Mass Marketing - Nike - Essay Example

The method of segmentation would provide ‘athletes’ and ‘women involved in fitness exercises’ (say yoga) as two potential market segments. In addition to the aforesaid consumer segments, we can target the various athletic training centers and sports clubs for the new Nike shoe as business customers. We will convince the management of such centers and clubs about the superiority and functionality of the new Nike shoe so that we can sell in bulk to these centers. These institutions will serve as a lucrative B2B market for the new brand.

Mass marketing refers to offering the product to the entire market without taking into consideration the differing needs of the customers. Multi-segment strategy refers to offering the same product in more than one segment. We will not adopt the mass marketing or multi-segment strategy for the new Nike shoe but would go ahead with a concentrated strategy when the product is launched. We have decided to target athletes from amongst the possible consumer market segments discussed above. The new shoe from Nike would be of great use to athletes as these shoes are extremely light and do not, in any way, compromise on durability and stability. To begin with, we will go ahead with the B2C model and make the shoe available at exclusive Nike stores as well as through the online store. In addition to this, we will use the selective distribution strategy and make the shoe available at a few select multi-brand stores as well.

The consumer of the Nike shoe will pass through four distinct stages; Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action (referred to as the AIDA model). The buying process of the consumer begins with need identification. The consumer feels a state of deprivation and feels that he needs a certain product to get rid of the state of deprivation. In other words, the consumer needs a product to satisfy an unmet need. In the case of the new Nike shoe, the athlete would feel the need to improve his performance vis-à-vis his competitors. To achieve this objective, he would train harder, eat better and would look out for attire and shoes that help him enhance his performance. Thus among other things he would actively search for a shoe that suits his requirements and helps him enhance performance. The next stage in the buying process would be information search and evaluation of alternatives wherein the athlete would find out about the various brands available in the market that satisfy his need and would evaluate these brands on various aspects say price, durability, style, design, the reputation of the manufacturer, etc.

The product in question is a high involvement product as it is a high-priced item that is not repetitively purchased and there are few differences in the attributes of various brands. The athletes’ perception and previous experience about a brand would play an instrumental role in the final buying decision. If the athlete has had a good experience with Nike earlier, chances of his opting for a Nike again increase manifold. Furthermore, the brand choice will depend on the athlete’s personality and self-concept. Consumers tend to choose brands that are consistent with their own actual self-concept (how they view themselves).

The functional, social and financial risk in this product is high and therefore the athlete will seek opinions from people in his reference group. The primary group consisting of family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers with whom an individual regularly intermingles and interacts is likely to influence the purchase decision. Finally, the role of an opinion leader (who may be a coach and trainer) may have a huge impact on the athlete’s decision to make a particular brand choice.