UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

PROJECT ON
BRAND ANALYSIS OF
NIKE AND PUMA

SUBMITTED BY:
ROHIT SURESH PANDEY

FOR THE DEGREE OF:

BACHELOR IN MASS MEDIA

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF:

PROF. MANJU CHAKRAWATI

VIDYA VIKAS UNIVERSAL COLLEGE

MALAD WEST, MUMBAI 400 064
ACADEMIC YEAR:
2015-2016

BRAND ANALYSIS OF
NIKE AND PUMA

CERTIFICATE
I, Prof. Manju Chakrawati, hereby certify that Mr.Rohit Suresh Pandey
student of Vidya Vikas Universal College, T.Y.B.M.M. (Semester 5) has
completed the project on Brand Analysis of Nike and Puma in the
academic year 2015-2016.
The information submitted is true and original to the best of my knowledge.

Date:

Certified by

PROJECT GUIDE

BMM COORDINATOR

PRINCIPAL

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to express my gratitude to all the people who have directly or
indirectly assisted me in my project related studies and contributed in the
process of making this project.

Firstly, I would like to thank my period guide, Prof. Manju Chakrawati, for
her support, cooperation and fruitful discussions during my research on the
topicBRAND ANALYSIS OF NIKE AND PUMA
I would also like to thank the staff at Nike and Puma for helping me out
with my case study and enriching my experience during this whole process.
Lastly, I would like to express my gratitude to my college, for providing me
such an interesting topic for my university project and their by supporting,
and cooperating with me during my project.
This has been a tremendous learning and enriching experience for me.

INTRODUCTION
BRIEF ANALYSIS OF INDUSTRY
Sport is an integral part of modern contemporary society. Sport has always
been associatedwith discipline, dedication and perfection and hence
sportsmen have always beenrespected, across borders, religions and races.
Sportsmen, professional or amateur, needquality gear, specific to their
game, to be able to compete better. It is this market that thetwo
conglomerates, the subjects of our study, cater to. Both these companies
started off asfootwear makers for the modern athlete, their innovative
designs and technology creatingwaves. But now these firms have
diversified. They compete on the broader platform offootwear, apparel,
accessories and equipment. Today they are among the world s
topcorporations, with a worldwide presence. Our study will concent rate on
the primaryproduct these two firms make Athletic Footwear.We will
compare their marketing strategies, their targeting and their marketing
mixes. Wewill dissect their segmentation and examine their positioning on
the global playing field. Andlastly we ll state our conclusions on the
comparative marketing strategies of these firms.The world s athletes play
using their products. Let s see how they play the market.
INDIAN FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY
The Footwear Industry is a significant segment of the Leather Industry in
India. India ranks second among the footwear producing countries next to
China. India produces more of gents footwear while the world s major
production is in ladies footwear. The industry is labour intensive and is
concentrated in the small and cottage industry sectors. While leather shoes
and uppers are concentrated in large scale units, the sandals and chappals
are produced in the household and cottage sector. The major production
centres India are Chennai, Ranipet, Ambur in Tamil Nadu, , Mumbai in
Maharastra, Kanpur in U.P. , Jalandhar in Punjab, Agra and Delhi. The

following table indicates concentration of units in various parts of the

country

BRAND ANALYSIS OF NIKE

Contents

Executive Summary.
History of Company.
Flagship products, major product lines and recent forays.
History of Brand.
Evolution of Brand
Developing the swoosh
Product Profile
Nike advertising and emotional branding
Building customer loyalty with heroism
Nike brand strategy
Marketing and Advertisement
Competitors
Nike Innovations
SWOT Analysis
Conclusion

