Nike Takes a hit

During the normally boring media period of Thanksgiving break, Nike's biggest endorsee, Tiger Woods, faced intense media attention. Tiger Woods was involved in a car accident that took place only a few streets away from his house at 2:00 AM in the morning. The accident provoked controversy considering there arent many practical reasons why I am man worth more than a billion dollars would be driving this late at night. Tiger offered a statement that weekend refuting any "rumors" being created by the media. Contrary to Tiger's statement, the truth was un-veiled when three women came out to admit they had been sexually involved with Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods offered a statement with his sincere apoligies yet the truth could not be undone. Nike displayed their support for Tiger when they offered this statement: "Tiger and his family have Nike's full support. We respect Tiger's request for privacy and our thoughts are with Tiger and his family at this time." After all, Tiger Woods isn't the only sports giant to be the target of negative media attention. Kobe Bryant, Michael Vick, and Michael Phelps are a few names that come to mind.

More Than Just Profits

Now that Mark Parker has settled in as the head of the Nike operations, he plans to make a difference in more than just their market share. One of Nike's more well known public contributions was established before Mark Parker came to office. The Livestrong cancer charity is heavily endorsed and supported by Nike. Mark Parker has urged to Nike to continue their social responsibility. Parker demonstrated it wasn't just took with the launch of the new Nike RED in thirteen countries around the world. Nike has created Nike RED, which are red laces in order to support the African Aids Charity. 100 percent of the Nike RED profits are donated to the Global fund.

More Than Just Products

Nike has clearly established a name for itself when it comes to to sports apparel. Now, Nike wants to offer their customers more then that. Rather than just offer Nike products and send their consumers on their way, Nike has the opportunity to become more involved in the lifestyle of their customers. By creating online chat communities or Nike sponsored sports competition, it creates a buzz for the brand name which, in turn, can increase Nike's product sales.

Nike's global director for brand connections, Stefan Olander, Explains:

"Much of the company's future advertising spending will take the form of services for consumers, like workout advice, online communities and local sports competitions. We want to find a way to enhance the experience and services, rather than looking for a way to interrupt people from getting to where they want to go. How can we provide a service that the consumer goes, 'Wow, you really made this easier for me'?"

Supply Chain management

Supply Chain management is a system that coordinates and integrates all of the activities performed by supply chain members into a seamless process, from the source to the point of consumption, resulting in enhanced customer and economic value. Nike has made plans to invest 225 million dollars to create a more efficient supply chain. Unfortunately, part of there plans involve a 4 percent reduction in their global workforce of 35,000. Overall, the company will benefit long-term from their restructure of the supply chain. Creating more efficient operations reduces product costs so the consumers will benefit as well.

Marketing Channels

A marketing channel is a set of interdependent organizations that ease the transfer of ownerships as products move from producer to business user or consumer. In Nike's case, mostly the consumer. Most large companies have a marketing channel but each has different channel members. Nike has made an effort to cut out as many intermediaries as possible so they can save costs for both the company and the consumer. One source of cutting out intermediaries is direct channel, which is when the producers sell directly to consumers. telemarketing, mail-order and catalog shopping are all forms of direct marketing activities but Nike's most effective form of direct channel is electronic retailing. Electronic retailing allows the customers to save both time and money on their purchases.

New Products

One of Nike's new products currently in development is the Personal Sports Audio (PSA) Play 120. The MP3 is at an all time high in sales and Nike saw this as a golden opportunity for a new product. The device was designed to be compatibale, portable, and convenient to its users. Nike teamed up with the digital audio industry leader: S3 to assure that these qualities will be implemented. The product consists of three parts: the headphones, the portable player, and a remote to control the player. The portable player is designed to be attached to the arm so it will not interfere while the user is exersising. The remote is a hand held device that allows you to change the music or sports channel without ever having to touch the portable device itself. Because there are so many MP3 players already in the market, Nike designed the PSA Play 120 in order to fit the unique needs of an athlete, and not just the average consumer.

Product development

Developing new products is vital in any goods oriented company. No matter how successful a product may be, it is inevitable that the product's life cycle will reach an end at some point. Therefore, the pressure is on the company to create new products that will appeal to their target markets. Nike has adapted to the new digital world and has "Essentially, Nike has stuck a wire in sports," said Clare Hamill, Vice President of Nike Equipment. Nike's plan is to release five new tech-savvy products by the Holiday season.