What Is Sportswear? Sportswear Is clothing. Including footwear, worn for sport or physical exercise. Sport- specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons. Typical sport-specific garments include shorts, tracksuits, T- shirts, tennis shirts and polo shirts. Specialized garments include wet suits(for swimming, delving or surfing) and soleplates (for skills) and leotards (for gymnastics). For most sports the athletes wear a combination of different items of clothing, e. G. Sport shoes, pants and shirts.
In some sports, retroactive gear may need to be worn, such as helmets or American football body armor. Here is a comparative study of Nikkei and Puma. Introduction of Nikkei: Nikkei, Inc. Is an American multinational corporation that Is engaged In the design, development and worldwide marketing and selling of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories and services. The word ‘Nikkei’ has transcended its original definition in Greek mythology as the winged goddess of victory to become a household name. The victory part remains Intact because the company that made Nikkei a hallmark Is readily recognizable as the leader in the industry.
The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area, and is one of only two Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Oregon. It is one of the world’s largest suppliers of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, with revenue in excess of US$24. 1 billion in its fiscal year 2012 (ending May 31, 2012). As of 2012, it employed more than 44,000 people worldwide. The brand alone is valued at $10. 7 billion, making it the most valuable brand among sports businesses.
The company was founded on January 25, 1964 as Blue Ribbon ports by Bill Bower man and Phil Knight, and officially became Nikkei, Inc. On May 30, 1978. The company takes its name from Nikkei (Greek NICK, pronounced [Nikkei:]), the Greek goddess of victory. Nikkei markets its products under its own brand, as well as Nikkei Golf, Nikkei Pro, Nikkei+, Air Jordan, Nikkei Skateboarding, and subsidiaries Including Cole Han, Hurley International, Mambo and Converse. Nikkei also owned Bauer Hockey (later renamed Nikkei Bauer) between 1995 and 2008. In addition to manufacturing sportswear and equipment, the company operates retail stores under the Nikkei town name.
Nikkei sponsors many high-profile athletes and sports teams round the world, with the highly recognized trademarks of “Just Do It” and the Swoosh logo. NIKKEI, Inc. Is the world’s leading innovator in athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories. NIKKEI, Inc. (NIKKEI) is engaged in the design, development and worldwide marketing of footwear, apparel, equipment and accessory products. NIKKEI sells athletic footwear and athletic apparel. Its product portfolio includes running, training, basketball, soccer, sport-inspired urban shoes and children’s shoes.
It also markets shoes designed for tennis, golf, baseball, football, lacrosse, walking, outdoor activities, skateboarding, bicycling, volleyball, restring, cheerleaders, aquatic activities and other athletic and recreational uses. NIKKEI sells a line of performance equipment under the NIKKEI brand name, Including bags, socks, sport balls, aware, timepieces, electronic devices, bats, gloves, Company sells its products to retail accounts, through NIKKEI-owned retail stores, and through a mix of independent distributors and licensees, in over 180 countries worldwide.
Introduction of Puma: PUMA is one of the world’s leading Sport lifestyle companies that designs and develops footwear, apparel and accessories. PUMA is one cat that changes its stripes. It is committed to working in ways that contribute to the world by supporting Creativity, Sustainability and Peace, and by staying true to the principles of being Fair, Honest, Positive and Creative in decisions made and actions taken. PUMA starts in Sport and ends in Fashion. Its Sport Performance and Lifestyle labels include categories such as Football, Running, Motorists, Golf and Sailing.
Sport Fashion features collaborations with renowned designer labels such as Alexander Macaque and Miramar History. The PUMA Group owns the brands PUMA, Cobra Golf and Trenton. The company, which was founded in 1948, distributes its products in more Han 120 countries, employs about 11,000 people worldwide and has headquarters in Hierarchical/Germany, Boston, London and Hong Kong. Puma SE (officially branded as PUMA) is a major German multinational company that produces athletic shoes, footwear, and other sportswear headquartered in Hierarchical, Bavaria, Germany.
