Nike's marketing analysis in micro and macro business environments

Organization Behavior

NIKE Marketing Analysis

Business environment consists of numerous factors and forces that impact the business organizations' ability to operate competitively and profitably in their industry. These forces exist at both micro and macro levels and require the business organizations to show quick response to the uncertainties and complexities which may arise in the business environment from time to time (Cadle, Paul, & Yeates 2010). These forces impact each and every aspect of the business operations like marketing decisions, segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies, consumers' buying behavior, marketing or promotional activities, and others (Lamb, Hair, & McDaniel 2012). This paper presents a report on the marketing analysis of Nike, Inc. -- a well-recognized brand in the clothing, sportswear, and footwear manufacturing industry of the world. The major sections include; impacts of micro and macro environments on Nike's marketing decisions, the segmentation criteria which it uses in different markets, the targeting strategies for selected products and services, impacts of buyers behavior on its marketing efforts, and positioning strategies used for selected products and services.

ABOUT NIKE

Nike is the world's top market leader in sportswear, footwear, clothing, and equipments manufacturing. It was founded in 1964 by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight as Blue Ribbon Sports and renamed as Nike in 1978. Headquartered in Oregon, United States, Nike operates in more than 160 countries and 6 Continents of the world. Its major product offerings include athletic footwear and apparel, sport equipments, and other sports-related products and services. It has also opened retail stores with the name of Niketown. Due to the quality, style, and reliability of its products, Nike has become the most appreciated sports brand in the world (Nike, Inc. 2012).

IMPACTS OF MICRO AND MACRO ENVIRONMENTS

Nike expends a huge amount on advertising and other promotional efforts for its products. From marketing planning to the marketing audit; each and every marketing decision which Nike makes is affected by the micro and macro environments which are present in its external business environment. The micro environment consists of forces and actors that are close to the company's operations; including suppliers, distributors, competitors, customers, and market intermediaries (Saxena 2009). While formulating its marketing strategies, Nike has to keep in view the impact of these strategies on each of these micro environment participants. For example, while setting its marketing budget, Nike has to rank different marketing activities according to their significance for the overall objectives. For example, it has to ensure that it purchases the required high quality raw material from the most reliable suppliers from the industry. The relationships which Nike has built with its suppliers directly affect its costs of production.

Similarly, it has to look for well-established distributors which can deliver its products to the potential target markets around the Globe. The intensity of competition in the industry also impacts the marketing decisions of Nike. In order to operate in the most competitive fashion and maintain its market leadership in the industry, Nike also has to keep an eye on the marketing decisions and strategies of its competitors firms. These competitive forces directly impact its pricing, promotional, and positioning strategies. Due to their large impact on the company's marketing and operational decisions and performance, competitive pressures are considered as the most critical forces in the microenvironment (Lamb, Hair, & McDaniel 2012). The marketing decisions of Nike are also affected by the consumers' buying behavior. They purchase only those products that best fulfill their needs and fall within their budget. Nike has to keep in view the customer preferences, life styles, and consumption patterns while setting pricing and segmentation strategies for its products.

Converse to the micro environment, the macro environment consists of all those forces that are completely out of the control of business organizations (Saxena 2009). Nike operates in a manufacturing industry where macro environment constitutes economic forces, political, legal, and governmental forces, social, cultural, and demographic forces, and technological forces (Cadle, Paul, & Yeates 2010). These forces also impact the same marketing decisions of the company, but a much larger scale. For example, the economic conditions, political stability, governmental behavior, and legal infrastructure in a country, the cultural beliefs and earning and spending patterns of the general public, and technological advancements are the major forces which directly impact the marketing decisions and strategies of Nike at local and international level.

IMPACTS OF BUYER BEHAVIOR

Buyer behavior is one of the most significant factors from the micro environment of the company. It impacts the company's pricing and promotional strategies the most (Kurtz, MacKenzie, & Snow 2010). For Nike, buyer behavior is the sole reason for continuous improvement in the product and process designs. Nike ensures this improvement by instituting the most advanced manufacturing capabilities and technological processes in its operations and modernized designs for its products. Buyer behavior impacts Nike's marketing decisions when it has to re-price or re-position its products, target a new market segment for the existing product lines, or introduce a new product to the existing markets.

POSITIONING STRATEGIES FOR SELECTED PRODUCT OR SERVICE

Nike proposes new positioning for its selected product or service by attempting to create a strong image of its brand in the minds of the consumers. It recognizes the importance of positioning of the products in the presence of a stiff competition from local and international brands. In order to position its product in a market, Nike uses extensive advertising and promotional campaigns through event sponsorship, ads on major communication mediums, public relations, direct marketing, and presenting famous athletes as the brand lovers for that product. The positioning of selected product or service is also done by keeping in view the correlation between the product attributes and its potential target customers. Every product has a specific market to target which can believe it more worth buying than other products available in the market (Kurtz, MacKenzie, & Snow 2010). Therefore, the major focus of positioning a product is always put on presenting it to only those customers who are really in need for it. Nike uses differentiation strategy for its products when it finds a number of substitute products in the market.