Research on Business and Revenue Promotion Methods of Commercial Companies Based on Brand Marketing Planning Path - Take Nike's Marketing Strategy as an Example

Abstract

Marketing is a must for every brand, and brands can take publicity from various aspects, such as advertising, celebrity endorsement, and sponsorship. Nike as one of the world's largest and most well-known brands, has been the leader of the sports fast-fashion industry since its launch., Brand marketing means the world has been widely recognized. For example, Nike's Just Do It slogan, whether on social media or while walking on the street, is often seen in Nike ads. The success of Nike absolutely cannot be separated from its excellent marketing strategy. The rapid development of business means that new products and brands are constantly emerging, and emerging brands can learn from successful marketing cases to help them stand out in today's fierce market and win consumers' favour and loyalty. This paper examines three of Nike's famous marketing success cases. It analyzes how Nike has made marketing promotions successful from three perspectives: emotional marketing, celebrity collaborations, and the release of branded co-branded limited-edition items. This paper aims to determine the importance of promotion in today's market, calling on major brands to pay more attention to developing marketing strategies. Brands need to focus on consumers at the forefront, a good brand needs good marketing support.

Full text

Research on Business and Revenue Promotion Methods of
Commercial Companies Based on Brand Marketing Planning
Path
- Take Nike's Marketing Strategy as an Example
Jingyi Wei1,a,*
1School of Design, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
a. ml1926jw@leeds.ac.uk
*corresponding author
Abstract: Marketing is a must for every brand, and brands can take publicity from various
aspects, such as advertising, celebrity endorsement, and sponsorship. Nike as one of the
world's largest and most well-known brands, has been the leader of the sports fast-fashion
industry since its launch., Brand marketing means the world has been widely recognized. For
example, Nike's Just Do It slogan, whether on social media or while walking on the street, is
often seen in Nike ads. The success of Nike absolutely cannot be separated from its excellent
marketing strategy. The rapid development of business means that new products and brands
are constantly emerging, and emerging brands can learn from successful marketing cases to
help them stand out in today's fierce market and win consumers' favour and loyalty. This
paper examines three of Nike's famous marketing success cases. It analyzes how Nike has
made marketing promotions successful from three perspectives: emotional marketing,
celebrity collaborations, and the release of branded co-branded limited-edition items. This
paper aims to determine the importance of promotion in today's market, calling on major
brands to pay more attention to developing marketing strategies. Brands need to focus on
consumers at the forefront, a good brand needs good marketing support.
Keywords: Nike, marketing strategy, advertisement, brand cooperation, limited edition
1. Introduction
Consumers are exposed to advertisements from all aspects of life every day. A good advertisement
can make consumers spend more time paying attention, attracting consumers to be interested in the
brand. It helps the brand find potential consumers who know much about the brand from its
marketing and promotion and how to attract customers with good marketing. Even with a good
product, how to promote it is also essential, a product's good or bad needs to be recognized and
understood by consumers to be able to judge. Brand promotion has two critical tasks: one is to
establish an excellent corporate and product image, improve product awareness, and become closer to
the consumer's loyalty, and the second is the ultimate product sales to improve the role. Nike, a sports
brand, has been a leader for many years and has established a strong position in the sports industry by
creating a solid identity and a compelling and consistent image. There are quite a few marketing
Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Financial Technology and Business Analysis
DOI: 10.54254/2754-1169/58/20230783
© 2023 The Authors. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
7