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Nike Inc. was founded in 1962 by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight as a
partnership under the name, Blue Ribbon Sports. Our modest goal then was
to distribute low-cost, high-quality Japanese athletic shoes to American
consumers in an attempt to break Germany's domination of the domestic
industry. Today in 2000, Nike Inc. not only manufactures and distributes
athletic shoes at every marketable price point to a global market, but over
40% of our sales come from athletic apparel, sports equipment, and
subsidiary ventures. Nike maintains traditional and non-traditional
distribution channels in more than 100 countries targeting its primary
market regions: United States, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Americas (not
including the United States). We utilize over 20,000 retailers, Nike factory
stores, Nike stores, NikeTowns, Cole Haan stores, and internet-based Web
sites to sell our sports and leisure products. We dominate sales in the
athletic footwear industry with a 33% global market share. Nike Inc. has
been able to attain this premier position through "quality production,
innovative products, and aggressive marketing." As a result, for the fiscal
year end 1999, Nike's 20,700 employees generated almost $8.8 billion in
revenue.

HISTORY OF COMPANY
Bill Bowerman and Philip Knight started the company we know today as
Nike in 1962. It was originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports. Bowerman
was Knights track and field coach at the University of Oregon. Philip
Knight went on to study at Stanford where he published a paperon ending
the German domination in the athletic footwear industry. He travelled to
Japanand entered into an agreement with the Onitsuka Tiger Company and
became their soledistributor in the US. Bowerman and Knight received
their first shipment of 200 shoes andsold them at local meets to make a
good profit. Bowerman, who had earlier designed shoesfor his athletes,
joined hands with Tiger to make the famous Tiger Cortez shoes,
whichbecame worldwide bestsellers and launched the business. In 1971,
Knight and Bowermanbegan to make their own shoes under the brand name
of Nike, named after the Greekgoddess of victory and bearing the Nike
swoosh, which is one of the company s biggeststrengths today. In 1972,
Blue Ribbon Sports parted ways with Onitsuka Tiger and becameNike
Inc.Today Nike is the world leader in athletic footwear, with market shares
exceeding the othermajor players by significant margins. The Swoosh and
Just Do It slogan are huge brandidentities. Nike is a truly global player and
seen as a model for innovation driven growth.

Indian Operations
Nike has been present in India for over a decade through its seven year
license agreementwith Sierra enterprises, which didn t help much in the
bigger scheme of things as Reebokand Adidas came to the country with
fully owned subsidiaries. This explains why the globalmarket leader is still
lagging behind in India. In 2004, instead of renewing its french ise, it
became a subsidiary and started operating with more freedom and capital.
The result wasthat the market share rose and Nike became a force to
contend with in the Indian market.Probably the biggest sign of the change
in guard was the heavy investment in Cricket byNike, culminating in its
bagging of the Indian cricket team s jersey rights, worth Rs 200Crores.
Nike then launched its special range of cricket shoes and sponsored the

Indianfootball team as well. Though Nike has entered the market in earnest
very late, the worldno.1 will stop at nothing to gain lost momentum in the
Indian subcontinent.

FLAGSHIP PRODUCTS, MAJOR PRODUCT LINES AND

RECENT FORAYS
Nike s first products were track running shoes which came under
the name Nike Air Max, followed recently by the Nike 6.0, Nike
Nyx and the Nike SB skateboarding shoes. Recently, Nike
launched special cricket shoes for bowlers and batsmen called the
Nike Air ZoomYorker and the Air Zoom Opener. But its bestselling
line still remains the legendary AirJordan basketball shoes, named
after Michael Jordan. Air Jordan still contributes more than30% of
Nike s shoe sales.Like Adidas, Nike too entered the sports apparel
and eq uipment market and makes jerseysand specialist apparel for
various sports. Recently Nike teamed up with Apple to launch
theNike+ range, which can monitor a runner s performance through
a radio device linked toApple s ipod.But Nike s most recent
product is the one making waves across the sports world. Called
theLunar Glide, Nike is using Flywire (A thread developed by
Nike, composed of Vectran, aliquid crystal polymer) and Lunarlite
Foam to make the world s lightest shoes. Advertise
using the slogan. Actually, it is Rocket Science; it reiterates Nike s
commitment totechnology.

