Nike Strategy

Introduction

For this module Session Long Project I picked Nike, Inc as the multinational company to study. Here we will discuss the origin and history of this company and its profile. We will also cover Nike's international activities and how they managed to become today's world's leading supplier of athletic shoes, apparel and sports equipment. We will see how this company managed to expand internationally and control the sportswear arena completely by utilizing marketing strategy centering around brand image which is attained by distinctive logo and the advertising slogan: "Just Do It" and the company promotes its product by sponsorship agreements with celebrity athletes, professional teams and college athletic teams. However, Nike's marketing mix contains many elements besides promotions. These are summarized as: Product, Place, and Promotion/Sponsorship. Now let's see how this company finished FY 07 with a $16.326 billion in revenues and over 30,200 employees worldwide as of Jan 2008.

Discussion

Profile - Nike, Inc (originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports) headquartered in the United States near Beaverton, Oregon, is the world's leading supplier of athletic shoes, apparel and sports equipment. The company took its name from Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. It was founded by University of Oregon track athlete Phil Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman in January 1964. Initially it operated as a distributor for Japanese shoe maker Onitsuka Tiger, making most sales at track meets out of Knight's car. The company first self-designed