The company was formed in 1924 as Giber;deer Dasher Cockchafers by Doll and Rudolf Dasher. The relationship between the two brothers deteriorated until the two agreed to split in 1948, forming two separate entities, Aids and Puma. Both companies are currently based in Hierarchical, Germany. Puma makes football shoes and has sponsored a number of footballers, including Peel, Suebio, Johan Crucify, Mezzo Francesco,Diego Maroon, Lothario MathГus, Kenny Dahlias, Tidier Decamps, Robert Fires, Gallant Vibraphonist, Readable Falco, Sergei Gag;ere, Sec FГbarges, Marco Reuse, and Gangling Buffoon.
Puma is the sponsor of the Jamaican track athlete Susan Bolt. In the United States, the company is known for the suede basketball shoe it introduced in 1968, which eventually bore the name of New York Nicks basketball star Walt “Clyde” Frazier, and for its endorsement partnership with Joe Math. Following the plat from his brother, Rudolf Dasher originally registered the new-established company as Rude, but later changed output. Puma’s earliest logo consisted of a square and beast Jumping through a D, which was registered, along with the company’s name, in 1948.
Puma’s shoe designs feature the distinctive “Firestorm”, [4] with clothing and other products having the logo printed on them. The company offers lines of shoes and sports clothing designed by Lamina Actuate, Amy Grabbers, and others. Since 1996 Puma has intensified its activities in the United States. Puma owns 25% of American brand sports clothing maker Logo Athletic, which is licensed y American professional basketball and association football leagues. Since 2007 Puma SE has been part of the French luxury group PR. Working for PUMA means working for one of the world’s leading Sportspeople companies.
PUMA stands for flat hierarchies and an informal and easy working atmosphere within a young, dynamic and international work environment. The structure allows employees from every level to communicate freely and openly with superiors and each other. Characterized by mutual respect and appreciation of each individual, the working atmosphere at We are looking for motivated, dynamic & ambitious team players who are assassinate to think outside the box, to gig where others gag and to seek inspiration beyond the more obvious boundaries of our business universe.
Company Profile of Nikkei: Name: Nikkei Inc Type: Public Industry: Sport Apparel, Sport Accessories Founded: 1964 as Blue Ribbon and 1978 as Nikkei Inc. Founders: Bill Borrower and Phil Knight Headquarters: Washington country, Oregon, United States Area served: Worldwide Key People: Phil Knight (Chairman), Mark Parker (President and CEO) Products: Athletic footwear and apparel, sport equipment’s and other athletic and recreational products Website: www. Incline. M Company Profile of Puma: Name: Puma Type: Societal, European Industry: Sports Clothing, Sport goods Founded: 1924 as Giber;De Dasher Cockchafers, 1948 as Puma Founders: Rudolf Dasher Headquarters: Hierarchical, Germany Key People: Cohen Zit (Chairman), Franz Koch (CEO), Klaus Bauer (COO) Products: Sportswear, Sports goods, Sport Accessories Website: www. Puma. Com Marketing strategy of Nikkei in USA: Market segmentation: Market segmentation is very crucial in consumer markets like those of footwear.
The Nikkei brand is essential a youth consumer brand. Although it is primarily targeted awards the athletes, the brand is looked upon more as youth fashion at reasonable costs. Yet, the segmentation has been along different types of consumers who have demand for various types of sports shoes. On the whole, however, price is not a major constraining factor since the Nikkei has a high brand value and customers are ready to pay. The leading customer segment, of course, is that of athletes, for whom the main line of Nikkei products are targeted.
However, over the recent years, Nikkei has also sold soccer boots that are bought by the leading players of the world as well as the common neighborhood players since Nikkei boots. The comfortable boots that enhance the performance are expensive but the price is not usually a concern since manufacturer. Even during the 1994 World Cup, Nine’s sale of soccer boots was a modest $45 million. A decade later, the company’s soccer shoe sales reached $1 billion, at 25 percent of global sales.
