Measurable Social Media Marketing Strategy - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Measurable Social Media Marketing Strategy. Answer: Introduction The marketing strategy is used by Nike, New Zealand to combine the various goals and objectives of marketing and conduct a market research to focus on the product and marketing mix and achieve the maximum level of profit in business. The marketing strategy s also used to create an effective marketing plan and ensure that the company sustains in the competitive business environment with ease and effectiveness. To conduct the research on the implementation of marketing strategies, it will be essential to set proper marketing goals and objectives, conduct the market research and analyse the target customers and competitors to make the company implement the most suitable marketing strategy properly (nike.com, 2017). The market research will be conducted by using SWOT and PESTLE anlaysis, analyse the target customers and competitors of Nike. This will make the company implement effective marketing strategies and create a good place within the business environment. Marketing goals and objectives The sales objective, as it could be seen by analyzing the marketing strategies of Nike, were to distribute the high quality sports shoes at lower prices and create a dominant marketplace within the shoe industry of New Zealand. The sales objective is also to maintain the good quality of products and services offered and make those available easily in the market place (Aaker, 2013). To focus on the objective of achieving the highest level of profit, the organization has met the requirements of customers in the different market segments and even promoted sustainable development of product design and novelty. The pricing objectives are to deliver the highest quality of products at the most competitive price and use sustainable methods to reduce the costs of operations, manufacturing and production and promote the development of innovative designs that can full the needs and requirements of the customers. This would also allow the young customers to reap the maximum benefits from exercising (Armstrong et al., 2015). The product objectives include development of the right kinds of products that can satisfy the customers and even combine all the important components of a product such as price, product features, places where the products are distributed and even how the products would be promoted to gain the attention of the customers. This would influence their buying behaviors and allow them to make purchases consistently, furthermore achieving the desired level of profit that the company had been aiming for (Baker, 2014). Few other marketing goals and objectives are maintaining the quality of products and services of Nike and ensure that these are easily available in the market, fulfill the requirements and needs of the customers in different market segments and establish sustainable methods for creating products that can reduce the amount of packaging wastes, prevent use of harmful chemicals and substances and maintain the ecological balance in nature too. The objective is also to achieve climate neutrality by preventing any carbon emissions that may be generated during the processes of manufacturing and production (Benjaafar, Li Daskin, 2013). The marketing strategies are implemented to stay ahead of all the other sports companies and make sure that the products and services are available to the customers all around the world. This could help in maintaining a better position through supply of good quality products and innovative designs for attracting the most numbers of customers belonging from di fferent backgrounds and cultures. The marketing strategies would be implemented to ensure that all kinds of products and services should be available in the markets and stores and could meet the changing demands and preferences of the customers (Berthon et al., 2012). To make the marketing strategies implementation successful, it is also important for Nike to value and respect the stakeholders such as suppliers, shareholders, customers, employees and the community and fulfill their needs and requirements to achieve the highest amount of share in the market. Encouragement of environment friendly and pollution free development strategies is another major goal or objective that can reduce the emissions of harmful gases and wastes during the processes of manufacturing and production. All these objectives, when achieved, could not only help in delivering the best quality products and services at lower prices but would also result in having a better market share along with maintenance of ecological balance in nature too (Brohi et al., 2016). Market research The research on market is conducted to identify the needs and requirements of the customers in the market, develop a profile of the competitors, identify the pricing strategies, and supply chains to make the organization gain more profit and competitive advantage in business. The market research is possible with the use of SWOT and PESTLE framework to analyse the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the market by the assessment of market size, growth, performance regarding sales along with the sales trends, social and demographics factors too (Caniato et al., 2012). Nike has a huge market share in not only New Zealand but also in various countries all over the world, because of its wide range of products available for the customers in different segments of market. Nike has developed shoes for all kinds of sports including soccer, tennis, basketball and even for golf and due to this, it is one of the number one choice for the athletes as well. Nikes targeted market segments are not limited, because of which, more customers have been attracted, which has created enough opportunities for the company to sustain in the business (Chaffey Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). Nike has a market size of 29 billion US dollars only from its footwear segment with 23 percent of the global athletic footwear market share. The brand value is worth 29.6 billion dollars for Nike, New Zealand. Nike has been the clear winner here, as