HISTORY OF BRAND
Nike positions itself as the market leader of sports footwear and
uses the greatest athletesand the record of their achievements in
advertising. The swoosh logo was developed byCarolyn Davidson
in 1971. Together with the Just Do It slogan, the Swoosh logo
perfectly expresses the brand and its philosophy. It expresses a high
ambition and a will for victory, which is a part of Nike s brand
image and corporate culture. It was only 36 years ago that we had a
world without Nike, and in that period Nike has gonefrom the
brash newcomer, to the number one mass-market leader. The Nike
story begins with the meeting of its co-founders at the University
of Oregon. It was here that middle-distance-running business
student Phil Knight fell under the tutelage of the college
athleticscoach, Bill Bowerman. Nike would go on to grow out of
the fusion of Bawermans sportinginnovation and Knights
marketing know -how.Even at a very early stage it seemed that
Knight had a far-reaching goal, to break the long-established brand
nomination of the U.S. marketed by the then main player,
Adidas.In order to achieve this aim, legend has it that Knight and
Bowerman each put in $550 tocement their partnership, and
decided to call their new company Blue Ribbon Sports (BRS).BRS
was basically the American distributor of Onitsuka training
shoes.In 1965, after a period of selling Onitsuka shoes from the
back of their van at athletic meets,the company grew.The company
went from strength to strength, but after heated disagreements
between BRSand Onitsuka, the new boss at BRS decided to split
from Tiger in 1971 and create their owncompany manufacturing
their own shoes. It is said that Jeff Johnson came with the idea

forthe new name, deciding to honour the Greek goddess of victory,

and thus Nike was born.It was also at this that the fledgling
company had to decide on a logo for the brand, andanother of the
legends that the company managed to create for itself was
developed.Nike took off virtually instantly in the United States,
and within a year company sales wereat almost 2 million pairs. In
1981 Nike decided to take another major step, with the
U.K.becoming the companys first wholly owned foreign
distributorship.However it was in 1985 that Nike really became a
major player. It was in this year that itmanaged to persuade the
then little known Chicago Bulls basketball rookie Michael Jordanto
endorse his own range of shoes. Even Nike could not have
imagined the effect that thissingle act would have on sales. The
new Jordan endorsed range transported Nike andtrainers in general
to a completely new lever of popularity.
It was after the introduction of the Jordan shoes and mass
-marketing that went with themthat the trainer wars got underway.
Each of the brands, desperate to stay one step aheadof the
competition, came up with a continuous stream of developments
and inventions oftechnical wizardry. For a while in the late 1980s
Reebok actually overtook Nike to becomethe number one player
(at least in terms of sales), but Nike came back strongly with its
justdo it slogan in 1988, and regained the top spot in terms of
market sales - a position theyretain to the present day.In 2006, Nike
entered the cricket market with a 5-year sponsorship of the Indian
cricketteam for US$43m. Nike and Apple released the Nike+iPod
sports kit, enabling runners to logand monitor their runs via iTunes
and the Nike+ website.In 2008, Nike introduced shoes featuring
new Flywire and Lunarlit e Foam materials. Flywireis a new

technology made up of thin wires of vectran fibers, which are 5

times stronger thansteel and never lose strength. Lunar Foam is a
material developed by NASA that gives theshoe excellent shock
absorption and a great feel with minimal weight.Back in 1971, the
newly created Nike Company was ready to hit the market with its
shoes, and a logo to represent the brand was urgently needed.Phil
Knight turned to an associate from his teaching life and
commissioned graphic -designstudent Carolyn Davison to work
with his new brand. Knight wanted a design that wouldrepresent
movement. Davidson supplied Knight with a few designs one of
which was theinitial Swoosh so well known today. Knight was not
particular enamoured with any of thesedesigns, but with deadlines
to meet the Swoosh was chosenEven though Davidson was initially
paid only $35 for her design, the story doesnt end there.In 1983,
Knight took Davidson out for lunch and presented her with a
diamond -encrustedNike ring, and also an envelope. The envelope
contained Nike Stock.Nike has continuously pushed back the
boundaries of trainer design, staying focused underPhil Knights
guidance, and is going to take some dislodging.

