Nike is a multinational company based in the United States of America with global market coverage for manufacturing and designing athletic sportswear apparel & footwear. Nike is one of the most successful global brands to date, and it competes with other top brands such as Adidas & Puma. To reach its global target markets and promote its business & products, Nike develops and maintains its promotional strategies. By combining all the promotional strategies, Nike effectively promotes its brand and attracts potential customers.
Nike’s promotional strategies helped the company become a global giant. Those strategies are explained below.
Social Media: Nike uses social media effectively to reach its millions of users and attract new target markets worldwide. This company has become one of the most-followed brands on social media by balancing its ads with its lifestyle. Moreover, this company diversified its online presence by creating different profiles on different social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Nike has drawn significant attention to new markets by running campaigns on social media.
Advertisement: Nike’s one of the strongest strategies is to advertise its products to promote branding to potential customers. Nike has made many world-class ads that have generated a lot of attention around the globe. Nike follows different strategies to advertise its products, such as endorsing megastars & celebrities and partnering with giant companies to increase its market. Nike endorsed the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Maria Sharapova, and Roger Federer in a TV commercial for Nike Free, called “Power to your feet.” Moreover, Nike engaged Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi in another television ad where they were playing tennis in the streets of Manhattan. Also, Nike persuaded many followers by partnering with Michael Jordan to create the Air Jordan line in 1984, which has been the most successful celebrity endorsement for this company. In addition, Nike partnered with Apple, Inc., which has increased brand awareness & international expansion for both parties.
Public Relations: Nike uses public relations to promote its brand and reach potential customers. The company’s management is keen to maintain good relationships with customers and the market. This company shows a friendly & approachable attitude towards the customers and does not want to break the relationship with them. Nike has categorized the public relations section into its dedicated customer service channel. Nike prioritizes customers’ demands and, based on those demands, categorizes information on its website. The website has been made lively & colorful with featuring important press releases, news, and product information. To improve relations with the public, Nike implemented various philanthropic initiatives and successfully organized social campaigns.
Sponsorship: By sponsoring various sports events and top athletes, Nike has increased its global publicity. Nike sponsored major sporting events to communicate directly with its target customers. It sponsored all NFL teams’ jerseys and several football clubs in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America. It also sponsored different national football teams around the world. To promote its brand in West Africa, Nike sponsored Didier Drogba, one of the most celebrated African footballers. This company planned this promotional strategy to increase its market share in this region.
Direct Marketing: Direct marketing strategy helps Nike expand its promotion into target markets. The company uses its new products to attract more customers and make a greater market impact than its competitors. This company increases loyalty among potential customers through a direct marketing strategy, which will improve customer exposure to Nike. It also planned to send direct mail to customers to inform them of promotions, advertisements, and its new product release, special sales, and corporate social responsibility initiatives. Moreover, the company uses salespersons to approach and promote its products to different sports organizations & individuals in colleges and universities.
Personal Selling: Nike’s customer experience has been enhanced through the execution of its personal selling strategy. Personalized services played an important role in helping the customer find the desired Nike products. The company posted trained store personnel to provide quality service to customers and improve customer relations. The store personnel are well-skilled at influencing consumers to buy Nike’s products. A personal selling strategy expedites the purchasing process and, in turn, contributes to the company’s financial benefits.
Reference(s):
http://panmore.com/nike-marketing-communications-mix
https://prezi.com/p/alcyxozw_ezh/nikes-promotion-mix
https://www.daytranslations.com/blog/nike-expands-globally
https://ivypanda.com/essays/nike-inc
https://blog.unmetric.com/nike-social-media
https://www.afrbiz.com.au/case-studies/nike-developing-nike-free.html?print=1&tmpl=component