Nikes Core Competencies Exist

Nike’s core competencies exist in their effective marketing strategies and their innovative product design. These two elements provide much value and benefits to Nike’s consumers, are not easy for competitions to imitate, and can be leveraged widely to most of their products and markets. Although Nike does not manufacture any of its own shoes, the company is still today’s leader in selling athletic shoes and apparel. Nike’s marketing strategy is an important component of the company’s success. Nike is located as a premium-brand, selling well-designed and costly products. Nike lures clients with a marketing strategy centring on their brand image: a distinctive logo (the Swoosh ) and the advertising slogan “Just Do It”. Nike promotes its products by support agreements with celebrity athletes, professional teams and college athletic teams, original advertisements, and expert athlete endorsements. The company’s innovative and creative product design are what truly set Nike apart from their competitors. Focusing one of its corporate values on technology and innovation, Nike has pioneered four shoe-cushioning systems that reduce shock, distribute pressure, protect from impact and offer comfort.

These technological developments include: Nike Air, Nike Air Max, Nike Air Zoom, and Nike Shox. It is these innovations that improve performance and bring comfort to Nike consumers. Nike has also created an online website that is ideal for customization. The NIKE ID Web site provides a fun and easy way for users to customize and buy footwear and athletic gear. The site transforms the visitor into a designer, allowing them to apply their choice of designs, colours and materials to a broad range of shoes, bags, and equipment. Nike ID was the first of its kind when it was launched in 2000 Nike again, revolutionized the way the world looked at sneakers and how consumers buy them. By focusing on their core competencies, Nike has remained the world’s leading supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment with revenue in excess of $18.6 billion in 2008.

Nike, Inc. was created on a foundation of innovation starting with the waffle iron inspired sole. This allowed traction with less material, resulting in a lighter weight shoe.  Nike Sports Research Lab (NSRL), designed to encompass the innovative ideas from athletes, designers, engineers and scientists, this team was created to develop solutions based on biomechanics, physiology, perception and athletic performance. Strategic implications of successful innovation for Nike, Inc. will create resiliency when problems occur. The creation of innovative solutions can further strengthen internal teams and in turn, have developed as a core competency

The R &D department of Nike is playing a vital role because of its innovations in foot wear how the consumers can feel comfort by wearing their shoes and the quality that’s the most important factor to be given in shoes and they have different categories of shoes which is running shoes nick shocks, Jordan, and other types that is targeting different type of consumers having different perceptions. But most important thing of Nike is they don’t make shoes they design and then give their design to the production companies in Korea and china or Vietnam. Due to which they are more specialized in their innovation and in this way they have made their core competence in making innovative design of athlete shoes. But now a day’s organizations as it is looking for people what they want and what they demand ,what are their needs so they have concentrated more on the people what type of style or design they want to buy due to which they come up with the customization of products which is in www.nike.com in which people can customize or design their own style…

One of Nike’s main competitive advantages is their ability to be an innovative forerunner in the athletic footwear industry. Their long history of producing reliable, quality products has earned them a degree of trust in the hearts of consumers, allowing the public to take to new NIKE products almost instantly. Another advantage of the company is their ownership of many other footwear brands such as Converse Inc. and Hurley International LLC. The diversification of footwear produced by NIKE Inc. and its subsidiaries allow the company to have control over a considerable market share.

Channel
Nike has also created an online website that is ideal for customization. The NIKE ID Web site provides a fun and easy way for users to customize and buy footwear and athletic gear. The site transforms the visitor into a designer, allowing them to apply their choice of designs, colours and materials to a broad range of shoes, bags, and equipment. Nike ID was the first of its kind when it was launched in 2000 Nike again, revolutionized the way the world looked at sneakers and how consumers buy them.

Electronic Application
Last year, it launched FuelBand, a high-end electronic wristband that tracks your energy output and signaled Nike’s growing strength in the digital realm. “Think about it: Nike is now included in conversations around technology—it’s shifted into an adjacent industry, breaking out of apparel and into tech, data, and services,” says Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps. “That strategic shift is incredibly important to Nike’s future.”

MARKETING STRATEGY

Offerings & brands

Nike’s marketing strategy is an important component of the company’s success. Nike is located as a premium-brand, selling well-designed and costly products. Nike lures clients with a marketing strategy centring on their brand image: a distinctive logo (the Swoosh ) and the advertising slogan “Just Do It”. Nike promotes its products by support agreements with celebrity athletes, professional teams and college athletic teams, original advertisements, and expert athlete endorsements for example RAFAEL NADAL ,MICHEAL JORDAN , KOBE BRYANT AND TIGER WOODS.

Nike makes contracts with some celebrity athletes which can draw attention to their products such as Tiger Woods, Ronaldo. This has created a relatively high level of Nike’s awareness. Besides that, Nike also employed a large amount of advertisements through the mass media (Goldman S, 2000, pp 154). Nike’s brand images, including the Nike’s name and the trademark are considered to represent one of the most recognizable brands in the world. The Nike name and associated trademarks have appeared from players’ shirts, pants and everywhere. Their aggressive advertising campaigns, celebrity endorsements and quality products all enhance their brand and image. For example, when a celebrity athlete sponsors a specific brand of athletic shoes, the brand will be associated with success. core competences sustainably create competitive advantages for the firm

a) The brand recognition of NIKE is the biggest strength for the company. It is valuable and rare for the company. But since the competition in the sports footwear industry is so high, it is difficult to say that the brand recognition is non-imitable. Adidas gives a very stiff competition to NIKE and has good financial ratios. The NIKE/others products are non- substitutable. The substitution for the athletic footwear is low, as there are little alternatives available to choose from. The other substitutes available in the footwear industry are boots, flip-flops, and sandals. But these cannot be used in place of sports shoes, in any sporty event. Therefore, there are no real substitutes for athletic footwear. Hence the brand recognition for NIKE is sustainable.

b) The other competitive advantage which is sustainable is the innovative product quality of NIKE. A lot of technological and scientific research like air sole is deployed to produce the foot wears at NIKE.IT is constantly involved in the R&D, to produce better products to consumers. The competitive advantage is valuable and to customers as well as to the company. Even though there are other competitors, but NIKE has an upper hand in terms of its product technology making it non-imitable and non substitutable.

c) c) The competitive advantage of cost leadership and efficient operations
are temporary because other competitors are also doing well in those aspects. NIKE’s chief rival Adidas has a better cost advantage and over NIKE. The inventory management for Adidas is also appreciable, making the competitive advantages not non-imitable and non-substitutable.

Nike has core competencies in marketing and product design. It “outsources” other functions to companies with complementary core competencies. As stated in their annual 10-K documents: “Our principal business activity is the design, development and worldwide marketing of high quality footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessory products.” [6] One of Nike’s main competitive advantages is their ability to be an innovative forerunner in the athletic footwear industry. Their long history of producing reliable, quality products has earned them a degree of trust in the hearts of consumers, allowing the public to take to new NIKE products almost instantly. Another advantage of the company is their ownership of many other footwear brands such as Converse Inc. and Hurley International LLC[7]. The diversification of footwear produced by NIKE Inc. and its subsidiaries allow the company to have control over a considerable market share.