strategies that Nike has adopted over the years that can give good learning value to other brands.
However, with the development of the times, Nike has also encountered many competitors in the
market. In the face of the current changes in the market, the old brand needs to adjust its policies and
listen more to the market and consumer demand.
Now that there has been a lot to study Nike's marketing strategy content, this paper on Nike's
detailed marketing strategy needs to be recapitulated. This paper will be based on the framework of
the review study and use case study and comparative study method from Nike-related excellent
marketing case to analyze Nike's reliance on solid marketing to successfully establish customer
loyalty and strong brand awareness of the competitive advantage. They will promote the product to
the world-renowned. At the same time, this study will then analyze and compare the brand Lululemon,
which has excellent competition for Nike nowadays, as a sports brand that became famous recently is
how to create a group of valued consumers belonging to themselves in the sports market that is
already very saturated, analyze the brand compared to Nike whether there are problems that can be
improved in the market nowadays, and finally, according to the case study, come up with the common
of the excellent marketing brands, which can be used for the other marketing brands. Finally,
according to the case study, the commonality of the marketing brand can be used as a reference for
other brands to learn.
2. Nike Outstanding Marketing Case Studies
Nike uses advertisements, sponsorships, celebrity endorsements, and partnerships to reach its target
audience and achieve widespread publicity through social media, television, and offline billboards.
According to the research, in 2022, Nike spent around $38.5 billion on advertisements and
promotions [1]. Well-known athletes, celebrities, and influencers are frequently featured in Nike's
marketing efforts, which aids in broadening their appeal and impact.
This section will analyze three successful aspects of Nike's marketing, discussing why Nike chose
this marketing strategy and explaining how the brand has achieved great success in these three areas
and led the brand to significant gains.
2.1. Advertisement-a Promotional Film
Nike is committed to creating heart-wrenching and engaging stories, and their ads for these stories
have been viral. As Nike identified that most of their brand's audience would be people interested in
sports, Nike aimed their campaigns at inspiring athletes and always centred their campaigns around
inspiring people to get more active and play sports.
Nike is very good at telling the brand story, especially putting the emotional value it wants to
express in its advertisements. For Nike these ads are more than just an advertisement, they are like a
mini movie. Instead of focusing on the features of the products in the ads, most of the video is about
the struggles of the athletes in overcoming obstacles and so on. Nike communicates in their ads that
they respect amazing athletes, that they respect great sportsmanship, that this is what they stand for,
and that this is the cornerstone of their existence.
Dream Crazy is a 2018 Nike commercial with Colin Kaepernick. In this two-minute video he
narrates, the film shows some of the athletes' seemingly crazy dreams and many athletes who have
overcome the odds to be where they are today. For example, 10-year-old wrestler Isaiah Bird, who
was born without legs but now leads a team and is an expert swimmer, track runner, surfer and soccer
player; and Charlie Jabaley, who shed 120 pounds, trained for an Ironman triathlon and successfully
treated a lifelong brain tumour. The memorable and touching commercial generated nearly $43
million worth of media exposure for the company within 24 hours of airing, and the commercial
Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Financial Technology and Business Analysis
DOI: 10.54254/2754-1169/58/20230783
8

