.: McGraw-Hill.
