Prof. Klinger
Business Administration
Monday 9:00 – 11:50am
Homework #5
December 13, 2010
Jessica Paz
Lizzy Kolodzieski
Lukasz Kustra
Rachel Jackson
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Prof. Klinger
Business Administration
1. Nike Shoes
Nike is the world’s leading athletic brand. They sell products in over 160
countries around the world. Their target consumer is the athlete between the ages of
18 and 35. Co-founder Bill Bowerman once said “If you have a body you are an
athlete” (Nike).
Within the target market however, there are three segments. “Nike exists to
bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world” (Nike). In order to
accomplish this Nike recognizes the different levels of athletes, and categorizes them
into three levels: compete, train, and express.
Compete is for the serious athlete, the one who lives all three levels of the
athletic lifestyle. This person may be a professional, college level, or even intense
recreational competitor.
The next level, train, is for the athlete who is continuously training. This athlete
may eventually move to the compete level, but they really love the training aspect of
athletics.
The last level is express. This is also known as the lifestyle category. This is
for the person who loves the athletic culture. Generally, the competitor and the trainer
also fall into this group.
Nike Shoe’s Segmentation and Marketing Mix
In order to reach all of the different market segments Nike has, they
have created hundreds of different products. Their product line includes shoes in all of
the following sports: action sports, basketball, cheerleading, dance, golf, lacrosse,
running, soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, training and volleyball. With Nike
offering all of these products in 13 distinct sporting categories, we decided to choose
only a few of their most popular to showcase.
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Prof. Klinger
Market Segment:
Business Administration
Males with ages ranging from 25-35, with incomes between $40k and
$100k, who are environmentally conscious and play basketball.
Product:
Nike's Trash Talk Shoe
A Nike performance basketball sneaker completely
produced from manufacturing waste.
With “green” items becoming more popular due to extreme
pollution, many individuals are looking for any possible way to
promote the environment and preserve our planet.
The sneaker comes in multiple color schemes. This
trendy, forwarding thinking mix of cool design and color with
sustainability and an environmentally conscious message is sure
to appeal to the younger group of consumers.
Price:
With a suggested $100 price tag, Nike has used premium
pricing with this product. While it is certainly not the most
expensive of the products that they offer, it is certainly priced to a
more trendy and economically stable market segment.
Promotion:
For promotion of this product, all marketing and advertising
needs to be placed in hip, relevant and modern networks.
When the product was first introduced Nike had basketball
player Steve Nash wear them in the 2008 NBA All-star game. I
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Prof. Klinger
Business Administration
would also make sure that television commercials appeared on
stations like Comedy Central and ESPN. These are both
television stations that are geared more toward males in this
market segments age range.
Distribution:
The places to distribute these shoes would be in stores like
Footlocker, FinishLine and Dick’s Sporting Goods. Also online
retailers such as EastBay.com and shoebuy.com would be good
places to sell this product. All of these retailers market to the
same age range and income that this product was developed for.
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Prof. Klinger
Business Administration
Market Segment:
17-25 year old single males, who partake in organized basketball with
parents who earn between $70k and $150k a year.
Product:
Nike’s Air Jordan
This sneaker has features that were specifically designed to
optimize basketball performance.
Price:
This product is priced between $109 and $174. The sneaker
comes with a hefty price tag to play up the fact that this is a product
designed for the serious and talented basketball player. It really helps
define the idea that this shoe will help to improve your game. The
sneaker itself is too pricey for casual basketball players.
Promotion:
This product is heavily marketed towards the youth with popular
professional NBA players as the products spokespeople. It is marketed
on channels like ESPN and during events like the Olympics, where the
entire USA Men’s basketball team was outfitted with these shoes. Nike
also releases a new Air Jordan just in time for the holidays every year.
This year the new sneaker was released on December 11, 2010 and all
true Air Jordan fans await the release date with excited anticipation.
Distribution:
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Prof. Klinger
Business Administration
This product is sold in places like Footlocker and FinishLine and
at NikeTown stores across the country.