it can be seen from the analysis. Nike has experienced a solid growth in revenue and this has kept the company stay ahead of its competitors like Adidas, Rebook, etc. Though the company generates good amounts of revenue, still due to the emergence of other organizations, the growth in revenue over the last few decades has reduced largely. Based on the future demands and preferences of the customers, the demands for the basketball shoes have also decreased and remained soft when compared to the previous years (Eggers, Hansen Davis, 2012). The sales performance of Nike has improved with the implementation of good advertising strategies for increasing the demands in the market segments and spread positive brand images. The targeted market has been changed from the teenagers to the young customers to expand the target market and deliver superior quality shoes that have innovative style and are reliable and authentic in their own segments. The e-commerce technologies have benefited the company by making products and services available online and delivered those to them with ease and efficiency. This has been a growing trend for the company, which has improved the sales performance largely, thereby achieving higher amounts of profit and competitive advantage in business (Ferrell Hartline, 2012). The e-commerce growth has resulted in making digital commerce sales, which has generated more sales revenue and even has helped the company to achieve the target with ease. From the analysis of sales performance, it could be understood that Nike has stayed ahead of Adidas and Puma and had sustained in the competitive market place too. It has a sales revenue of 29.1 billion dollars, which is quite higher than the other two companies within the footwear industry. The sales of Nike have increased for the past few years hugely and it has not only resulted in gaining good amounts of return, which is far more than the investments that were made earlier. Based on the analysis of two years, though without considering the past few years, it could be seen that the sales trends had increased potentially. The social trends embraced by Nike have facilitated the implementation of sustainable approaches for changing the lives of people as well as prioritize on the strategies to create a healthier and eco-friendly environment. The corporate social responsibility allowed the company to undertake approaches like innovation of performance, managing volatility of cost of resources, effective supply chain activities, etc. that have helped in maintaining production of good quality and environment friendly products to create a better place for people to live in the future (Hartley Claycomb, 2013). The demographic segmentation helped in making different products available for different market segments comprising of children, young adults and mature individuals. The company provides shoes, clothing and other athletic accessories that are of good qualities and have helped the company to enter new markets with ease and efficiency (Hollensen, 2015). Few major strengths of the organization are its strong brand name and image, good quality research and development activities to introduce wide range of new products and services, availability of good quality shoes and apparel products at comparatively lower prices and competitive advantage has been gained by the organization too. It sells shoes for various sports activities like basketball, golf, tennis, football. The Make to stock customer order used by Nike had facilitated the delivery of fast services to the customers and because of the huge numbers of outlets in more than 180 countries; the sales had been growing consistently (Gordon, 2012). The string research and development activities had helped in innovating the products and services and ensure that the highest quality products and services were offered to keep the customers inclined to the company. Nike, being a global brand holds a recognizable logo named Swoosh, which had been quite popular among the customers as well. The revenue generated is entirely dependent upon the market share of the footwear industry, which is considered as a major weakness. The retailers of shoes and clothing items are price sensitive due to the absence of own retailers of the company, which can also led to less market share. Because of the high level of dependence on the market share, the company might be vulnerable to lesser sales when the market share declines (Hartley Claycomb, 2013). The development of products has provided enough opportunities to Nike because it has not only attracted the attention of many athletes, but also has become popular as a major fashion brand within the youth culture. There are other opportunities as well, such as development of sportswear, sunglasses, jewelry and shoes too. These high value products and services have helped in generating higher profit in business. The development of business globally has strengthened its brand name and image, furthermore supported many popular events and sports to spread brand messages related to the products of the company (Haumann et al., 2014). One of the major threats is the huge amount of competition in the market by Adidas, Rebook, etc. Nike has been exposed to the international nature of trade and so it purchases and sells products in varied currencies, which has created instable cost and margin of profit. There is huge competition in the sports shoes and apparel market, because of which the competitors have developed alternative brand products to take most of the market share that Nike currently possessed (Hawkins, Mothersbaugh Best, 2013). New Zealand has good numbers of policies and procedures for growth, which has been beneficial for the organization such as low rate of interest and structured tax agreements. Changes in tax and political issues can also result in preventing the import and export activities for Nike. By cooperating with the Government, it has become easy for Nike to enable transparency in the global value chain and deliver its products and services all over the world (Hollensen, 2015). The brand equity technique is embraced by Nike to get benefited from the growing demands and preferences of the