Differentiating Brands

Differentiating Brands

Nike, originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports, was founded by University of Oregon track athlete Philip Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman in January 1964.  Nike is now is the largest and most successful brand of shoes, clothing and sports equipment.  Their products include: Running shoes, Jerseys, Shorts, shirts, cleats, base layers, cologne and more.  Nike name and swoosh logo was inspired by a Greek Goddess of victory (Johnson, Ben, 2010).  Nike wants to be known more for a symbol of dedication, hard work, strength, and the desire to succeed.  Instead of just selling products like its competitors, Nike is selling an emotion of making you feel like an athlete.

One way Nike promotes its products by sponsorship agreements and endorsements with professional teams, top athletes, and college athletic teams who wear and represent Nike. Nike also has a strong advertising campaign online, magazines advertisements and television commercials.  Nike is different in that it communicates its position through promotional material using motivation, connections between the viewers with the person in the ad, inspirational stories and very often using a celebrity spokesperson or endorsers.  Most importantly, Nike targets all sports and displays and represents them in their advertising by providing a story.

Three of many competitors of Nike are Adidas, Puma and Under Armour.  Adidas, who acquired Reebok in 2006 and Nike, sell very similar type products. Adidas 3 stripes logo play an important role and represent a designer label that consumers want.   The main product lines of Adidas are shoes, athletic wear, swimsuits, and training gear.  Adidas is a very well-known brand name worldwide and has a long history of providing innovative and functional designs and products.  Adidas is also one of the top sponsors in the sport industry with many endorses that consumers admire and look up to.  In contrast, Adidas mainly sponsors professional soccer, tennis, and general athletics with mostly clothing. Nike seems to be much further ahead when it comes to athlete sponsorships though.   Nike’s markets are more on domestic but have expanded internationally; Adidas is well known around the world but is primarily focused on Europe.

New Balance has differentiated itself through its products, marketing strategy, and strong inherent commitment to corporate social responsibility.  New Balance claims to differentiate their products with technical features, such as blended gel inserts, heel counters, and a greater selection of sizes, particularly for very narrow and/or very wide widths.  New Balance started out as an arch support company and is now one of the world’s largest sportswear companies. Throughout the years New Balance has maintained the same principles it was founded upon: extensive width sizing, a commitment to domestic manufacturing, and leadership in technological innovation.

New balance also sells similar products that Nike and Adidas do. New Balance does not commit to celebrity endorsements which is a disadvantage when it comes to promoting their brand.  This also causes the company to lose out somewhat on gaining awareness on a global scale as it lacks endorsements in major sporting events.  New Balance communicates the message that the company invests its money in cutting edge technology and design instead of paying big celebrities to represent its company. The aim New Balances strategy applaud every day athletes who use New Balance footwear and apparel because they fit and because they perform.  New Balance advertises online, in magazine advertisements and television commercials.

Under Armour’s goal is to be a leader in each process of its product development, concentrating on quality over quantity.  They started out making apparel in a variety of styles and fits intended to enhance comfort and mobility, help regulate body temperature and improve performance regardless of weather conditions.  Under Armour has movied into creating and selling similar items to Nike, Adidas, and New Balance.  Under Armour uses numerous approaches to communicate their products. The primary source of Under Armour’s advertising comes from television commercials and sponsorships with athletes and teams on the collegiate and professional level. Although television and sponsorships are the primary sources of advertisement, Under Armour also has advertised in magazines, the internet, and on billboards. An advantage for Under Armour is that it is focused more on improving its brand and unique products, licensing other items and accessories through independent manufacturers (Lyster, S, 2006).  

Puma differentiates themselves from Nike by focusing on lifestyle driven style.   Nike focus on performance driven style.   This was mainly because of better and trendier design, which is targeting the younger target group better. The main products of Puma are sportswear, sport shoes and accessories. The main product of Puma is casual footwear that is different from their competitors: Puma shoes are more fashionable shoes, than athletic shoes.  These unique designed footwear, apparel, and accessories will help Puma to create a utility fashion sportswear, offering for the Mobile lifestyle. This look gives the advantage to their products to become more fashionable and trendy.  Puma’s mission and vision is to work in ways that contribute to the world by supporting creativity, sustainability and peace and by staying true to the values of being fair, honest, positive and creative in decisions made and actions taken. According to the aim they will keep on making the products for their customers to love, and at the same time bring that vision of a better world a little closer every day (Moses, L, 2014).

Puma is making a big effort on promoting themselves in many different ways from television commercials, online customization options, excellent apparel packaging and engaging in corporate social responsibility like environmental pollution control.

References

Akhtar, Omar (2013).  The hatred and bitterness behind two of the world’s most popular brands.  Retrieved from  http://fortune.com/2013/03/22/the-hatred-and-bitterness-behind-two-of-the-worlds-most-popular-brands/

Johnson, Ben (2010).  Mythology behind Nike’s Logo.  Retrieved from http://www.logoinn.net/history-mythology-nike-logo/

Lyster, Stephanie (2006). The History of Under Armour- A Mastermind for Performance Apparel.  Retrieved fromhttp://ezinearticles.com/?The-History-of-Under-Armour---A-Mastermind-for-Performance-Apparel&id=127493

Moses, Lucia (2014) Inside Puma’s branded content strategy.  Retrieved from       http://digiday.com/brands/nielsenes-puma-branded-content/