In Europe, the main market for soccer sales, Nine’s share is 35 percent, ahead of Aids’ 31 percent (Business Week, 2005). With the advent of e-commerce and internet technology, market segmentation has moved beyond the traditional segmentation strategies by which a particular brand is regarded at a group of customers. Mass customization is the new strategy of segmentation that consumer product sellers, particularly those of apparel and footwear, offer. Nikkei has been one of the first footwear sellers that adopted this strategy.
Through this strategy provided online, the customer can visit Nine’s, become a member and order for a particular variation of a product in terms of color, design or size. That is, the customer can design his own shoe through this option or even put his own name and club number put on an Air Jordan shoe. With this, the customer gets to personalize the shoe and feel professional. The consumer: Nine’s consumer base is the entire youth market although its branding image is that of the athlete.
This is why Nikkei sells athletic attire as well as footwear. Primarily in order to capture the entire youth market, Nikkei spends a lot in sponsoring amateur, collegiate and professional sports. Over the years, it has sponsored summer camps in amateur athletics and athletic programs of Division 1 Universities in the US. Nikkei also sponsors professional leagues like the National Football League, National Hockey League and National Basketball Association. Nikkei was the pioneer in selling sports outwear online.
It opened its web site as early as in 1999 and has since then provided multiple channels for selling all its products, through brick and mortar retail stores and online. It has also entered into a marketing arrangement with United Postal Service to deliver products ordered through mail order or the internet. For the last several years, Nikkei has expanded into new markets like China and India that have experienced increasing disposable incomes in the hands of the young generation. Positioning of brand: The company developed an impressive number of products specifically for the
Atlanta Olympics, namely Moisteners for sprinters and Air Zoom miller for distance runner. Rather than sponsoring the event, as the competitors did, Nikkei opted for sponsoring sportspeople wearing the brand. This provided the company a far more publicity mileage than the traditional marketing techniques as all the top four sportsmen who finished teethe meters wore the swoosh logo of Nikkei, which was first advertised in a basketball championship for which the champion was endorsed by Sara Lee (Business Week, 2004). Its advertising slogan “Just do it” has been a great hit with the young customers.
According to Philip Kettle, a product should be Judged according to its core value, the actual value and the augmented value. The core value of the Nikkei product is its use value as a sports shoe but the actual value is its superior quality that enhances the performance of the sportsperson. The augmented value of a particular product is determined by the branding, packaging and special features. For Nikkei, the branding through large advertising spending, sponsorships of events and endorsements of sports persons augment the value much more than its core value, which is at par with its closest competitors.
The Air Jordan commercials Aids and Rebook found it difficult to design competing commercials. Nine’s mission statement says “To lead in corporate citizenship through proactive programs that reflect caring for the world family of Nikkei, our teammates, our consumers, and those who provide services to Nikkei” (minimize. Com). Customers are Nine’s top priority and all its strategies are focused towards customer satisfaction. Particularly through its web site, Nikkei tries to customize its products in order to increase customer loyalty.
Marketing Mix of Brand: For developing a strong brand, it is essential to have an appropriate marketing mix, hat is the four Up’s – product, price, place and position, as proposed by Neil Borden in 1964 (articles tree). Nikkei understood the marketing mix correctly, enabling it to design its strategy effectively. Since the product is targeted at young adults and teens, all its promotional campaigns use young stars like Michael Jordan, Serene Williams and so on. 1. Product: Nikkei offers a wide range of shoe, apparel and equipment products, all of which are currently its top-selling product categories.
Nikkei started selling sports apparel, athletic bags and accessory items in 1979. Their brand Cole Han carries a line of Reese and casual footwear and accessories for men, women and children. They also market head gear under the brand name Sports Specialties, through Mainstream manufactures and distributes ice skates, skate blades, in-roller skates, protective gear, hockey sticks and hockey Jerseys and accessories. 2. Price: Nine’s pricing is designed to be competitive to the other fashion Shoe retailer. The pricing is based on the basis of premium segment as target customers.
