Rendy, Narisha, Tia, Amy, Rachael, DeWayne
MRT/421
January 6, 2014
Dr. Nnamdi Osakwe
Organizational Overview Nike Inc. is one of the world’s prominent novelties in athletic apparel, footwear, accessories and equipment. The Nike Inc. mission statement is “to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world, if you have a body, you are an athlete” (2013). There were two men Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight had a vision to redefine a revolution in athletic footwear in years 1950 through 1959 (2013). Bill Bowerman, who was a respected national track and field coach at the University of Oregon, was continuously searching for ways to give his team a competitive edge. Bowerman has done many experiments with multiple track surfaces, athletic shoes, and hydration drinks started cobbling shoes for his team by 1950 (2013).
In the fall of 1955, Bowerman offered Phil Knight to join him in a partnership and pitch a footwear design ideas to Onitsuke Co. in Kobe Japan. They shook hands in agreement and pledge $500 each to form Blue Ribbon Sports. In 1964, they purchased 300 pairs of shoes and Knight sold them out the trunk of his car for a while (2013). In the meantime, Bowerman was ripping apart some of the shoes to see if he could make them lighter and better. He then enrolled the running shoes for wear-test of his invention to the University of Oregon. Since both Bowerman and Knight had full-time jobs, they needed someone to manage the growing expectations of Blue Ribbon Sports.
In 1965, Jeff Johnson of the University of Stanford, who was also a runner, became the first full-time employee of Blue Ribbon Sports (2013). Johnson was the one who created the Blue Ribbon Sports first product brochures, marketing materials and print ads, and photographs for the company’s catalog (2013). He also established a mail-order system, managed the shipping and receiving, and opened the first Blue Ribbon Sports retail store in Santa Monica, California (2013). In 1972, Nike footwear line made its debut just in time for the United States Track and Field Trails held in Eugene, Oregon. The first athlete to endorse their Nike product was Steve Prefontaine from Coos Bay, Oregon, who packed stands during his college career and the rest is history (2013).
New Product Description
The Nike Explosion is an athletic tennis shoe that we are designing for The Nike Company. This new product; the Nike Explosion is highly responsive and lightweight pod lite cushioning tuned with Zoom Air. It has dynamic fly wire technology for a lockdown feel without the extra weight, and a high-grip outsole for exceptional traction and control. This is the evolution in technology that this new product will bring to the Nike Company.
The Nike Explosion is a product that is engineered for sudden bursts of speed with tremendous stability for children as well as adults with unpredictable quickness, the pod lite system delivers lightweight cushioning exactly where it is needed most, making this product an important aspect to add to the current successful Nike line of tennis shoes. The new technology in this product offers comfort on and off the basketball court for the male and female athlete, an up and coming athlete or simply the kid next door. We will have three models of the Nike Explosion, an entry level, mid-tier level and a high-end level.
Organization’s Success
The importance of marketing for the success of Nike is always viewed with a critical eye. Even though Nike is a successful company, marketing remains a key role in its success, as it is with any firm that has hopes of being successful and remaining a successful company. Nike’s continued successes are quite sensitive to the advertising spend. For products that are purchased often and repeat purchases will usually depend on the quality of previous experience. Nike is driven by evolution in their products. The promotion strategy that we