Management in Nike

Questions: 1. Discuss about Nike which uses a specific pricing strategy and explain the strategy. Research how the brand uses this particular strategy and the failures/successes of the strategy. In what way does the pricing strategy relate directly to the brands equity? Explain.2. Unique marketing communication strategy such as buzz marketing or non-profit sponsorship. Explain the strategy; then research how the brand uses the particular marketing communication strategy to build equity. How successful is the marketing communication strategy in building brand equity?3. Practicing the co-branding or ingredient branding strategy. First, explain the strategy. Next, research and present the advantages and disadvantages that this leveraging has for the brand. What effects does the co-branding have on each of the brand partners? Would you have recommended this strategy for leveraging? Explain. Answers: 1. Nike is one of the most successful brands in the footwear industry and has implemented a unique pricing strategy to increase the sales of the products. The pricing strategy implemented by Nike focuses on a number of factors related to the sale of the products to the customers in both the international and domestic market. In the year of 2014, Nike was increasing the price of its products, while the entire footwear industry was slicing the prices of the products sold in the corresponding markets (Kelley, 2015). This pricing strategy of the organization considers a customer value model to determine the capabilities of the customers to pay for the products sold under the brand. Such a customer value model revealed that the products sold under the brand had a great demand for the innovation and creativity involved in the manufacturing process and the customers present in the corresponding markets were willing pay more for the products with innovation and creativity. This pricing strat egy of the organization has been quite successful in the corresponding industry and has contributed to the brands equity. The sale of the innovative products by Nike at higher prices has set a perception in the corresponding markets that the products sold by Nike at higher price are of better quality than that of the competitors. So the premium price range of the products sold by Nike has differentiated the brand from the competitors in terms of innovation and premium quality (Rosenbaum-Elliott, 2015). 2. Buzz marketing is a unique marketing communication strategy which uses a handful number of people in the corresponding market to gain popularity in the industry. The strategy relies on the capability or tendency of that handful number of people to tell their relatives, friends and acquaintances regarding the quality of the product sold by the organization, which in turn promotes the corresponding product. Hasbro, the toy manufacturing giant introduced a new handheld gaming console called P-O-X in the year of 2001 and aimed at the market segment of the kids from the age of 8 to 13. The marketing communication strategy of Hasbro for P-O-X involved the identification of a number of kids in the corresponding market, who can spread the word about the product to the maximum extent (Kapferer, 2012). The organization gave 30 dollars to each of these kids to play P-O-X and provided 10 consoles to each of the kids to distribute them among their friends. This communication strategy of the or ganization led to the distribution of 900 P-O-X consoles across 1400 schools in the corresponding market. This marketing communication strategy of Hasbro was a huge success and led the organization to increased sales of the product. The strategy also contributes towards the creation of brand equity in the corresponding market. The buzz marketing strategy differentiated the product provided by Hasbro than that of the competitors of the organization in terms of the quality of the product. This in turn contributed towards the strengthening of the brand image as a manufacturer of high quality gaming consoles (Balmer, 2012). 3. The marketing strategy of co-branding allows multiple brands to carry out the marketing activities together. The strategy of co-branding allows the multiple brands to have several of the marketing activities to be similar and to overcome the common roadblocks. BMW is one of the most successful car manufacturers and have co-branded with Louis Vuitton, one of the biggest luggage manufacturers. Both of these brands provide high quality luxury products to the customer, may it be the cars from BMW or the luxury bags from Louis Vuitton. Such a co-branding strategy of BMW and Louis Vuitton has certainly turned a lot of heads in the corresponding market due to the impeccable combination of the products of both the brands to provide luxury and premium feeling to the customers (Flint, 2016). Through this process of co-branding, both BMW and Louis Vuitton gain popularity due to their relations with each other. The increasing popularity of both the brands leads to the increase in the sales of the products sold by both the organizations. The co-branding strategy certainly has allowed both BMW and Louis Vuitton to enhance their brand images in the corresponding industries due to such an effective relationship with each other. Such a marketing strategy of BMW and Louis Vuitton certainly went past all the possibilities of negative impacts to allow the brands to yield positive value from the strategy. This strategy is certainly recommended for leveraging depending on the brand image of all the brand partners along with their target markets (Ertimur, 2015). References Balmer, J. M. (2012). Corporate Brand Management Imperatives. California Management Review, 54(3), 6-33. Ertimur, B., Coskuner-Balli, G. (2015). Navigating the institutional logics of markets: Implications for strategic brand management. Journal of Marketing, 79(2), 40-61. Flint, D. J., Signori, P., Golicic, S. L. (2016). Brand Management Fundamentals. In Contemporary Wine Marketing and Supply Chain Management (pp. 97-115). Palgrave Macmillan US. Kapferer, J. N. (2012). The new strategic brand management: Advanced insights and strategic thinking. Kogan page publishers. Kelley, L., Sheehan, K., Jugenheimer, D. W. (2015). Advertising media planning: a brand management approach. Routledge. Rosenbaum-Elliott, R., Percy, L., Elliott, R. H., Pervan, S. (2015). Strategic brand management. Oxford University Press, USA.