Chapter eleven: Developing and Managing Products

What is a new product?

A new product is a product that is new to the world, the market, the producer, the seller, or some combination of these. New products are important because they replace older versions of products or just because comsumers want to see something new and different to catch their attention. By having new products if they are affective in the market, they can increase revenues, profits and can bring more and more loyal costumers to the company.
Nike has sneakers named after basketball players and each year they upgrade these sneakers and make them feel and look better to attract more consumers. One pair of these sneakers is named after Kevin Durant and they are called "Nike Zoom KD V iD". These are the 5th shoes made after him and with each new pair came a different inspiration. Also them being iD sneakers meaning that you can customize them and make them your own, brings more costumers because they can change the color of the shoe, put their initials in them and change the bottom of it. Here is a look:

 

 

Every year, basketball stars like Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, and the Most famous one of all Michael Jordan get their sneakers changed to look better. Nike chooses to remodel and upgrade these sneakers because of the demand for them. Its basically because of the name behind the products and because of how they look. Nike does a great job of being updated in consumer's lifes and what they like or dislike and create products to go with that. Each product has a life cycle, with a begining and an end, Nike keeps their products living by upgrading and remodeling them to attract customers to them because competitors like Adidas and Under Armour are on the rise.  

 

Nike+ FuelBand:

 

Nike also came out with a product unseen before separating them even more from competitors, here are some looks on this product:

 

 



Chapter Sixteen: Integrated Marketing Communications

 

What is promotion?
Promotion is communication by marketers that informs, persuades, and reminds potential buyers in order to influence an opinion or elicit a response. Promotion has four elements which are advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion. These elements combined are called the promotional mix. Nike promotes their business through T.V. ads, social media, magazines and with many sponsorships by professional athletes.
By having so many athletes sponsors, Nike became a strong competitor in the sporting goods industry. One of these athletes today is a NFL player by the name Calvin Johnson. Nike had him promote clothing called "Nike Pro Combat Hyperwarm". Here is a video: 

 

 

Nike also had ads in their website promoting this and if you went on their Facebook page, you will see pictures of this product and a link to the nike website.Here is the link: http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/training/pro-combat-hyperwarm

Nike also promoted this products in their stores. If you go into Niketown, you would see employees wearing these shirts and pants while talking with customers.

I personally like the way Nike promotes their products because they use different ways of promotions and by having big time athletes in every sport adversing their stylish products have sports fans wanting to buy these products even though they might not even play sports. Nike focuses on what the consumer wants and needs. I recently found out about one of the reasons why Nike is the leading competitor in the sporting goods industry and what makes them different from other competitors. I was looking throught different vidoes on youtube and i came across this video: 

 

Nike is always involved and asks alot of questions to athletes about their products and what they like or dislike about them and Nike then goes back and improves their products before putting them back in the market. They want to make sure that the consumers are satisfied and are continuing to buy more and more. This is when marketing communication comes in. Communication is the process by which meanings are exchanged or shared through a common set of symbols. There are two types of communications: Interpersonal communication which is direct face to face communication between two or more people and there is Mass communication. Nike uses interpersonal communication more with athletes as seen in the video or it can be used when a costumer walks into the store to speak with an employee. Mass communication involves a larger group of people so its more like advertising on their websites or on T.V. or magazines.

 



 

 



 

 

Chapter ten: Product Concept

 

 

What is a product?

 

A product is defined as everything, both favorable and unfavorable, that a person receives in an exchange. Products are classified as two types, either business products or consumer products. Nike falls into the consumer products category with are products bought to satisfy an individual's personal wants.  

 

 

 

 

 

With all products come product items, lines and mixes.A product item is a specific version of a product that can be designated as a distinct offering among an organization's products. Product lines are a group of closely related product items. Product mixes are all products that an organization offers. Nike first started by selling only running shoes back in 1964, from there Nike expanded its product line depth to selling shoes for sports including, soccer, football, basketball, skateboarding, golf, tennis and other sports and also selling boots and everyday sneaker wear with stylish looks. Nike also expanded its product mix width by offering not only shoes but also clothing for men, women and kids and also offering sports gear for almost every type of sport.

Branding

What is a brand?

A brand is a name, term, symbol, design, or combination thereof that identifies a seller's products and differentiates them from competitors' products.

The name "Nike" was taken from the Greek and means "goddess of victory". The Nike "swoosh" trade mark logo was created in 1971 by Carolyn Davidson, a graphic design student from Portland State University. The logo was registered as a trademark in 1995. Nike also has this famous slogan " JUST DO IT", which was first introduced in the late 1980s and became an instant success. 

Nike is  the largest seller of athletic footwear and apparel in the world. Nike sells its products through retailers, its own stores, internet and through a mix of independent distributors in more than 170 countries around the world. Nike has these benefits of being very successful because its a Franchisor. Nike also owns the brands Cole Haan, Converse, Hurley and Umbro.