Nike’s Swoosh logo is one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Go to Helen Newman or Teagle gym at Cornell on any given day. Chances are you will most likely bump into someone sporting a Nike athletic t-shirt or wearing a pair of the company’s running shoes. Even on campus, you will see many people casually wearing a pair of Nikes, such as the classic Air Force 1s, heading off to classes. What brought about such ubiquitous presence of this sportswear brand?

Nike’s success can largely be attributed to the company’s shrewd marketing strategy. The company is well known for jaw-dropping endorsement deals with high profile athletes such as Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Tiger Woods, and Ronaldinho. In 2007, the Jordan brand grossed about $800 million, which is $100 million less than the entire company was pulling in when they signed Jordan in his rookie years. Lebron James landed a $90 million shoe deal with the company, which is hoping the replicate the success they had with Jordan. Tiger Woods is getting $105 million to don himself in Nike Golf brands. Nike is also challenging Adidas for marketing control over the European football (soccer) leagues by signing superstars such as Ronaldinho.

The idea behind the marketing is simple: get the best players in the world to endorse their product and create an information cascade. People want the shoes worn by Jordan who could fly through the air and was averaging 28 points a game. Nike commercials like the one shown here depicts the basic goal of Nike’s marketing strategy – to have people ask questions like “is it the shoes?” By signing outstanding superstars and creating association with the company, Nike establishes its brand as a premium sportswear.

With Tiger Woods, Nike has been able to create a market within the golf community, which has been dominated by brands such as Taylor Made, Callaway, and Titleist. Same was possible with European football leagues, where rival Adidas used to be the dominant brand. Nike has also made attempts to break into the skateboarding communities by introducing P-Rods named after the famous skater, Paul Rodriguez Jr. Nike targets top sports teams and players to adopt their products so that they could influence people within that sport clusters.

Sources:

http://www.slate.com/id/2083478/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23071595/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4554944/