Nikkei as a brand commands high premiums. Nine’s pricing strategy makes use of vertical integration in pricing wherein they own participants at differing channel levels or sake part in more than one channel level operations. This can control costs and influence product pricing. 3. Place: Nikkei shoes are carried by multi-brand stores and the exclusive Nikkei stores across the globe. Nikkei sells its product to about 20,000 retail accounts in the U. S. And in almost 200 countries around the world. In the international markets, Nikkei sells its products through independent distributors, licensees and subsidiaries.
The company has production facilities in Asia and customer service and other operational units worldwide 4. Promotion: Promotion is largely dependent on finding accessible store locations. It also avails of targeted advertising in the newspaper and creating strategic alliances. Nikkei has a number of famous athletes that serve as brand ambassadors such as the Brazilian Soccer Team (especially Ronald, Renamed, and Roberto Carols), Lebanon James and Germane O’Neal for basketball, Lance Armstrong for cycling, and Tiger Woods for Golf.
Nikkei also sponsors events such as Hoop It Up and The Golden West Invitational. Nine’s brand images, the Nikkei name and the trademark swoosh; make it one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Nine’s brand power is one reason for its high revenues. Nine’s quality products, loyal customer base and its great marketing techniques all contribute to make the shoe empire a huge success. Nikkei- A Truly Global Company: than 200 countries. Europe, Asia, North and Latin America are the main markets in which Nikkei sells its products, which makes it a truly global organization. According to Minted, 20%of the U.
S. Athletic market is controlled by Nikkei. The main products of Nikkei include footwear, sports equipment, men and women clothing and accessories. Nikkei is established in 1972 by former university of Oregon star Phil Knight which is now one of the richest people in America. Instead of manufacturing Nikkei designs and markets its products, while contracting for their manufacture from 600 factories scattered all around the globe, that employ around 650,000 people. (L. Hill, 2009) Nikkei has seen many ups and downs in the market and understands the value co-creation with customers.
Nikkei has customers around the globe and it remains informed and connected with its customers which gives Nikkei a new source of value. Nikkei understands the use of involving customers into the business and therefore offers internet sites where customers can share their interactions and experiences, can give heir suggestions. Nikkei can build trust and relationships with Nikkei community, can learn directly from customers and provide customers what they want which enhances the brand. Nine’s fiscal SQ profit rises 22% NEW YORK (AP) -? Nikkei Inc. The world’s largest athletic shoe and clothing company, announced a 22% increase in fourth-quarter profits as strength in North America offset weakness in Europe and China. Like most global companies, Nikkei has been dealing with Rupee’s fluctuating economy and a slowdown in growth in China. Nikkei has been working to reduce its inventory in China and reworking its offerings there to adapt to the changing tastes of Chinese customers. It also has been focusing on growth in North America, selling off less profitable brands like Umber to focus on core brands like Nikkei.
The company said Thursday it earned $668 million, or 76 cents per share, in the three-month period ended May 31 . That compares with $549 million, or 60 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue increased 7% to $6. 7 billion from $6. 24 billion. Analysts had expected 74 cents per share on revenue of $6. 63 billion, according to Facets. During the fourth quarter, the company’s revenue under the Nikkei brand rose % with growth across each product type and region except Western Europe and Greater China.
The Nikkei brand revenue was higher in running, basketball, men’s training, and women’s training products, offsetting slight declines in sportswear, action sport and soccer. Inventories rose 7% year over year. Future orders for the Nikkei brand were up 8% at quarter-end. Shares of Nikkei dropped in after-hours trading to about $61. 62, down by around 1 . 1% of Thursday’s closing price. Shares edged up 47 cents to $62. 32 in regular trading. The fourth-quarter results were released after the market closed. Shares have traded from $42. To $66. 07 over the past 52 weeks. Marketing Mix of Puma: PRODUCT: In term of product we are going to come up with strategies in quality, warranty, and innovation. A) Quality: we look forward to provide better quality product to our customer, to differentiate in term of quality standard. Hence, puma has already established its like Aids and Nikkei. So to be the first choice in consumer mind we have to increase the standard, so that consumer should have a wish or perception on their mind to opt for the brand. ) Warranty: we will provide one month warranty to every customer to gain customer loyalty, that if any fault has been seen after purchase we will exchange with a new pair of shoes… Therefore we can create brand image. C) Innovation: We will be coming up with continuous innovation in our product range, so that the customers get his/her suitable choice. We would like to redesign our shoes and every other stuff, for every age group. Not Just sportswear but in every product of puma, every age group should find their choice of stuff in our product range.
