Best sports brand 2022
Have you ever heard of the sneaker wars? The top sneaker brands are out there, trying to beat each other and then earn their name. Well, that’s to show you how competitive the sportswear industry is? But who is winning this war? In this post, we will discuss Nike Vs Adidas. So, let’s go and find the best sports brand [2022].
Nike Vs Adidas Net worth
At an estimated revenue of 23.3 million dollars, Nike seems to be winning this game, especially against Adidas with a revenue of about 13 million dollars. So, what’s really the big difference between these two brands. Why is Nike taking the lead in this war, being almost twice the worth of Adidas?
The dive towards running shoes
Creation of Nike
Since as far back as the 90s, the sportswear industry has been dominated by German brands. We had big names like Puma and Adidas. They knew the business like the back of their hands. These brands had the resources and knowledge to satisfy millions of customers. And it didn’t look like this would change anytime soon. But it did. All thanks to Phil knight. While at Stanford for his MBA, Phil wrote a paper on how Japanese sports shoes can take over from German sports shoes, just as Japanese cameras did to German cameras.
Going by what this paper is about, you can tell that the Japanese cameras were able to outsmart German cameras and he wanted to mirror this achievement. Phil planned to import low-cost running shoes from Japan into the American market which would still be high quality. The difference was that the labor was cheaper in Japan and that would automatically mean a lower cost of production. So, immediately after graduation, Phil met with Onitsuka Tiger in japan to secure distribution rights for running shoes in the United States. Within a few months, they had finalized the deal and he finally received the first set of shoes.
After more than a year after mailing them to Bill Bowerman, his former track coach at the University of Oregon, Bill fell in love with the shoes and became a partner. This signified the birth of Blue Ribbon Sports, the company that would eventually be renamed, Nike.
Growth of Nike
There’s something important to learn in the origin story of Nike. Phil’s show of strong analytical skills made him realize that there were less expensive ways to produce shoes that will effectively compete in the market, not just that he targeted the right category of consumers. While Adidas was focusing on organizations like IOC and FIFA, Nike chose to invest in individuals rather than institutions. Indeed, this was one of his best moves.
Many of the first set of employees and even co-founders of Nike were former runners. So, they sold these shoes to athletes and those into track and sports. At the same time, Steve Prefontaine was a huge star in Oregon and had many fans. His fan were paying attention to his every move. When Nike made him their first sponsored track athlete, this put them right on track for success as you can imagine.
Suddenly people started to see the fastest runners were wearing Nike and not Adidas. The famous athletes were camping with Nike and Adidas wasn’t as popular with them. This was a marketing strategy that Phil and his team were willing to ride with. You could tell that they were big on hands-on research and development. This helped them succeed in a competitive market.
Development in Nike products
Apart from this, Bill was fascinated with the idea of optimizing the shoes and making them even better for athletes. So, when Oregon Hayward Field wanted to transition to an artificial surface from a crushed cinder track in the early 1970s, he began to search for a running shoe that won’t crack no matter the surface. His eureka moment came while watching his wife make waffles in the kitchen. This led to the first of many innovations that would make sure Nike was always a step ahead of its competitors.
You could say that they revolutionized the sneaker industry with design after design. They even claimed that the Nike vapor fly running shoe could make athletes run faster and who wouldn’t want to get something like this. The shoe was actually made to help athlete Kippah to crush his marathon and guess what? He did that in Vienna in 2019.Thanks to this event. And the fact that Nike runners started dominating major races, the World Athletics Association decided it was time to release some rules and regulations for running shoes. Here’s how to look at it. Imagine having shoes that are so great in increased performance. The association thought it was necessary to ban them.
Instead of reducing Nike’s popularity in the market, this boosted their marketing in several ways. Now people say that the shoes were just awesome and really made runners better on the track. Soon more big athletes joined the Nike family including Michael Jordan, Serena Williams, Carl Lewis, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roger Federer, and Tiger Woods. This sports brand is not done with adding some of the strongest clubs, federations, and athletes to its library of stars, and this forms the heart of the Nike company.
Responding quickly to customer needs
Nike has always been customer-focused and this is a huge plus in their marketing strategy. While many people have always loved the simple slogan ‘just do it and how they create amazing ads surrounding this phrase. You can’t ignore how dynamic the swoosh logo is. But Nike is more than their slogan and logo.
Over the years, their marketing strategy has been focused on how to communicate effectively with consumers and resolve their issues as fast as possible. Even the organization functions as a matrix with employees, reporting to more than one supervisor. What this means? This means that they’re able to work closely together and this is responsible for how fast they can attend to issues.
When they exchange information easily, managers can uphold the business goals of Nike and customers are left happy. At first, this matrix focused more on product type which was more on efficiency in the supply chain and not addressing the needs of consumers. However, by 2008 Nike realized that it had to change this and the new focus was on sports. This led to the creation of various categories including training, basketball, global football, and running.
Success after success
Changing their methods was super successful as Nike experienced sales of up to 30 billion dollars. Now stores are building sections around the sports categories provided by Nike which means that you can shop by equipment, apparel, and footwear. The result of this, a better shopping experience for the consumer. With this, more and more people were falling in love with Nike as a multi-sport. Consumers had a larger selection of merchandise for different sports. You don’t have to use just one pair of shoes for both workouts and running when you can buy a different pair of training shoes and running shoes. It’s a win-win situation.
No retailer for selling
Another plan that worked effectively was to serve consumers on a personal scale. Instead of selling their sports shoes directly to retailers, Nike products were available on their website which eliminated the need for a middleman. Of course, when there was no middleman to hike the prices of goods, consumers can get this at a wholesale price. While Nike earns more money for every successful sale, consumers are happy spending less than they would have at a retail price.
A major focus on women
Another strategic decision by Nike was to include women in its marketing strategy. Women have had to watch for years, as most products especially in the sports industry have centered on male athletes. So, Nike decided to change this with their strong focus on women. They were pretty serious about this and you could tell how they divided the sections into men, women, and kids wear.
They didn’t just implement this but also made sure that the shoes were tailored to the needs of each individual. Beyond marketing, there is a huge potential in the women’s sportswear market and Nike is right to play its market game in this area. It’s the one thing that’s consistently kept them on top beyond the reach of other brands like Adidas and it’s not just about the now, but Nike is a brand for the future.
Microclimate chair by Nike
This is very important feature in this post of Nike Vs Adidas. This company has brought about innovations like the microclimate chair for NBA players which provides both heating and cooling therapy. No need for an ice bath when they want to cool off after a game. All it takes is to sit in a chair and they’d be as comfortable as ever.
Customization of Boeing 787 by Nike
Nike has also made the lives of athletes more comfortable in other ways. They customized Boeing 787 that divides the plane into review zones, workout decks, and recovery areas. They may not be working towards producing a plane but one thing that has ensured that Nike keeps winning the sneaker war is the drive towards innovation.
The bottom line
So this was whole about Nike Vs Adidas. This brand (Nike) is not willing to stop at just one but they keep on thinking of ways to grow while making athletes feel amazing. It’s a bet on their strengths that keeps them at the top of the radar of world-class athletes. Now you know the winning of the war between the swoosh and the three stripes.
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