EVOLUTION AS A BRAND
It was only 36 years ago that we had a world without Nike, and in
that period Nike has gonefrom the brash newcomer, to the number
one mass-market leader. The Nike story begins with the meeting of
its co-founders at the University of Oregon. It was here that
middle-distance-running business student Phil Knight fell under
the tutelage of the college athleticscoach, Bill Bowerman. Nike
would go on to grow out of the fusion of Bawerman s
sportinginnovation and Knights marketing know -how.Even at a
very early stage it seemed that Knight had a far-reaching goal, to
break the long-established brand nomination of the U.S. marketed
by the then main player, Adidas.In order to achieve this aim, legend
has it that Knight and Bowerman each put in $550 tocement their
partnership, and decided to call their new company Blue Ribbon
Sports (BRS).BRS was basically the American distributor of
Onitsuka training shoes.In 1965, after a period of selling Onitsuka
shoes from the back of their van at athletic meets,the company
grew.The company went from strength to strength, but after heated
disagreements between BRSand Onitsuka, the new boss at BRS
decided to split fr om Tiger in 1971 and create their own company
manufacturing their own shoes. It is said that Jeff Johnson came
with the idea forthe new name, deciding to honour the Greek
goddess of victory, and thus Nike was born.It was also at this that
the fledgling company had to decide on a logo for the brand,
andanother of the legends that the company managed to create for
itself was developed.Nike took off virtually instantly in the United
States, and within a year company sales wereat almost 2 million
pairs. In 1981 Nike decided to take another major step, with the

U.K.becoming the companys first wholly owned foreign

distributorship.However it was in 1985 that Nike really became a
major player. It was in this year that itmanaged to persuade the
then little known Chicago Bulls basketball rookie Michael Jordanto
endorse his own range of shoes. Even Nike could not have
imagined the effect that thissingle act would have on sales. The
new Jordan endorsed range transported Nike andtrainers in general
to a completely new lever of popularity.It was after the introduction
of the Jordan shoes and mass -marketing that went with themthat
the trainer wars got underway. Each of the brands, desperate to stay
one step aheadof the competition, came up with a continu ous
stream of developments and inventions oftechnical wizardry. For a
while in the late 1980s Reebok actually overtook Nike to
becomethe number one player (at least in terms of sales), but Nike
came back strongly with its justdo it slogan in 1988, an d regained
the top spot in terms of market sales - a position theyretain to the
present day.In 2006, Nike entered the cricket market with a 5-year
sponsorship of the Indian cricketteam for US$43m. Nike and Apple
released the Nike+iPod sports kit, enabli ng runners to logand
monitor their runs via iTunes and the Nike+ website.In 2008, Nike
introduced shoes featuring new Flywire and Lunarlite Foam
materials. Flywireis a new technology made up of thin wires of
vectran fibers, which are 5 times stronger th ansteel and never lose
strength. Lunar Foam is a material developed by NASA that gives
theshoe excellent shock absorption and a great feel with minimal
weight. Nike has continuously pushed back the boundaries of
trainer design, staying focused under Phil Knights guidance, and is
going to take some dislodging.

DEVELOPING THE SWOOSH

Back in 1971, the newly created Nike Company was ready to hit
the market with its shoes, and a logo to represent the brand was
urgently needed.Phil Knight turned to an asso ciate from his
teaching life and commissioned graphic-design student Carolyn
Davison to work with his new brand. Knight wanted a design that
wouldrepresent movement. Davidson supplied Knight with a few
designs one of which was theinitial Swoosh so well known today.
Knight was not particular enamoured with any of thesedesigns, but
with deadlines to meet the Swoosh was chosenEven though
Davidson was initially paid only $35 for her design, the story
doesnt end there.In 1983, Knight took Davidson out for lunch and
presented her with a diamond -encrustedNike ring, and also an
envelope. The envelope contained Nike Stock.

