Nike Goes Global

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Nike’s Global Expansion
A few decades ago a “fitness craze” swept through the nation and the world. Indoor and outdoor activities became enormously popular. Sports were no longer regarded as merely for recreation. Rather, sports are essential in order to live in healthy and productive life. More and more people start to exercise and as result a demand for athlete clothing and footwear has increased. Nike saw an opportunity to capitalize on this craze and turned it into a billion dollar empire.
A global marketing perspective understands that there are differences between people and groups and that information on these differences can be acquired. Once acquired this information should shape business behaviors and decisions. The biggest risk a company faces is in how their brand translates into another culture. Words, sayings and colors can all have very different meanings, so it is best to do heavy research and test marketing before making the international move. Nike has the opportunity to move into any global sport field they desire. They have already established a base in soccer, but there are other sports unique to European and Asian cultures in which Nike can capitalize. In Japan for example, baseball is a popular sport. In France, cycling and the Tour de France in known all over the world. A move into these areas may be advantageous. The Olympics are another area in which Nike can focus. Every two years there are either the winter games or the summer games. In 2006 the winter games will be held in Italy and in 2008 the summer games will be in Beijing. These are both great opportunities for Nike to expand into different sports and audiences. A benefit for Nike would be localization in other countries like they do in the United States. The marketing teams should research and find out who the biggest and best sports athletes are of the time as well as those who are most popular. As in the United States, publicity and audience t...