ultimately won an Emmy Award [2]. The exciting jingle stimulates the senses and inspires consumers
to keep working toward their dreams.
"Dream Crazy" is more than just an event, it is about the spirit Nike brings to the table by working
alongside athletes. Nike advocates the power of sport to move the world forward truly. It takes a
customer-centric approach. Instead of bragging about its products and their features, Nike takes a
consumer-centered approach, really focusing on the pain and problems of consumers and thinking
about how they can solve with Nike products, which very few companies can do as well as Nike.
Nike is committed to building a solid brand philosophy and reinforcing its brand as a
representative of a sports culture. Nowadays, when customers think of Nike, they also think of their
passionate, crazy, obsessive brand philosophy, a powerful connection that sports have created and,
therefore, plays an essential role in the success of selling the brand's products.
It is more than just Nike's excellent storytelling that other brands can learn from. In this "dream
crazy" example, it is also clear that Nike is a brand that knows how to capitalize on seemingly
"negative news" to add heat to their brand. They know how to partner with the right athletes at the
right time strategically. Colin Kaepernick got into peacefully protesting police brutality. Many brands
have cut him off, but Nike chose him to be the main character of their advertisement because Nike
knows that his passionate speeches and level of discussion attract many customers, such as young
black Americans. Generating controversy is a good thing for a brand. What is important is how to
rationally utilize the heat of the controversy brought about when choosing a brand to market. Subjects
and people may generate much excitement for a business and draw in many customers. However, if
improperly, they can seriously harm the brand's reputation.
2.2. Athlete Cooperation
When the brand identifies its target consumers, it launches a marketing campaign to address them.
Nike is currently targeting an audience of sports enthusiasts between 15 and 40 interested in an active
and healthy lifestyle. One of the largest consumer groups currently is Generation Z, which has
surpassed Generation X in size [3]. According to Farren's study, sports celebrities act as role models
for members of Generation Z [3]. Most consumers say they are willing to pay more attention to a
brand if it partners with a favourite athlete, which positively affects their willingness to buy.
Therefore, Nike aimed its marketing to include promoting its products by partnering with athletes
or sports teams. It aims to design its products through a psychological strategy of the target market by
associating victory with the apparel, and through sponsoring athletes' celebrities, the products are
seen as a representation of victory. With all the athletes worldwide participating and training for
different sports activities, it also meets its way of expanding and enriching the market.
Nike also generally chooses to work with celebrity athletes or more famous teams. With the strong
influence of celebrities, it increases communication and interaction between fans and the brand.
According to the survey, Nike spends much money cooperating with star players.According to
research, Nike spends roughly half a billion dollars a year on endorsement partnerships[4]. From this,
the FIFA World Cup is the world's very attention of a tournament. Nike in the 2022 World Cup
sponsorship shows good marketing ability. Nike over Adidas to get the most sponsorship rights, the
overall sponsorship of the 16 teams, and chose a famous big favourite team Brazil.
Sports have evolved into a more engaging and effective medium for businesses and sponsors to
connect with and reach a wide range of consumer goals as the number of sports fans worldwide rises.
Sponsors are evident everywhere, with corporate logos appearing on every team's uniform and even
naming stadiums after the sponsoring company. Through team and player sponsorships, Nike
broadens and strengthens its relationship with users and can get enormous exposure when it is
showcased through game gear, billboards in-game arenas, etc. Particularly, jersey sponsorship is
Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Financial Technology and Business Analysis
DOI: 10.54254/2754-1169/58/20230783
9

extremely visible both on and off the field, and it attracts the most attention in the stadium when a
player is sporting the brand's emblem there.
Nike's most successful marketing is of course the co-branding partnership with Michael Jordan.
Few sneakers are as iconic and recognizable as the Air Jordan, and this is probably the most
successful marketing partnership in history. Jordan is undoubtedly an iconic figure in basketball, and
Nike leveraged his fame to quickly open up Air Jordan's fame and help increase sales of other lines of
products. For decades, this Nike sneaker has been a must-have in the sports world, representing more
than just a piece of equipment. It has become a cultural icon, status symbol and fashion statement.
2.3. Co-branding and the Use of Limited Edition
With the development of social media and changing consumer tendencies, people desire to express
their personalities and social status by displaying their fashion. Customers use social media to satisfy
their wants by improving what they buy and delight in expressing themselves through specialised
goods to become well-known. According to Chae, this is a form of conspicuous consumption, with
the modern development of being noticeable means that one is proud to be seen [5]. By possessing
something unique that no one else has, customers desire to display their individuality or identity that
differs from others.
Nike has captured this consumer mentality, and since 2008, the brand has opened up co-branded
limited-edition collaborations, with the first Air Jordan 1 collaboration with the iconic American
denim brand Levis, which was well received. After that, Nike launched a variety of co-branded shoes.
The value of the product after the co-branding is relatively high to maintain the scarcity of the product
and, therefore, reduce the production of the product to achieve the market situation of demand
exceeding supply. More and more people want to buy, the value of the goods will increase.
In July 2020, Nike released a pair of Air Jordan shoes co-branded with Dior, and the news
immediately attracted the attention of fans worldwide. The shoes were released in limited quantities,
with only 8,000 pairs officially sold globally. Still, more than 5 million people participated in a global
lottery, and the collaboration was already a big hit even before it went on sale, with the product being
snapped up at the pre-order stage. The shoes went on sale for $2,000, but the final price rose to
$10,000, and they were still hard to get.
Nike used several marketing strategies in this sale interaction, starting with the brand setting the
bar for access - reservations had to be made to have a chance to buy, and the limited time rule gave
consumers a strong sense of urgency that if they missed out, they would not have an opportunity to
buy. As a result, many consumers will choose to participate in this purchase activity, even with the
mindset of trying it out. At the same time, it also gives consumers more participation and a stronger
sense of perceived value when they grab the shoes, naturally producing more excited shopping
psychology. Consumers are stimulated by the scarcity of items, which also interferes with their ability
to digest information. Therefore, products with high scarcity encourage consumer psychology and
induce impulsive behaviour. Limited buying opportunities increase psychological pressure and
enhance willingness to buy [5]. Each pair of shoes has its unique number, which ensures the
uniqueness of the product.
As a luxury product, Dior represents luxury and pursuit, while Nike represents fast fashion and
sports. The two brands, which seem contradictory, can have the consistency of cooperation. One of
the core issues of co-branding strategy is the fit between brands. Generally speaking, the higher the
perceived fit and the more commonalities consumers have, the higher the evaluation of co-branded
products [6]. Nike has always advocated the pursuit of dreams and do it, and this shoe is also a sports
shoe represented by a sports superstar like Michael Jordan. Nike's product can inspire desire like a
luxury brand such as Dior, thus conveying similar sensations or emotions [6]. In mass brand
association, luxury fashion and mass sneakers have similar functional attributes and are not
Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Financial Technology and Business Analysis
DOI: 10.54254/2754-1169/58/20230783
10