PRODUCT PROFILE
Apart from delivering a pair of comfortable sports shoes Nike also
provides a number of value-added features with its products. The
features that are a part of every Nike sports shoe are as follows.
High Performance Sports Shoes:
Nike has patented the Air system and has made it into a regular
feature in most of its models. Many models feature an air pocket in
the shoe that reduces the weight of the shoe and reduces pressure
on the heels. Besides the ov erall design and compactness of the
shoes have made it a favorite of many professional athletes around
the world.
Comfort:
Nike shoes are renowned all over the world for the comfort they
provide. Well padded andcushioned, they provide a tremendous
level of comfort to the wearer and reduce the strainto his feet while
playing.
Lightweight:
This attribute is in line with the two described above. A lightweight
shoe provides greatermobility and eases the pressure on the feet of
the wearer.
Durability:
People purchasing a pair of shoes at such a high price often feel
that they have made aninvestment. They would obviously want to
see their shoes last a long time. To prove thispoint we draw the
example of the authors of this marketing plan. All of us own a pair
of Nike s and have been wearing them for well over two years a
symbol of the durability of Nike shoes.

Style:
Nike s designs are considered to be the most stylish in the industry
and beat all others as faras looks are concerned. Attractively
packaged, it is a delight to bring a pair home. Add to thisthe
Swoosh the most recognizable symbol in sports and you have a
product that wouldgive the user a definite sense of pride.

NIKE ADVERTISING AND EMOTIONAL BRANDING

Nike brand strategy is to build a powerful brand so powerful that
it inspires fervent customer loyalty from people literally all over
the world. This is because Nike advertising uses the emotional
branding technique of archetypes in its advertising more
specifically, the story of the Hero. Its an age old tale, a tale of a
hero pitted against a great foe, and after a great struggle, emerging
triumphant. In a way, you could say that Nikes marketing strategy
is thousands of years old, and has been inspiring customer loyalty
the entire time.

BUILDING CUSTOMER LOYALTY WITH HEROISM

Nike advertising isnt the only group that uses the Hero archetype
to inspire customer loyalty. Many other companies use this
emotional branding technique to great effect. In most cases, the foe
is external. The most common story of the hero is that of a man of
humble origins setting out to defeat a great evil one far more
powerful than he and, against all odds, emerging triumphant.
This same pattern could apply to, say, a home security system
against a house fire, or an antacid against heartburn. As long as
there is a clearly identified enemy and a clearly identified hero, the
emotional branding can begin.

NIKE BRAND STRATEGY

Nike advertising takes the common hero story and turns it on its
head. Instead of inspiring customer loyalty by singling out an
external enemy, it pulls out the stops and focuses on an internal foe
our laziness. Nike advertising knows just how often we battle
with our lazy side. Every morning when that alarm goes off and its
still totally dark outside, the battle begins. When we choose how
long to run, the battle continues. This is how Nike marketing uses
emotional marketing to inspire customer loyalty. They know that
while some people may identify with an external foe, all people
identify with an internal one.
Nike brand strategy is excellent on this end because not only is the
internal foe someone we can all hate, the hero is the viewer! In one
way or another, we are all the hero of our own story, and Nike
marketing has long since identified that feeling and used it to
inspire timeless customer loyalty

MARKETING AND ADVERTISING

NIKE places a significant weight on marketing the company and
its products. NIKE aggremively bonds the contracts with highly
successful and influential athletes, coaches.teams, and leagues like
Michael Jordan. Serena Williams and Tiger Woods to popularize its
footwear, apparel and sports accessories.In order to sustain its
dominance in the industry and stay competitive stay. NIKE actively
responds to trends and changes 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. Its primary areas of
marketing remain Net TV and magazines.

COMPETITORS
The rivalry in the sports wear industry is very high. NIKE
competes with numerous athletic and leisure shoe companies
worldwide. It faces fierce competition in product offerings,
technologia. marketing expenditures, pricing, costs of production,
and customer services. The main competitors are Midas, Reebok,
Timberland, Woodland, and Puma.

