Nike Fuel+ Energy Bar: Complete Marketing Plan

Introduction

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 industry can be attributed to product innovation and excellence as well as a 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 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, with particular attention paid to product strategy, pricing strategy, target segmentation, messaging, communication strategies, and marketing budget.

Product Strategy

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 Clif Bars (Lewis, 2009). These rivals boast extensive recognition, market presence, and distribution networks. They also offer several varieties within each product line. In spite of this, there is still room for new entrants. By focusing on a niche market and offering highly differentiated products, new entrants can readily capture a share of the market. One of the dominant players in the market is Powerbar; however, a major shortcoming of that brand is that it lacks a highly differentiated energy bar. Therefore, with a highly differentiated energy bar and a clear niche focus, 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 consumers. 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 bar can also be consumed between meals. In addition, the product will offer not only energy benefits but also health benefits. Most energy bars currently on the market lack a meaningful health dimension (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 and comprehensively understands the behavior of the active consumer. As a result, active individuals will view Nike Fuel+ as a source of energy and vitality for their active lifestyle.

Pricing Strategy

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 Nike Fuel+ is a high-end product, a value-based pricing strategy is appropriate. This entails setting a price based on the perceived value of the product to the customer (Baines, Fill, & Page, 2011). Nike is a well-established brand in the U.S., and consumers would be willing to pay a premium price for the brand regardless of the product's actual cost of production. A retail price of $2.75 per bar is recommended. Nonetheless, the pricing strategy can be reconsidered in the event that desired revenue levels are not achieved. It is important to adjust pricing in accordance with market response.