IV. Marketing strategy
As a leading athletic brand in the world, much of Nike’s success can be attributed to its shrewd marketing strategy. As reported in its 2009-2010 Annual report, because NIKE is a consumer products company, “the relative popularity of various sports and fitness activities and changing design trends affect the demand for our products”. Therefore, Nike must “respond to trends and shifts in consumer preferences by adjusting the mix of existing product offerings, developing new products, styles and categories, and influencing sports and fitness preferences through aggressive marketing”. In fiscal year of 2009, Nike’s demand creation expense, which consists of advertising and promotion expenses, including costs of
* Water: Nike aims to contract with factories where water is abundant enough to support it. Nike also collaborates with factories to improve efficiency of water-utilizing and encourages its suppliers’ adherence to high quality standards for all of their production. VI. Diversity and inclusion
Nike, as shared in FY 07-09 Corporate Responsibility report, believes that Diversity and inclusion are key levers in continuing to drive creativity and innovation. Nike and its employees around the world emphasize the importance of diversity by four following reasons: 1) Diversity drives recruitment of the most dynamic people. 2) Diversity enriches the creativity and innovation that shapes the brand. 3) Diversity grows their competitive advantage. 4) Diversity heightens the stature and belief in the brand within their culturally diverse consumer base.
In 2006, Nike appointed its first VP of Diversity. In 2008, Nike formed a new global diversity and inclusion team focused on three areas: * Engaging employees * Providing business consultation * Developing innovative tools, models and designs
In order to create a culture of open innovation, Nike has developed diversity and inclusion strategy concentrates on three areas: 1) Focus