“Nike is successful at success at success” A puzzling title yet inspiring title by Jessica Li that has caught my attention. The blog summarized Nike’s blazing success at its focus on business sustainability as well as its resonance on its audience with its” fast and powerful” image.
First of all, Nike is arguably one of the most established marketing leaders, however just as famous is its scandal of “sweat shops”. The undoubted global trend of increasing awareness of “green” has put enormous weight on firms to take social responsibilities. Learning from the “sweat shop” mistake which led Nike to a loss of over 10 million dollars, Nike takes initiatives this time to implement its already successful products. Since 2007, Nike has reduced the emissions produced by its facilities nearly 15%. The company made a conscious decision to stop focusing on purchasing renewable energy certificates and start focusing on managing actual reductions. This has taken Nike’s 2009 energy footprint back down to 2007 levels. “Sustainability is key to Nike’s growth and innovation,” Mark Parker, Nike’s CEO, said in the report’s press release. “Making our business more sustainable benefits our consumers who expect products and experiences with low environmental impact, contract factory workers who will gain from more sustainable manufacturing, and our employees and shareholders who will be rewarded by a company that is prepared for the future.”
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_-gU5B0HAw[/youtube]
Adding an additional social cost line to the supply curve is definitely a smart idea by Nike, with its new ads and campaigns allowing customers to be fully aware of its social responsible actions contributes in creating brand loyalty. Personally, I do adore Nike’s products, knowing its green and from a fair wage workers makes the purchase far more comfortable even if the price is slightly expensive. Even consumers from those of developing countries are gaining awareness of the social impacts due to business activities, in order to keep capturing these emerging markets as well as lead in market shares global wise Nike will have to make business sustainability an essential components to its marketing mix.
Moreover, remember Jessica mentioned Nike’s success at marketing the image so that customers would feel the same way. From my point of view this is the biggest success of Nike’s marketing strategies—-to let consumers identify with the brand. A personal example would be my boyfriend who has been a loyal Nike fans and he holds firm the belief that Nike shoes would actually make you become a better player and even make you jump higher. Being as bizarre as it sounds to me, Nike does have its way. [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fCdWXNaZwA[/youtube] Nike, just like any other sports brand, spends huge amount of money on famous athletes, such as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James etc. to portray the so called “fast and powerful” image. I believe Nike took it further by asking athlete to actually explain how the shoes will enhance performance as well as asking them to use it in matches. Just like video, it is convincing to ears of someone who can’t differentiate a basketball from a soccer, let alone to someone who’s a completely LeBron fans. Keeping releasing the latest series under players’ names has successfully segmented the market in a very creative way. Also a brilliant way to keep all the fans at their toes and emptying their pockets for the latest release knowing they already have a dozen of pairs !