Business Studies

The purpose of this assignment is to identify a brand and conduct research about its performance, competition, and target market.

Throughout the course, you will complete an ongoing project focused on the analysis of a specific brand and its target market consumers. You will conduct research and study consumer behavior and use your findings to recommend marketing and communication strategies that will help the brand increase sales and profits to its target market.

Select a specific brand that is part of a publicly traded, for-profit company. It is important that you focus on a specific brand so that your focus is narrow and will allow you to study the brand’s specific target market. For example, if you select Ford as your brand, that is too broad. Instead, select Ford F150 or Ford Focus as your brand. This will provide you with the narrow target market focus you are seeking for the project. If you have taken MKT-315, you may elect to continue focusing on the brand that you researched for that course.

Conduct research about the brand by visiting the company website and obtaining a copy of the annual report. Locate three to five additional resources that provide additional data and information about the brand. In a 250-word summary, address the following.

Provide a brief description of the brand and the product category.
Summarize the brand’s performance.
Discuss brand competition within the marketplace.
Identify the target market for the brand.
APA style is not required, but solid academic writing is expected.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are not required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite.

ANSWER

Air Jordan Brand Analysis

The Air Jordan is a shoe brand that was first created in 1984 but was officially released to the public in 1985 (Lin et al., 2021). The shoe brand was created in recognition of great talent in the world of basketball, Michael Jordan. At a time when sneakers were not associated with sports, the air Jordans were the pioneers of athleisure shoes) a term coined to describe athletics-wear worn for leisure purposes). The shoe grew into a global success, as Michael Jordan’s career heightened and made him the most successful and renowned basketball player globally. As his fame grew, so did his fan base’s love for his shoes (Lin et al., 2021). Over the years, Nike’s Air Jordan performance has improved greatly, amassing billions of dollars in sales. With the massive success associated with the release of Air Jordan, I saw Nike create a second version called Air Jordans II. The second version of Air Jordan’s was created with the involvement of advanced technologies, featuring them with maximum comfort, unlike the former version.

From the time of the first creation and version, Nike air has continued to be a global sensation. This has been a sole pioneer for Nike not only to be a global brand but also to promote a lifestyle among the growing young and trendy population. The current population revolves around the feeling of being associated with the current fashion trend. Nike, in its part, has perfected the art of realizing what the current generation wants, and through Air Jordan, it has continued to be successful while still meeting the market’s demand.

Jordan’s brand performance has been exceptional due to various reasons. For instance, according to Lin et al. (2021), the demand for the Jordan brand is incomparable to other shoe products created by Adidas or Under Armor. The shoes are described as a must-have as the sneaker has widely been regarded as unique. The company uses high-quality materials and the most updated technologies in their creation.  In 2019, Nike Air Jordan made $3.14 billion in the fiscal year, which ended in 2019. Such revenues have been generated with the company diversifying from creating basketball shoes to promoting football clubs Jerseys like for European clubs like Paris Saint Germain (Lin et al., 2021). The sales accumulated for the sales of these Jerseys are shared according to the percentage owned by Nike Air Jordans. Air Jordan’s continued success is also characterized by its ability to hire a good marketing team that identifies the market’s potential and develops the means to exploit them.

However, like any other global organization, Nike Air Jordan faces its fair share of competition. According to Bowden (2021), Adidas is the biggest competitor of Nike. The German company long dominated the sneakers market until Nike’s founder Phil Knight ventured the company into making sneakers. Since then, both cooperation’s have been at the forefront of sneaker sales worldwide. The companies have also diversified their athletic wear, with each company preferring to sponsor individual players according to the popularity of their sport. For instance, Nike sponsors Lionel Messi, one of the best football players in the world. This gives the company a competitive edge; as the popularity of the sponsored player increases, so does the sales of Nike.

Finally, Nike’s performance has been accelerated by its ability to focus on its target market. For instance, Air Jordan’s main market is NBA players and the majority of fans wanting to be associated with Nike’s products that create a form of lifestyle. The market targets teenagers and young adults (males between ages 15-25), who form up to 65 % of the company’s sales.

References

Bowden, D. (2021). The World’s Top 25 Nike Competitors. Retrieved from https://www.irreverentgent.com/nike-competitors/

Lin, Y. C., Chen, Y. H., & Lee, Y. C. (2021). The effect of product attributes, brand awareness and product knowledge on consumers-A case of Air Jordan retro shoes. Journal of Statistics and Management Systems, 24(5), 1151-1168.