competitors to each other's products (competitors such as Nike and Adidas would have a hard time
generating co-branding). Therefore, from a product category perspective, it is easy for consumers to
associate the two. Moreover, since the two products are in different market segments, co-branding
with each other can expand the audience. According to the previous analysis of the target customer
service, many of Nike's target consumers are interested in the pursuit of fashion, and they will be
willing to spend the price to buy a sports shoe with luxury goods. Especially for Nike, the cooperation
with Dior is a kind of "upward cooperation", which will bring more attention to the brand from
financially wealthy consumers. The two brands can leverage their influence to increase potential
customers, which will help to raise the brand image and likely prices, resulting in a win-win situation.
3. Analysis on the Business Competitors
3.1. Overview of Lululemon
In recent years, one sports brand has quickly expanded and taken control of the sports business,
surpassing Adidas to rank second after Nike in market capitalization. Lululemon has a market
capitalization of $40 billion in only 22 years, while it took Nike 46 years to reach this achievement.
Lululemon's products sell at a high price point and use cutting-edge materials to make their
products. Lululemon also creates exclusivity by stocking very few of each item and rotating what
they have in stock often, compelling customers to quickly buy the things they want. Overall,
Lululemon has positioned itself as a high-end luxury brand that appeals to a specific customer who
values quality and being on trend and is willing to pay a premium price. This marketing meets the
current customer demand for rates and trends [7].
One of Lululemon's key marketing strategies is its active offline branding activities and building
offline brand communities. As a critical component of their brand community approach, they employ
local yoga instructors as brand ambassadors to conduct lessons in their brand community and provide
free yoga classes to band members. Nike focuses on choosing celebrities and athletes to be their brand
ambassadors, while Lululemon chooses their loyal customers to be their brand ambassadors [7]. By
providing free yoga lessons, regular lectures, and in-store events, Lululemon has set itself apart from
its rivals as an internationally engaged, community-driven business. Through this strategy,
Lululemon emphasizes a brand image of a healthy lifestyle. Generation Z are more likely to
participate in Lululemon's offline events than Nike's, which is a great way to help them socialize.
Lululemon's marketing strategy in the women's market has dealt Nike a heavy blow. The brand
quickly recognized a clear market position and quickly captured a gap in the market. In the Nike
market, it is still mainly invested in the male sports market. The North American women's sports
market is blank, and at the same time, with the development of society, women's education and
cultural level increased, and they became more involved in the workplace. With the improvement of
economic status and the awakening of self-consciousness, women are gradually focusing on
improving their self-image and physical and mental health and have more ability and willingness to
pay a high price for products with high brand value and good quality. Women's consumer market is
becoming more and more grand. Lululemon recognized the market and the timing and marketed their
products to women's sports, targeting middle-class women who enjoy yoga and fitness and are
looking for a high quality of life [8].
All in all, Lululemon can quickly grasp consumers' emotional needs at every stage of their lives in
today's fast-changing consumerism market and produce products accordingly. Helping women
improve their quality of life and focusing on different aesthetic needs are all hot topics nowadays, so
Lululemon can create an excellent emotional resonance with consumers and ultimately strengthen
consumer loyalty.
Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Financial Technology and Business Analysis
DOI: 10.54254/2754-1169/58/20230783
11