There is less interest among customers in Puma due to less product range as compared to the market leaders Nikkei and Aids. To change this attitude we are trying to redesign and increase our collection of shoes not Just for sportswear but for casual and office wear too. Bringing distinctive and latest trendy design is our prime focus, as we all know that these days, we all are fashion conscious. PRICE: We are going to set a competitive price. Due to Chinese new year we will provides 20 % discount to the customer, so that they can buy puma brand and look over the brand as in compare to other high level brand.
Discount on high unit purchase if 4 pair of shoes are purchased in span of 1 year then customer will get 50% to 60% off n their 5th one when they will buy, this will grow the customer attention toward our brand and they mite switch from buying an Aids sportswear. We will also introduce a innovative way, that on purchase of a pre-set limit a free gift will be offered. The company will also offer package like a full range of soccer apparel, including Jersey to gloves throughout the year.
PROMOTION: It can be done in various ways. We will sponsor events like Formula -1 car racing, road shows or local football match to increase our brand identity and that will create public awareness. We will also sponsor inter school, college and corporate ornament, to gain good publicity toward our brand puma and also can indirectly help to get a positive attitude towards puma by our customers. Endorsement: Since puma is already a reputed brand in the market; therefore finance won’t be a problem at all.
Therefore in order to create a strong brand image we can endorse Caleb like tiger woods to promote our strategies, that will help to create a image on consumer mind, that can be made telecast through advertisements in t v and in Mr. and buses or even in magazines like sports star and sports today. Keeping the collection available in puma website, because there are people who don’t have time to check, by going on around various store so they can look through the particular website to select product of their choice and buy the love to shop online.
It will create strong brand image. Packaging: it is also a vital factor. As it involves the development of a container and a graphic design for a product . Packaging function includes protecting the product from damage. As package can be a vital part of the product making it more versatile. Like a brand name, a package can influence customers attitude towards a product and so effect heir purchase decision, so we will look through our packaging. We will try to use the promotional logos of Formula-I car racing competition in our shoe boxes.
It is going too big sporting event in Singapore and will definitely enrich our brand image if we become successful being one of the sponsor of the event. The sports shoe industry is estimated to be worth S$70 million, with growth rates averaging 5-10% a year. Sports shoes have become big business, as more people are adopting exercise as a way of life. Function and style are equally important for a majority of consumers when it comes to choosing a sports shoe. Consumers want their sports footwear to be useful for their sport, and to look good on a social level, as they want to wear them on the street as well.
However, keen sportsmen continue to stay with high-end performance products with the wide variety of sports shoes currently available (ranging from basketball, running shoes, aerobics, tennis, and other sports). This is probably a opportunity for puma to increase and raise the standard of the brand. Hence innovation and increase in product range is seen viable that what puma lack in comparison to other brands. To create a strong brand image, we will be implementing successful strategies to get into people mind that puma brand is also a better one along with Nikkei and Addis.
Meeting customer expectation is our ultimate goal. PLACE: We are planning to open more retail outlets in places like Clarke quay, orchard and shopping malls like vivo city , Raffles city where there is consistent foot traffic with all the latest design and product of puma. We are trying to provide information of our latest promotions and product range through mobiles to our customers. It can be easy for anyone to retrieve information regarding Puma anywhere and anytime. This ill definitely attract more customers to our Puma stores and help building a strong brand image.
Case Study of Puma: Company PUMA, a multinational company founded in Germany in 1948, is one of the leading sport lifestyle companies in the world. The company designs and develops footwear, apparel, and accessories, and its labels include categories such as Football, Running, Motorists, Golf and Sailing. In the past the brand has collaborated with renowned designers such as Alexander Macaque, Miramar History, and Sergei Rossi. Puma distributes products in more than 120 countries and employs over 11,000 people worldwide. Background PUMA is known for its deep, multi-social network engagement strategy.