NIKE INNOVATIONS

NIKE with Apple:

The NIKE+ package consists of a pair of specially designed
NIKE+ running shoes, an iPod nano. and a NIKE + iPod won kit.
The kit consists of a sensor that fits into a builtin pocket beneath
the insole of the left shot and a receiver that fits into the iPod nano
dock connector. As a person runs iPod tells the distance, pace, and
calories burned via voice feedback that adjusts music volume as it
plays.
Design your own shoes:
NIKE allows customers to dcsign their own shoes from a catalogue
of predefined designs. Customers can choose their own colors and
mascots to create shoes which define their personality. It provides
Touch screen technology in store allowing customers to design
shoes of choice.
Nike self lacing automatic shoes: NIKE is also coming up with
the new automatic self lacing meakers. The automatic lacing
system provides a set of straps that can be automatically opened
and closed to switch between a loosened and tightened position.

CONSUMER ANALYSIS

NIKE, for years, has put forth a tremendous amount of effort in

order to preserve a large following of consumers who remain loyal
to the brand and what it stands for. The current users of NIKE
branded shoes come from a wide variety of demographic
backgrounds. Among the many consumers who use NIKEs
athletic shoes, a clear split among male and female consumers
exists, with males making up 50.7% sales to the 49.3% of sales
from females (Mediamark,2010). Most of the consumers of NIKE
products went off to college, with 58.6% of the consumers having
either attended college or gone on past a four-year college to
graduate school (Mediamark, 2010). Some age segments purchase
more shoes then others. The largest purchasers to increase the sales
of the brands products; consumers age 18-24 make up the market
sector that could be receptive to new ads focusing on a casual
running experience that would encourage
urban runners to buy NIKE shoes. Consumers within the ages of 18
to 24 years old are more likely to try out new athletic shoe brands
on a more consistent basis then any other age group (Mintel, 2008).
This age group also uses athletic shoes in a fairly consistent
manner, exercising more then any other age group. Around 54% of
this age group runs or jogs regularly as opposed to much lower
numbers in older generations (Mintel, 2008). Additionally, New
Balance and Reebok have created more brand loyalty among older
consumers (Mintel, 2008). It would be difficult to change the
perception of NIKE products to older generations who have
already formulated their beliefs about running shoe brands. In

marketing a casual, non-competitiveatmosphere associated with

NIKE shoes to urban runners between the ages of 18-24, the
products can become top-of-mind to this age group. The age group
stands as a mix of emergent consumers. In creating positive
associations related to a casual experience with the products, NIKE
can make the 18-24 year old consumers brand loyal going into the
future and increase the companys total sales now and in the future.

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS
Brand Recognition.
High Product quality.
Effective marketing stratergy.
Capacity of innovation.
Strong distribution chain.
Strong Research and Developement.
Strong customer relationship and satisfaction.

WEAKNESS

Overseas manufacturing dependency.

Decreasing United States Market Share.
High product price compared to its competitors.
Currency Exposure.
Medium Retail Presence.

OPPORTUNITIES

Expansion into emerging markets.

Increased demand in product innovation
Growing Segments of women atheletes
Increase in the number of sports events like Olympic and
FIFA.

THREATS

Fierce industry competitions

Revenue release on consumer discretionary income.
Economic Rescissions.
Fluctuation in the currency

CONCLUSION

Nike, Inc. is a company rooted in competition. From equipping

athletes with the finest sports equipment in the world to
continuously improving our own financial performance, Nike
dominates its competitors. Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman
probably could not have imagined in 1962 to what degree their
$500 investments would yield in 2000. They did know that product
quality and innovation would help athletes to achieve greater goals.
Nike still operates on this philosophy today. It is one that has
helped athletes and stakeholders alike to realize athletic and
financial greatness. Despite a changing marketplace for athletic
footwear, they will continue to expand their product lines and
marketing reach to become a more powerful global brand.