consumers and furthermore expanded its value chain. The company has provided employment opportunities to a huge number of people in New Zealand and this has provided the local rate to the labor force. The revenue is somewhat dependent upon the low cost labour and as it is changing, the prices of products of Nike are higher as well. With good amount of capital, Nike has all the necessary resources to enter the new markets and sell products properly (Huang, 2012). Nike has maintained a good social status by providing products and services to the customers that can make them lead a better lifestyle. The sustainable processes managed by the company have improved the health consciousness and even made the company create less negative impact on the environment. The organization has complied with the requirements related to the pay structure of employees and delivering good working conditions to the people for maintaining stability within the workplace. This has maintained the organizational standards and ensured that the products and services developed could fulfill the quality standards properly (Khan, 2014). Digital metrics have been used to analyse the demands and preferences of the consumers and enable segmentation of market to manage transactions and supply chains with convenience. The technological advancements have also created good working conditions for the employees, therefore reduced the turnover of employees and undermined the efficiency of the workforce. The company has focused on its marketing effort by embracing digital technologies to focus on the e-commerce and digital sports. The Nike Fuel Band product has personalized the experience of customer and even tracked the level of workouts (Kim et al., 2012). This kind of technological innovation has also given the organization an edge over its competitors by attracting the young customers and deliver feedbacks related to the overall experiences of customers. The segmentation of demographics is a major factor that has impacted the organization by allowing it to target the customers according to their ages gender, occupation, life cycle, etc. Nike mostly targets the customers aged between 18 to 40 years for developing brand trust and loyalty. The company has implemented various marketing campaigns to attract the athletes and even acted as major sponsors to top sports events. A wide range of womens apparel and accessories have been introduced as well to expand the womans segment and this increased the generated revenue for the organization. Because of the high prices of products and services delivered by Nike, the targeting demographic variables had been education and income level of the customers (Krajewski, Ritzman Malhotra, 2013). Analysis of target customers and competitors Nike Inc. is one of the major sports footwear and apparel company that has targeted the professional athletes mostly and through continuous innovation of products and services, the company has improved the potential of athletes and fulfilled their needs and requirements too quite easily. The company has now targeted the women segment within the New Zealand market by providing them with good quality womens clothing and accessories. The young athletes are the targeted market and this has created huge potential and opportunities for the company. Previously the company targeted the people who enjoyed sports, but with time, the company had managed to innovate its products and services and targeted both the young adults and women, who want something new and attraction that could improve their lifestyle (Kumar Mirchandani, 2012). The top competitors of Nike are Adidas, Rebook, Puma, Fila, etc. The products of Adidas are sportswear, clothing and other accessories. It has worldwide revenue of more than $16 billion and brand valuation of $7 billion. Rebook is another company that provides kits of football, cricket and other sports events. Puma is one of the strong contenders of Nike though it has not good levels of sports sponsorships (Kumar et al., 2013). Thus, it could be understood that Nike emerged as a successful contender within the sports and apparel industry. The utilization of value based pricing strategy by Nike has enhanced its growth in sales and profit level. This kind of strategy has helped in identifying the price that the company has applied for the products to maximize its profit level according to the market share. The high value of products delivered has helped in maximizing the profit level largely too. The market segmentation strategy has brought fruitful results by managing agreements between the sports team and the company itself, which further sponsored and endorsed the team members. The majority consumers of Nike are sportsmen and so the company has enabled styling of the product objective and purpose (Morgan et al., 2012). The consumers were targeted effectively, which has developed product intimacy through management of quality and value for money. The business is conducted in a ethical manner and this has been possible by collaborating with the business partners, strategic suppliers and focus on the long term goals by making the employees engaged within the workforce and created good working conditions too. The Codes of conduct standards are evolved to increase the level of expectations of the factory partners and manage strict guidance related to the child labour, compensation, forced labour and association freedom. The working relationships are transformed, thereby giving enough chance to manage changes and benefit the workers of the organisation too (Mullins, Walkerb Boyd, 2012). 