Nike's Energy Bar Marketing Plan Founded in 1964, Nike is the largest sportswear and fitness company in the world. The company designs, manufactures and markets apparel, accessories, and equipment for a broad variety of sports including basketball, football, soccer, baseball, tennis, and cricket. The company's success in the highly competitive sportswear and fitness can be attributed to product innovation and excellence as well as commitment to consumer needs. Recently, the company ventured into the energy bar market following its complete withdrawal from the golf equipment market. The new product line, dubbed as Nike Fuel +, was informed by the need to focus on fitness as opposed to just sports. Introducing the product provides an important opportunity for the company to widen its market as well as extend its brand. Given the intense rivalry in the energy bar market, a comprehensive marketing strategy is required if the product is to successfully gain a significant share of the market. This paper provides a marketing plan for the product. Attention is particularly paid to product strategy, pricing strategy, target segment, target messaging, communication strategies, and marketing budget.

Product

Product constitutes an important element of the marketing mix (Lamb, Hair, Mcdaniel, 2012). Successful products are those that deliver unique benefits to the target market, both visible and invisible. Nike is certainly entering a market dominated by powerful brands such as Powerbar, Snickers Marathon, and Cliff Bars (Lewis, 2009). These rivals boast extensive recognition, presence, and distribution. They also boast several varieties in each product line. In spite of this, there is still room for new entrants. Focusing on a niche market and highly differentiated offerings, new entrants can readily grab a share of the market. One of the dominant players in the market is Powerbar. A major shortcoming of the company, however, is that it lacks a highly differentiated energy bar. Therefore, with a highly differentiated energy bar and focusing on a niche market, Nike can successfully establish its presence in the energy bar market.

Nike will specifically differentiate its product from the competition by targeting active individuals, notably high performance athletes as well as fitness conscious and on-the-go individuals. As its name suggests, the product will be designed as a delicious, carbohydrate-rich snack for providing energy and recovery after a game, exercise, or workout. The snack can as well be consumed between meals. In addition, the product will offer not only energy benefits, but also health benefits. Most energy bars in the market lack the health aspect (Roth, 2015). Filling this gap will, therefore, offer a significant competitive advantage for Nike in the marketplace. Overall, Nike has extensive experience in the sports and fitness market. It comprehensively understands the behavior of the active consumer. Therefore, active individuals will view Nike Fuel+ as a source of liveliness and energy for their active lifestyle.

Price Point

Price also constitutes an essential component of the marketing mix. It is important for attracting customers and driving sales (Lamb, Hair, Mcdaniel, 2012). An effective pricing strategy will be instrumental to the success of the new product. Since it is a high-end product, a value-based pricing strategy would be appropriate. This essentially entails setting a price based on the perceived value of the product to the customer (Baines, Fill & Page, 2011). Nike is a well-established revenue are not attained. It is important to adjust pricing strategy in accordance to the response of the market.
Target Segment

A successful marketing plan must be based on a comprehensive understanding of the target market (Luther, 2011). There are over 28 million consumers of energy and nutrition bars in the U.S. This number is expected to be even higher in the near future as consumers become increasingly fascinated with nutrition, fitness, and wellbeing (Crawford, 2015). The new product line, therefore, provides an ideal brand extension opportunity for Nike.

Majority of consumers of energy and nutrition bars are aged 25 to 54 years, with the consumption being higher among females and affluent consumers (Butler, 2016). This comprises the major demographic group for Nike. In addition, approximately 75% of consumers of energy bars eat them as snacks between meals, while more than 60% consume them as a portable alternative for breakfast (Butler, 2016). Consumption also tends to be high during the latter part of the day, either as a snack between meals or during exercise (Butler, 2016). This group also comprises a significant portion of Nike's target market.

The Nike consumer is generally active and athletic, meaning the company targets sports and fitness enthusiasts as well as recreationists. This category encompasses five key segments: professional sports people, excitement seekers, getaway actives, fitness driven individuals, and health conscious individuals. Professional sports people fall in the most extreme category of sports enthusiasts, and are individuals who participate in sporting activities as a way of earning a living. They are involved in team sports, especially soccer, football, baseball, cricket, basketball, volleyball, and so on. In essence, their entire life revolves around sports. Excitement seekers are individuals with an overwhelming passion for sporting activities. They regularly participate in mountain climbing, yoga classes, camping, and other adventurous outdoor activities. Getaway actives are individuals who engage in sporting activities in their free time, such as during weekends or vacation.

Fitness driven and health conscious individuals share some characteristics in the sense that they like keeping fit. They regularly engage in exercise and workout. Nonetheless, fitness driven individuals tend to be more involved in more intense physical activity such as running and weight lifting. Also, they may frequently visit the gym or take part in athletic activities. Health conscious individuals on the other hand tend to be involved in lighter exercises such as walking. Health conscious individuals also tend to be concerned about the nutritional composition of energy bars.

The Nike consumer is also fashionable, casual, and stylish. They use the brand to express social status as well as their sense of fashion. This means Nike's customers find Nike's products cool and trendy. It also means majority of Nike's customers are likely to be living in urban areas, where attention to trendiness tends to be higher compared to rural and remote areas. Table 1 below summarizes the characteristics of the target market.

Table 1: Characteristics of the target market

Demographic characteristics

Age: 25-54 years

Gender: men and women

Marital status: single, married, with and without children

Race: All

Income: middle to high income

Educated: college and above

Occupation: sports

Geographic characteristics

Country: U.S.

Location: urban areas

Behavioral characteristics

Usage occasion: regular and occasionally

Buyer status: first-time, regular, loyal, and non-loyal

Benefit sought: energy, health, and convenience

Buyer readiness: willing to buy, aware, and unaware

Attitude: enthusiast, quality conscious

Psychographic characteristics

Lifestyle: active, support and take part in sporting activities

Interests: professional sports people, excitement seekers, getaway actives, fitness driven individuals, health conscious individuals

Message

An effective message is required if the target market is to successfully resonate with the new product line (Lamb, Hair, Mcdaniel, 2012). Nike's energy bar is primarily targeted at high performance athletes as well as on-the-go and health conscious individuals. The…