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Prof. Klinger
Business Administration
Market Segment:
24-35 year old women with an annual income range of $60k- $120k, who
run outside rather than indoors and run on a very regular basis.
Product:
Nike LunarMax
The shoe is designed for ultra-lightweight support and comfort. It
provides maximum impact protection and is made up of thin, incredibly
strong nylon fibers for a supportive, comfortable fit.
The shoe has reflectivity for enhanced visibility in low light. The
sneaker includes a carbon rubber in the heel for durability to maximize
the shoes endurance while running outside.
This shoe is available in a wide range of bright vivid colors to
appeal to females and to stand out in a display of shoes at a store.
Price:
The shoe comes with a fairly expensive $120.00 price tag. Again,
the price is high to further emphasize the quality and enhancement that
this shoe brings to the sport of running.
Promotion:
This product is geared toward athletic women who want to
maintain a fit and healthy lifestyle so advertising in magazines such a
Cooking Light and Runners World. Also on the Health Network or during
popular women’s television shows such as Oprah or The Biggest Loser.
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Prof. Klinger
Business Administration
Distribution:
Again sporting places like, Sports Authority, Foot Locker and
definitely on websites such as Nike.com and Amazon.com.
Since
women do a lot more online shopping then men putting a little more
emphasis on the online aspect would probably pay off.
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Prof. Klinger
Market Segment:
Business Administration
Parents with daughters ages 5-12 who play soccer, with an annual
income between $80k and $160k.
Product:
Nike Jr Mercurial Victory TF (10c-cy) Soccer Cleat
This soccer cleat is specifically designed for play on in turf field
indoors. It is made of supple leather for good ball feel and better ball
control. It has an EVA sock liner to reduce cleat pressure and molded
rubber outsole with innovative vapor traction pattern for speed on
artificial turf. It also comes in fun bright colors and a streamlined modern
design that is sure to appeal to young girls.
Price:
This product is priced at $45 which puts it at the top of the market
as far and children’s soccer cleats go. This establishes it as a shoe for
the more serious player.
Promotion:
Definitely this product should be promoted by a female
professional soccer player that young girls look up to. It can be
marketed in sports magazines such as Sports Illustrated and perhaps in
Soccer Store fliers that showcase good equipment.
Distribution:
This should definitely be distributed in stores like Soccer Evolution
and Sports Authority. These are typical places that the consumer for this
market segment would go to buy their sporting equipment.
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Prof. Klinger
Business Administration
Market Research:
Using a survey is a standard way to understand the target market of any
company or business. Although, using a survey may be tricky at times because when
surveying a person or a group of people they generally know that they are being
surveyed. When people know that they are being watched they tend to act differently,
which may not give companies the most accurate results. Therefore, coming up with
new tactical ideas will allow your company to get information regarding your target
market without getting a bias response because the customer will not know their
information is being used.
One way of finding out information regarding the target market of Nike brand
shoes is by partnering with a large number of bowling alleys. Everyday millions of
people go to bowling alleys and trade one of their shoes for a pair of bowling shoes to
play in. We could have a market research team gather information about what brand
shoe and what size shoes get brought in to each bowling alley on a daily basis. From
this information we can find out how many people are using the Nike brand as well as
come up with an age bracket indicated from the shoe size’s we have gathered as well.
Another way that Nike brand can receive information about their target market
is by gathering information about which types of teams or organizations are endorsing
their brands. There are many athletic teams both professional and non-professional,
or schools, gyms, etc. that use a specific type of shoe brand. From the information we
obtain we can see what sports, ages, and whether it is more male or females who are
using our products. From this information we will be able to figure out who our target
market is and who is using our product the most.
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Prof. Klinger
Business Administration
Works Cited
Nike, referenced 11 Dec. 2010.
< http://www.nike.com/nikeos/p/nike/en_US/?sitesrc=usns&ref>
Nike Biz, referenced 10 Dec. 2010.
< http://www.nikebiz.com>
Nike Store, referenced 10 Dec.2010.
< http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?&sitesrc=uslp>