Casual, comfortable clothing has become increasingly popular in recent years, and these garments
are designed to be suitable for sports and everyday wear [9]. The company is also recognized as a
leader in athleisure, focusing on consumer needs and advocating new lifestyles. The brand has
introduced "Athletic leisure" products, which link sport with fashion and comfort, combining
tailoring and high-quality fabrics. Lululemon has also created a line of high-end yoga apparel. The
yoga industry has grown steadily and will reach 16 billion users globally by 2021[9]. Lululemon has
a large share of the yoga market compared to other brands. Nike focuses primarily on footwear, with
its footwear line accounting for 64% of its total revenue. With Lululemon entering the shoe industry,
it will impact Nike's shoe sales [10].
3.2. Marketing Advantages and Innovations of Lululemon
Lululemon is slowly gaining traction with the women's market, and the brand has expanded into
men's apparel and, more recently, golf and hiking apparel. It also builds brand loyalty through
community initiatives, in-store classes and running groups.
3.2.1. Lululemon's Community Marketing Strategy
Nike has always spent much money to cooperate with celebrity athletes. The amount of money spent
is enormous, and if it does not achieve good results, it will cause a minor blow to the brand. Nike can
learn from Lululemon to choose loyal customers with rich knowledge to become brand ambassadors.
Through the brand ambassador's network and circle, they will help promote the benefits of the brand,
which is a highly efficient and low-cost marketing communication channel [9]. In addition to
providing shoppers with athletic apparel. Lululemon spends much energy improving the customer
experience and a marketing strategy that draws customers closer to the brand. Lululemon selects
brand ambassadors from consumers and relies on brand ambassadors to interact with friends and
family to promote the brand. The brand holds regular fitness classes to which consumers are invited,
which results in a stronger, more personalized connection with potential customers [11]. According to
research, 40% of consumers become more brand loyal after participating in a brand activation or
experience, demonstrating the long-term strategic benefit of building strong brand engagement. After
participating in a brand-sponsored event, 40% of consumers feel more loyal and appreciative of the
company and are more willing to promote the company to others [9]. In the face of consumers
increasingly pursuing quality of life and customized demand for fitness, Nike can also add more
offline interaction with consumers to experience activities, such as sports competitions and physical
activity workouts, to bring closer to consumers, but also can be an excellent opportunity to get more
potential customers.
3.2.2. The Understanding of Consumer Needs
Lululemon is more focused on what consumers want than Nike, and it is reflected in their products.
For example, Lululemon created "camel toe" yoga pants for women and "anti-ball crushing"
sweatpants for men, which consumers very well received. At the same time, Lululemon has attracted
a significant new customer base that enjoys athleisure. Their high-quality clothing and unique styles
designed for various demographics have increased the brand's competitive position. What is more,
Lululemon also emphasizes that everyone has the right to pursue beauty in today's diverse aesthetic
development. Nike, as a traditional and established company, should also listen more to the needs of
consumers. Nike can incorporate new modern elements into famous old advertisements, such as
women's independence and respect for diverse aesthetics.
Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Financial Technology and Business Analysis
DOI: 10.54254/2754-1169/58/20230783
12

