Essay on Nike Legislative

Nike Inc. is discovering innovative technologies to provide products for the athletes. Nike was initially founded by athlete Phil Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman from University of Oregon in January 1964. The original name of company was Blue Ribbon Sports (BRS) and it was operated as distributor for Japanese Shoemaker Onitsuka Tiger. In 1964, company introduced new opening in the retail location at California. After that it was expanded in other regions such as East Coast in Wellesley. In 1971, the contract relation between Onitsuka and blue-ribbon sports was ended, and company started registration in United States Patent and Trademark office. Recently, Nike has widespread arrangements for the offers that are available around the world. Before the end of 2015, the statistical analysis shows an increase of $ 3.27 billion and revenues generated were around 30.6 Billion. The combined free income was around $12 billion, and company strived through new plans for the expansion of brand by adopting different development techniques. Nike is providing wide range of services and products for instance, Nike has obtained a strong name and title in the market of football and basketball categories in the Eastern Europe, central and North America. The wholesale market of Nike is continuously growing and considers retail accomplice for the representable business growth as 80 percent. The focus of Nike management is on the low double-digit development and obtained $ 3.5 billion after claiming (Adegeest, 2015)

The present work deals with critical assessment of branding and impact of sustainability in marketing for increasing awareness and attitudes. The other components of present analysis include critical assessment of advertising standard authority ASA and code of advertising practice CAP. The analysis depends on the investigation of communication strategies and attitude of advertisement of Nike.

Critical Assessment of Branding Role and Impact of Sustainability Market

Nike Inc. uses powerful branding strategy that inspires vision as well as fervent customer loyalty. The company advertises services and products and uses technique of emotional branding of archetypes. The advertisement strategy is to use the professional athletes to have an increase in the demand along with publicity. With other strategies, Nike changed the target market from the teenagers to the younger customers. Due to change in strategy, the competition with Reebok and Adidas is becoming flaming. Therefore, the focus of company is to expand the services to reach the target market. Nike is generating higher revenues as compared to its competitors and credit goes to the slogan “Just Do It”. Besides other initiatives, Nike changed the technology trends by introducing digital sports and e-commerce. The change in technology have definite impact on the services and production process of Nike products. The company launched advanced models of Shoes by considering the innovative advertisement, event sponsorships, successful association, and celebrity endorsement. Even the strategies are innovative and use state of art technology but still Nike is facing certain challenges due to change in trend of fashion and increase in the competition with the competitors.

For any brand, it is an important task that how they are going to form attitude of their customers towards them. In today’s business era, where things are so dynamic, it is hard for companies to develop an attitude branding because competition is extremely tough and things cannot be looked as simple, because there are various factors behind the stimulation and attitude of customers. As mentioned earlier that Nike has given a slogan “Just Do It”, and when this slogan is analyzed, one can say that it is not talking about the products itself. The slogan does not represent that what kind of products Nike has like clothes and sports shows etc, rather it is focusing on a lifestyle to change the attitude of customers. The customers are being targeted with an emotional kind of branding strategy, where focus is to convince them to live a lifestyle, which is healthier. This is something, one can also easily identify in commercial of Nike that they don’t not give too much focus to the product itself; rather they show that how people are able to achieve their various athletic and sports goals by using Nike products. It shows that how people are able to so much with Nike products (Arslan & Altuna, 2010)

It is a well-known fact that customers always have some kind of feelings about products and brands like they may have perceived negative feelings about a brand, or they may feel positive about the other brand, and then this feeling helps them to chose and reject brands. But fact of the matter is that why customers do so. They do it because their attitudes are driven by various factors, and one big factor is branding done by the company. Nike has been so successful in this regard, because they have been able to do branding, which has really pushed people closer to them, because they injected a feeling to change their attitudes, and allow them to feel healthier and achieving bigger things in life along using Nike products. The formation of attitude is helpful for the customers to make their buying decisions, and if things are done properly by a company, it can do branding with great effect to form attitudes of customers, which are in their favor. The customers use their cognitive process to think about certain brands, and see what is best for them. When a company is able to target the feelings as well as emotions of customers, then things turn into their favor, because when customers are emotionally attached with any brands, they will always form an attitude, which is going to benefit the company. Therefore, it is crucial for companies like Nike that they develop a marketing strategy, which forms customers’ attitudes favorable towards them so that more products are sold and revenues are generated (Ansary & Nik Hashim, 2017)

The other great thing to help in formation attitudes as well as awareness of customers is sustainability marketing. It is important to understand that what sustainability marketing is; so that it can be found that how it is related to forming attitude and awareness of customers. It is a fact that customers have endless choices due to so many local and global brands all over the world, and they are also more aware than ever before, because internet has allowed them to keep information on their fingertips. So, it is crucial for brands to ensure that they are dealing with customers’ attitude by telling them that they do not only sell products, but they also care about them. The brands have to develop a perspective that they also know the importance of this world and its environment, so they come up with marketing strategy, which focuses on sustainability to win the hearts of people. It can be possible that people may choose one brand over the other just because of its efforts made for sustainability. The people show positive attitude towards such brands, because they feel that these brands have valued them and their environment, so they buy products to encourage these initiatives. The sustainability marketing is one of the most effective tools in recent times to develop great relations with the customers.