7 Ps of Marketing Marketing mix is one of the integral components of strategy and it consists of controllable variables that will be used to fulfill the needs of the targets consumers in the market. Marketing mix will enable to identify the best course of action for achieving the desired long-term goals and objectives, which provide the organization with competitive advantage in the market. Nike is one of the leading manufacturer and supplier of global athletic products such as sport apparels, shoes and equipments. Nike has a strong marketing strategy, which has provided them with competitive advantage in the market (nike.com, 2017). Marketing mix is a tool that is used to improve the strength of the brand and Nike has one of the most strongest marketing strategy in the market. The organization has been mainly focused on the pull strategy, which has helped them to gain competitive advantage over the competitors such as Reebok and Adidas. The marketing mix of Nike will be highlighted in detail in this part of the report (Perreault Jr, Cannon McCarthy, 2013). The product line of the organization is wide and consists of products such as the apparel, equipments and shoes. The organization is one of the market leader in their market segment and has extended their product line by including the products such as athletic bags and accessories. Nike has brand named Cole Haan that consist of casual footwear, apparels and accessories for all segment of the market. Moreover, the product line of the organization consist of brands such as Sports Specialties which has put on the market products like head gears, skate blades, ice skates, hockey sticks, protective gears, accessories and hockey jersey (Santos Laczniak, 2015). This shows that the organization has diversified portfolio and is able to incorporate large number of products into their extended product line, which is catering to the different market segment in the organization. Nike is delivering their products to the premium segment of consumers, which suggest that they have been using premium-pricing strategy. The pricing strategy of the organization has been developed in such a way so that they can compete with the other rivals in the market. Nike never compromises with the prices they offer because of the quality of the product they serve and they have been commanding high premiums (Shank Lyberger, 2014).Nike uses vertical integration in the pricing strategy where their own participants operate in different channels and multiple channel so that they can control the prices and costs of operation. The products of the organization are sold in multiple stores in all over the world and consist of other stores, which are exclusive only to Nike. Nike supplies their product in the international market through independent subsidiaries, licensees and distributors (Kukanja et al. 2017). The organization has established production units in all parts of the world and it has facilitated them in distributing the products in the market. The location of the store is one of the factors, which affects the promotion of an organization. The use of print media and advertising is evident in the organization and formed strategic alliances to promote their products. The organization had made contracts with famous players from all the fields which will includes players like Ronaldo and Lebron James. However, the inclusion of the online media for promoting their product has to be more efficient and Nike will have to more active on the social media platforms and the micro blogging sites as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (Solomon, 2014). Thus, the organizations have been focusing on improving their digital marketing and have increased their cost of advertisements. However, online marketing and digital marketing if used in an effective way will be able to reduce the overall cost of the organization. The organization has diversified their product to cater to a wide range of consumers in the market. The target consumers include the premium consumers such as athletes. Nike has had targeted athletes from all the fields and provides wide range of products and equipments to the consumers (Aaker, 2013). Moreover, Nike also caters to normal consumer segment and has a different brand for catering to the needs of this segment. Nike is known for the designer products they offer to the consumers and they are able to provide customized products for each of the target segments. The products are designed in such a way that it will suit the needs of their desired field of expertise. Nike operates a global level and consists of large number of factories in various countries. Nike has their own set of independent distributors who supply products to the differ stores in all over the world (Armstrong et al., 2015). Marketing budget Marketing Expense Budget 2017 (OCT) 2017 (NOV) 2017 (DEC) 2018 2019 2020 Advertising $10,000 $12,000 $15,000 $20,000 $160,000 $260,000 Catalogs $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $25,000 $28,000 Websites $3,000 $11,800 $8,000 $5,000 $113,300 $125,000 Promotions $5,000 $10,000 $15,000 $0 $16,000 $18,000 Shows $0 $0 $0 $0 $20,200 $22,000 Literature $0 $7,000 $0 $0 $7,000 $8,000 PR $0 $0 $0 $0 $1,000 $1,000 Seminars $1,000 $0 $0 $0 $31,000 $34,000 Service $2,000 $1,000 $500 $250 $10,250 $11,000 Training $5,000 $5,000 $5,000 $5,000 $60,000 $66,000 Other $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $12,000 $15,000 Total Sales and Marketing Expenses $29,000 $43,800 $51,500 $23,250 $445,750 $578,000 Percent of Sales 6.24% 9.36% 6.77% 3.75% 7.48% 8.82% Contribution Margin $114,310 $123,238 $80,161 $72,035 $913,563 $1,108,926 Contribution Margin/Sales 31.07% 26.33% 10.54% 11.63% 15.3% 16.92% (Source: As created by author) The marketing budget states that Nike will be using aggressive marketing strategy and they have significantly increased their market spending. The organization is more focused on spending in their digital and online marketing; if the strategy is implemented in a proper way it will result in increase in the revenue and the overall revenue that will be generated will be around 20%. Moreover, there is a increase in the brand events which will help to promote their products and create brand recognition in the market and help them to gain competitive advantage in the market. Conclusion The report was presented to focus on the major marketing techniques followed by Nike to create a sustainable place in the market. The major marketing objectives were to deliver high quality shoes and apparel items at reasonable prices and conducted a market research for understanding the sales, growth and performance. The SWOT and PEST analysis helped in assessing the market conditions and analyse the target customers. 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