All of these elements of the organization and its market offer opportunities and threats to the Nike organization. I am going to apply what I believe are some attractive options they may have in the short, medium and long term taking into account my research and findings. In the short term (between 0-3 years) I believe Nike would benefit from the increased research and development into shoes that are aimed at the fashion market.
Nike are the innovators and leaders in sports apparel but with this increase in non-sports people buying Nike footwear, it would be in the interests of Nike to start producing shoes primarily for fashion purposes.
If a strategy is adopted quickly they may be able to establish a market base before the other competitors can compete effectively in this market however there has already been a move by other large competitors into this market.
It may also benefit Nike to implement a strategic plan to manufacture products in other countries cheaply and efficiently as they currently do in China and Vietnam as the EU commission has future plans to restrict the amount of produce manufactured in these countries.
If another economy is found that can work as effectively and cheaply as workers in China and Vietnam early, Nike will be able to capitalize on this and once restrictions are put in place, Nike may be able to offer cheaper footwear than its competitors if the competition neglected this area.
In the Medium term (3-5 years) Nike should develop a strategy to increase promotion of its products in China and/or India.
These two nations are increasing in size rapidly and in the years to come it has been estimated these economies may be as successful as the largest in the world if not the two largest. If Nike can capitalize in the footwear industry early in both economies they may be able to gain a large market share before competitors which may in the long term become a very profitable economy to sell to as there will be many consumers with high wealth and thus disposable income.
Both of these economies have large populations and with the estimated high growth of these economies I think Nike should try and penetrate these markets if they continue to grow. Threats to the Nike organization in the medium term may be the forecasted predictions of the UK footwear market. Future forecast of the UK footwear market shows there may be a minimum volume growth of footwear in the market within the next five years.
This shows Nike have to ensure they adopt a strategy that may help protect the company at the time the volume of footwear demanded is low. It is vital Nike can operate effectively and recover after the market slowdown in volume and return as competitive as before if not more competitive. With price still decreasing in all retail sectors it is important Nike always try to cut its manufacturing costs to stay competitive. Pricing strategies could be put in place to tackle this threat and more research into sourcing cheaper resources to manufacture the footwear.
In the long term (5+ years), falling prices has led to volume growth of footwear in the UK being minimal in the future forecasts, it shows “From 2007-12, market growth in value terms will be minimal, while volume growth is expected to decline from 2009 onwards” (Mintel). This makes it very important for Nike to try and gain as much market share as possible before it becomes saturated and no future volume growth can be achieved. This could be achieved with more endorsed products and advertising campaigns to capture the consumers. This could also apply to the medium term.
References
- Jobber, D, Principles and Practice of Marketing, 2007 (5th Edition), Published by McGraw-Hill Education, Maidenhead
- Footwear in the United Kingdom: Industry profile, Reference Code: 0183-0619 Publication date: August 2006, www.datamonitor.com (http://dbic.datamonitor.com/industries/profile/?pid=87D60C74-7DA2-4CFB-B740-BAC2B267E659)
- NIKE, Inc. Company Profile, Reference Code: 1191, Publication Date: July 2006 (http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=6&hid=9&sid=af53b7db-d020-4871-8e75-0ec671679da2%40sessionmgr2)
- Mintel, Footwear, UK, 2007 report, (http://academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen_academic/display/id=220168/display/id=313272)
- Marketline, Nike Inc – Company profile. (http://dbic.datamonitor.com/companies/company/?pid=8E563969-FC1C-4D3A-8EEE-F9D79F81F0C3)
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