It offers a steady flow of content across Backbone, Twitter, Mainstream, Pinsetters, Google+ and PUMA campaigns drive fans to and from its social pages in order to deepen engagement and to drive conversions on its website. PUMA knows its different regional and sub-brand audiences respond to different types of content. While some content speaks to PUMA’s global audience, other content really resonates with specific markets, so PUMA provides a multi-media mix of social content with event sizzle reels, photography and video of PUMA products, pondered athlete footage, local offline events, fashion shows, etc.
For example, PUMA’s Youth page has over 1 ,500 videos, and about 20 to 30 new videos launch each week! With respect to emerging networks like Google+, Mainstream, and Pinsetters, PUMA likes to be a social frontrunner’s, Jumping in and figuring out how to take advantage of the unique features of each network to reach its audience. In fact its Mainstream presence is being touted by media as an example of “best in class” social branding. Sometimes being a social frontrunner’s means there aren’t established industry “best practices” to allow, so PUMA takes the lead and carefully tests what works on new networks, adjusting its strategy as needed.
Goal With a fan base of 7. 6 million on their global Backbone page, PUMA decided to prioritize engaging with loyal followers versus focusing solely on follower growth. The company needed to devise a highly effective social marketing strategy that would better engage its loyal advocates and get people talking about the brand online. Additionally, with a global presence, multiple sport product lines, and various regional pages, PUMA wanted a social marketing tollbooth would be easy for creative agency partners to use, so they could efficiently push content out to various sub- brand and regional pages.
Solution As an enterprise subscription client to Wildfire’s Social Marketing Suite, PUMA utilizes Wildfire’s full range of tools to manage each of its category pages for different regional brands and sports, such as PUMA Fitness, Football, Motivators, Rugby, and Running, as well as its global Backbone page. The tab functionality and library of page templates allow each Puma Category Manager to be creative, and to quickly roll out campaigns via Wildfire’s user friendly content management system.
The aesthetically appealing tabs create stickiness and viral media across PUMA’s pages by giving fans a host of ways to engage. For example, Puma held an event in New York where fans could take fun photos in a photo booth. The brand then created a custom tab on its Backbone page that displayed the photos in a visually appealing way for all fans to see, whether or not they had attended the event. In order to reach all segments of its global audience effectively, PUMA relies on Wildfire’s Messages tool to post social messages multiple times a day, pushing out relevant content to various regional pages.
It utilizes Message’s ability to gee-target and schedule future posts for the times of day when users are most likely to respond. Featured Campaign integrated online and offline social experience called “The Yard,” highlighting both London and the Puma-sponsored fan favorite Jamaican track team. “The Yard” was a physical space set up in London, where PUMA hosted musicians, Ads, athletes, and bartenders known for their “flair” in whipping up concoctions while spinning bottles in the air. A “Pantheon” allowed users to get active via a live Ping-Pong tournament.
Streaming video, photography and blob content sourced from The Yard lived on PUMA’s website (puma. Com/yard) and Wildfire-powered social pages. PUMA also had remote floggers and content generators in Jamaica feeding real time content to PUMA’s site and Backbone page. The flood of fresh multi-media content kept fans coming back every day, posting and tweeting about PUMA throughout the Olympics. Results Since subscribing to Wildfire’s Social Marketing Suite, PUMA has been able to diversify its social content and eliminate the bottlenecks that previously hampered its social marketing strategy.
It can easily cooperate with its agencies while publishing specific, relevant content on all of its social pages. The brand’s millions of followers are highly engaged and frequently interact with the brand across social networks, especially during special events and campaigns. PUMA now has a place on its Backbone page to host visitors, and this in turn generates sales and visits to PUMA. Com, where they can browse PUMA’s products. For example, when PUMA released a new phone app it created a custom Backbone tab that sent users straight to the app store, significantly increasing app sales.