It is important for brands like Nike to realize that why sustainability is so important. The first important element of sustainability marketing is “people”. The second most important element attached to sustainability is planet and its environment. The company has to analyze that what kind of environmental impacts are made by them. It is important to understand that how they are using their business process to ensure that their impact on environment is not negative, rather they use sustainable process, which helps to keep environments safe, and people are given value in this regard. The companies like Nike can do so many things to make sure that sustainability is practiced by them. For instance, they can choose renewable energy solutions in their production and manufacturing process, which not only helps to reduce their carbon footprints, but it also helps to save energy for the future generations. The sustainable energy solutions are great to save energy, and use it with so many benefits. The great thing about sustainable energy is that it does not harm environment like energy produced from fossil fuels. If a company is following the strategy of sustainability, then they must tell their story to customers through sustainability marketing so that they can develop an emotional attachment with the brand, which values them and their environment so much. The companies have to make basic changes in their marketing strategy to follow the essence of sustainability marketing. So, if a company wants that it should be remembered by customers as one of the best companies, then they can’t do it by just providing discounts etc. The strategy of low prices and discounts can be good for short term perspectives, but for long term growth and recognition as a great brand, the companies have to show their ability to be more sustainable than others (Roberts, 2018)

Now it is important to have a closer look at Nike; how they used sustainability as well as marketing to achieve competitive advantage over the years. In the era of 1960s, there were various brands selling shoes, but athletes were not happy with those shoes, because they were not getting what they wanted, but there was no one to listen to their needs. In this crucial time, the Nike brand came on the scene, which was introduced first as Blue Ribbon Sports. The focus of this small company was to improve the lives of people by providing great products. Earlier, they sold shoes of Tiger brand, but in 1971, the company made big decision by started manufacturing their shoes and name of the company was renamed as Nike. The company was able to develop a niche market, which understood the needs of people, and came up with value proposition. The company kept doing many things right to become such a successful brand in the world (Mohammed, 2019).

It is also important to look at some specific sustainability efforts made by Nike to change the attitude of customers towards them. They have used a dedicated sustainable strategy to reduce their costs as they did outsourced their manufacturing process, and savings taken from this strategy were used in their other processes such as marketing. In the era of 1990s, the stories started to came out from factories of contractors in various parts of the world that labor laws are violated and labor is working under severe bad conditions. The company was blamed for this, but they responded by saying that they cannot be responsible for actions of their contractors. But still, they knew that things cannot go like this, as their brand reputation as at stake. Therefore, Nike came up with a code of ethics for its contractors to follow, which proved beneficial, but still it was not that effective as it should have been. They started focusing on other areas as well, but they were clear in their minds that what they supposed to do, and it can be shown by their previous facts like company stated in its annual report of 1997 that “Nike is not here to create a new world order. We are not here to eliminate poverty and famine or lead the war against violence and crime. Our critics say that the world is going to hell in a Nike sports bag. Then, again, our critics, for the most part, aren’t athletes.” (Valente, 2018)

According to their overall business strategy, the company is moved to make great choices in their business processes and keep sustainability as a great part of it. Most recently, the company has stated that what purpose moves them forward, and their purpose statement is stated as “We’re committed to creating a better, more sustainable future for our people, planet and communities through the power of sport.” It clearly shows that how company is valuing sustainability and doing marketing on its basis so that customers are informed about their efforts, and they get more awareness that why they should choose a brand, which believes in sustainability rather using a brand, which helps the world to move forward in a sustainable manner. One good example of their sustainability efforts is their Future Varsity Leadership Training Program. According to this program, the company enables fourteen young African Americans by giving them leadership training so that they can bring positive and effective changes in their communities. They have been able to make an impact on the attitude of customers by making an impact on environment (NIKE, 2019)

The Role of Advertising Standard Authority and the Code of Advertising Practice of Nike Inc