4. Conclusion
According to the above analysis of excellent brands, good brand development is always inseparable
from developing excellent marketing activities. Excluding fancy activities is a more sincere way to
impress consumers, especially when consumers perceive that the brand attaches more importance to
their wishes, from the brand concept, product design is centered around their basis, paying attention
to the customer's emotional experience. Companies need to be able to communicate the history of the
brand and the reasons behind its creation to customers in addition to giving them a reason to purchase
a good or service, Having a quality product or service is not enough, brands need to know how a
wider audience can discover them, brands should be thoughtful and create a value proposition that is
exclusive to the brand -this has to have a positive uplifting emotion, then once consumers identify
with this value of the brand, they will be more interested in the brand's products. According to the
consumer positioning of Nike and Lululemon analyzed above, brands should pay more attention to
the newly emerging Generation Z and female consumers. Unlike previous generations, Generation Z
spends much time on social media sites such as Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and YouTube.
Generation Z is the first generation to be exposed to the internet from a young age and is the
generation that is entering the productivity stage. As a result, companies should pay more attention to
Generation Z and produce what those consumers genuinely need.
This paper lacks official data support in the research, lacks primary survey data, and all the content
comes from second-hand surveys. Nike's marketing staff could not be contacted to explain in detail
why the brand chose to carry out these marketing activities at that time. If Nike's staff could be
interviewed, this paper would be more persuasive. Moreover, if there can be consumers for the three
marketing cases listed in this paper to survey the genuine sentiment of the feedback, whether
consumers are recognized by these marketing activities or marketing activities by what proportion of
the population, if there is a relevant questionnaire form will make this paper for the importance of
marketing emphasize more supportive.
In order to solve the shortcomings of this study, the future direction of development is proposed:
firstly, a large area of questionnaire survey for consumers, an in-depth study of consumer perceptions
of brand marketing, and trying to ensure that the objectivity of the data collected, so that the study is
more realistic. Secondly, to address the importance of marketing in future research, it may focus on
analyzing more emerging and successful brands, refining the marketing content, and emphasizing the
analysis of a particular aspect, such as the success of advertising.
If a brand wants to get a place in the competitive market, the first thing the brand needs to specify
is a good marketing strategy to choose the proper brand promotion means. Of course, these cannot be
permanent, as Nike, despite being well known, needs to face up to the needs of consumers and adjust
its marketing strategy to make the right products in the face of changing market demands and
competition from brands of the same class.
References
[1] Tighe, D. (2022). Nike ad spend worldwide 2014-2019 | Statista. Statista; Statista. https://www.statista.com/st
atistics/685734/nike-ad-spend/
[2] william, E. (2019). Bloomberg - Are you a robot? Bloomberg.com. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/
2018-09-04/kaepernick-campaign-created-43-million-in-buzz-for-nike-so-far
[3] Farren, K. (2018). Sports Celebrity Influence on the Behavioral Intentions of Sports Celebrity Influence on t
he Behavioral Intentions of Generation Z Generation Z. https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1
408&context=honors
[4] Winterich, K. P., Gangwar, M., & Grewal, R. (2018). When Celebrities Count: Power Distance Beliefs and
Celebrity Endorsements. Journal of Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.16.0169
Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Financial Technology and Business Analysis
DOI: 10.54254/2754-1169/58/20230783
13

[5] Chae, H., Kim, S., Lee, J., & Park, K. (2020). The impact of limited edition shoe product characteristics, with a
focus on scarcity message frequency, on perceived value, brand trust, and buy intentions. Business Research
Journal, 120(120). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.11.040
[6] Smith, K., & Wintrob, M. (2013). Brand Storytelling: A Framework for Activation. Design Management Review,
24(1), 36–41. https://doi.org/10.1111/drev.10227
[7] Qian, Z., & Zou, J. (2021). Brand Community Strategy of Lululemon. Www.atlantis-Press.com; Atlantis Press.
https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.211209.520
[8] Xu, Z. (2022). The Analysis of the Marketing Strategy of Lululemon Athletica. BCP Business & Management, 34, 8–
12. https://doi.org/10.54691/bcpbm.v34i.2858
[9] Alonso, T. (2022). Strategy Study: How Lululemon Athletica Beat Nike By Creating A New Category.
Www.cascade.app. https://www.cascade.app/studies/how-lululemon-athletica-beat-nike
[10] Ganley, Ms. A., & Sherman, H. (2023). A STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF LULULEMON.
[11] Zichen, Z., & Zou, Z. (2021). Brand Community Strategy of Lululemon: The Relation Between Brand Ambassador’s
Trust and Customer Engagement. International Conference on Economic Management and Cultural Industry.
Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Financial Technology and Business Analysis
DOI: 10.54254/2754-1169/58/20230783
14