Nike product marketing

Nike is a giant company dealing with sports products such as shoes, athletic bags as well as other accessory items just to mention a few (Carbasho, 12). It has the largest global market share of 33% and thus becomes the largest seller. With production facilities established in Asia, the company has established sales facilities in over 200 countries coupled with operational and customer service globally. The shoe products produced by Nike are vital as various people wear them. For instance, sport and athletes wear shoes while participating in important games or events (Pitts, & Stotlar, 123).

Nike manufactures shoes of various shapes, styles, and sizes as per the preferences and tastes of every buyer. Therefore, customers have the opportunity to choose from a variety and thus, not limited to one product type (Pitts, & Stotlar, 125). However, the market for shoe products is segmented since customers have varied preferences and taste that the product meets. Therefore, Nike strives to ensure that its customers derive the best from the product as per the market segmentation (Carbasho, 12. I think the shoe products from Nike continue to evolve and pass through various stages as it grows to meet the ever-evolving needs of the customers. This is to ensure that the products do not become out of date and irrelevant to customers as well as to their needs at different periods.
The company has employed the 4Ps of marketing (Product, Place, Price, and Promotion) in marketing the shoe products in the following manner:

Product
Nike Company provides a variety of sports products; a variety of shoe, equipment products and sport attires. For instance, one of the company’s brands, Cole Haan has a range of casual footwear, a lineup of dress and as well as various accessories for women, men, and children (Carbasho, 14). Furthermore, it markets headgear and sells small plastic products to various manufactures and through Nike IHM Inc. Other products produced and marketed by Nike include skate blades, protective gear, hockey sticks, and hockey jerseys among other accessories.

Price
Nike’s pricing is designed in a manner that is competitive to that of other rival firms dealing with shoe products. Moreover, its pricing is on the basis of a quality segment as target buyers. Its pricing strategy uses vertical integration in determining the price as they control and engage participants at various levels or channels of operations. This aids in controlling costs and thus influences product pricing (Carbasho, 14).

Place
The shoes produced by Nike are distributed to the exclusive Nike stores as well as multi-brand stores all over the globe. It sells the shoes to over 20, 000 retail accounts within the USA and to about 200 countries in the world (Carbasho, 16). Within international markets, Nike uses independent distributors, subsidiaries, and licensees to distribute its products.

Promotion
Nike uses famous sports personalities to market its products as they act as brand ambassadors (Carbasho, 16). For instances, it uses Tiger Woods, Ronaldino, Jermane O’ Neal and Lance Armstrong to market the shoes. Use of famous personalities increases penetration of information about the product as the brand ambassadors are accorded respect and attention in the whole world. Nike also promotes its products in renowned newspapers and magazines thus ensuring the product information reaches the target group.