It is a fact that there are always few authorities, which not only help companies to develop code of ethics, but also force them to do so. One of such authorities in United Kingdom is named as the Advertising Standard Authority (ASA), which regulates the advertising industry. The other relevant authority is named as the Code of Advertising Practice (CAP), which is actually the sister organization of ASA. The authorities are independent ones, and they make a huge impact on code of ethics related to advertising to ensure that companies follows ethics and fairness in their ads, rather going for anything they want to. Their role is crucial, because when such bodies regulate marketing and ads, then things can be put in the line of morality and ethics. The facts and statistics revealed by ASA and CAP are quite interesting to look at that how crucial their role has been in recent past. It was revealed in a report by the authority that in 2018, they received 29000 complaints. These complaints were made against 16000 ads. The number of cases identified on their own was 5425. With their dedicated efforts, different companies were forced to remove or change their ads, and number of such ads was 4584. The authorities monitor the ads as per given ethical and moral standards and guidelines, and if any violation is made by the company, they force them to remove ad, or make considerable changes to align with rules mentioned in code of ethics. The authority also use pre-clearance method for companies before broadcasting their ads (asa.org.uk, 2019)

It is essential to describe one good example that Nike was regulated by ASA and CAP regarding any of their ads or marketing campaigns. The company started a Twitter campaign with the help of footballer Wayne Rooney. The tweets were made by the footballer with the Nike website in it, but ASA took notice of it and raised a question, whether their Twitter campaign can be considered as a marketing communication or not. The authority concluded that these Tweets are not identifiable adverts, and their way of doing it also not good. So, this Twitter campaign was banned, because it was not identified as an adverting campaign for Nike (BBC News, 2012). However, the company responded that they have included one of their official Twitter handle named @NikeFootball, which means that consumers should not have any doubt that who is sending these tweets. The ASA revised the situation, and it was found that with their Twitter account presence in the tweet, it can be taken as identifiable marring communication of the company with its consumers (ASA, 2013)

Nike’s own attitudes towards Advertising and Communication in 21^st Century

It is crucial for every business organization to come up with a dedicated strategy that how they will continue their journey into the future and how things will be done in this regard. Nike has realized the fact that things have completely changed for businesses in 21^st century, and it is an era, where consumers are aware about everything more than ever before, which means that it is hard to deceive them with any confusing marketing and advertising tactics. If a company ahs to go big and remain competitive in the market, then they will have to follow advertising and communication patterns, which are aligned with the needs of 21^st century, otherwise, companies, may not be able to achieve ling term goals. Nike understood the needs of digital era, that’s why in 2010; they came up with an initiative of Nike Digital Sport. The company has also shifted its focus to online media and platforms, because this shift has also been made by the consumers, as they go for online world more than anything. That’s why it was revealed that 40% drop in TV advertising was observed for the company, and this trend is likely to continue in the future as well. Moreover, in 21^st century, the companies have to more sustainable in their business and marketing strategy so that they catch the attention of customers, keep their interests alive. The way company has changed with the passage of time, and believed in more ethics to follow certain rules and regulations, it can be said that Nike would be running high in its competition with its competitors (CENDROWSKI, 2012)

 References of Nike Legislative

Adegeest, D.-A. (2015). Nike aims to reach 50 billion dollars revenue by 2020. Retrieved May 31, 2019, from https://fashionunited.uk/news/business/nike-aims-to-reach-50-billion-dollars-revenue-by-2020/2015101618003

Ansary, A., & Nik Hashim, N. M. (2017). Brand image and equity: the mediating role of brand equity drivers and moderating effects of product type and word of mouth. Review of Managerial Science .

Arslan, F. M., & Altuna, O. K. (2010). The effect of brand extensions on product brand image. Journal of Product & Brand Management , 19 (3), 170-180.

ASA. (2013). ASA Adjudication on Nike (UK) Ltd. Retrieved May 31, 2019, from https://www.asa.org.uk/rulings/Nike-UK-Ltd-A13-229986.html

asa.org.uk. (2019). About the ASA and CAP. Retrieved May 31, 2019, from https://www.asa.org.uk/about-asa-and-cap/about-regulation/about-the-asa-and-cap.html

BBC News. (2012). Nike's Twitter football advertising campaign banned. Retrieved May 31, 2019, from https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18517668

CENDROWSKI, S. (2012). How the legendary brand blew up its single-slogan approach and drafted a new playbook for the digital era. Retrieved May 31, 2019, from http://fortune.com/2012/02/13/nikes-new-marketing-mojo/

Mohammed, S. (2019). How Did Phil Knight Build Nike’s Sustainable Competitive Advantage? -The Key Success Factors. Retrieved May 31, 2019, from https://medium.com/@shahmm/how-did-phil-knight-build-nikes-sustainable-competitive-advantage-3c3b307c4dd6

NIKE. (2019). PURPOSE MOVES US. Retrieved May 31, 2019, from https://purpose.nike.com/

Roberts, M. (2018). What Is Sustainable Marketing And Why Is It So Important? Retrieved May 31, 2019, from https://thenextscoop.com/sustainable-marketing/

Valente, M. (2018). Nike: The Sustainability Journey. Retrieved May 31, 2019, from https://www.organizingforsustainability.com/single-post/2018/09/27/Nike-The-Sustainability-Journey