ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The present work is an effort to throw some light on Marketing

Strategy of Nike at “Nike Industries Limited”. The work would not
have been possible to come to the present shape without the able
guidance, supervision and help to me by number of people.

With deep sense of gratitude I acknowledge the encouragement

and guidance received by my organizational guide …………..and
other staff members.

I convey my heartful affection to all those people who helped and

supported me during the course, for completion of my Project
Report.

……………..

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This marketing strategic plan has been written keeping in mind the
Indian operations of Nike Inc. – the global sports shoe giant. It
aims first, at analyzing the sports shoe industry India and finding a
place in it for Nike. It then sets out to describe the target audience
for the product range and finally suggests a host of marketing
strategies and activities that will help Nike to achieve its target of
becoming the #1 sports shoe brand in India.

The plan begins with a brief overview of the product category

being dealt with, namely premium quality sports shoes. It also
dwells briefly on the history of the company and its current
position and activities.
The project moves on to the crux of the matter – the marketing
plan to be followed by Nike in India. Firstly, the objectives behind
this plan and the core strategy are stated. Customers to be
eventually targeted are described and compared with competitors’
customer targets. After starting the objectives and reasoning behind
them, the actual marketing programs are described in detail. This
includes aspects such as pricing, advertising, promotion, sales,
channels, and the company website. Suggestions are made on each
and every one of these aspects; improvements and innovations are
recommended.

The plan then goes on to the customer analysis section. The

customer base is identified and various segments are pointed out.
Various criteria and factors have been taken into consideration
while segmenting the market. We have also tried to ascertain why
customers buy these products, how they choose, and what factors
matter most when making their decisions.

The last few pages of this marketing plan deal with the various
ways in which the plan, once implemented, can be monitored and
controlled

TABLE OF CONTENT

1) INTRODUCTION 1-13
a) Background of the problem 1
b) About The Nike Industry 3
c) Nike Maxsight 4
d) Industry Overview 5
e) Product Trend 8

2) RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 14-20

a) Research objectives 14
b) Research design 15
c) Data sources 15
i) Primary data 15
ii) Secondary data 15
d) Questionnaire design formulation 16
e) Sample design 17
f) Limitations of the research 20

3) COMPANY PROFILE 21-43

a) Nike Industries Ltd. – A company profile 21
b) Recent Development 21
c) Future Plan 23
d) Risk and Concern 28
e) Literature Review 31
f) 4ps of Nike 40
g) SWOT Analysis 41

4) DATA ANALYSIS 44-63

5) CONCLUSION & FINDINGS 64-67

6) RECOMMENDATIONS 68-75

a) OTHER SUGGESTION INCLUDE 69

7) ANNEXURE 76-82

8) BIBLIOGRAPHY 83

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM

Since the late 1980s, Business School marketing professor Itamar
Simonson has looked for ways to understand how consumers make
choices. Much of his work debunks the accepted theory that giving
consumers what they want and making a profit are the most basic
principles of marketing. Customers may not know what they want,
and second-guessing them can be expensive, says the professor
who teaches MBA and PhD marketing and consumer decision-
making courses. In Simonson’s words, “The benefits and costs of
fitting individual customer preference are more complex and less
deterministic than has been assumed.” That’s because “customer
preferences are often ill-defined and susceptible to various
influences, and in many cases, customers have poor insight into
their preferences.” In one of his recent papers, Simonson tackles
the issue of one-to-one marketing and mass customization.
Supporters of these marketing approaches have suggested that
learning what customers want and giving them exactly what they
want will create customer loyalty and an insurmountable barrier to
competition.

In an example taken to the extreme in the 2002 movie Minority

Report, Tom Cruise’s character runs through a shopping mall past
talking billboards that recognize him by name and urge him to buy
products he had earlier expressed an interest in such as jeans and
Ray-Bans, the ultimate in personalized advertising. But Simonson
has this to say: “The fact that consumer preferences are often
fuzzy, unstable, and manipulatable is unlikely to change. So, the
effectiveness of methods to give customers exactly what they (say
they) want has been grossly exaggerated.” His take on the long-
held assumption that individual marketing will supplant targeted
marketing is “not so fast.” In studies, he has learned that “even
when customers have well-defined preferences and receive offers
that fit those preferences, it is far from certain that the response to
such offers will consistently be more favorable than those directed
at larger market segments.”
It’s all psychology. Consumers with well-defined preferences may
be skeptical that a marketer could match expectations. Those who
don’t know what they want may not ever see the fit with what the
seller wants them to buy. So, individualized offers depend on
customers’ preferences &; how the offer was extended &; and on
trust. “Effective individual marketing requires not only an
understanding of individual preferences and matching offers to
those preferences, but also a thorough familiarity with the various
factors that impact customers’ responses,” Simonson writes. This is
a tall order, one that some companies have been able to fill, at least
to some extent. For example, Amazon keeps track of customers’
purchases and suggests other books they might like. Dell builds
computers from mass-made parts to customers’ specifications. But
Simonson argues some companies can take the concept too far, like
the Custom Foot chain of shoe stores that took detailed
measurements and specifications from each customer to design
one-of-a-kind shoes. Custom Foot didn’t take into account that
some customers were put off by the individualized attention,
Simonson says, and felt obligated to buy the shoes because the
store went to so much trouble. They often didn’t come back. So
knowing only the customer preferences is not enough. It is
required to understand other aspects of customer behavior. Kipping
this in mind, present study will find out and analyze consumer
behavior of Nike shoes with reference to ladies segment.
ABOUT THE NIKE INDUSTRY

In sport, visual acuity and protection can mean the difference

between winning and losing. Light conditions have a dramatic
effect on how the human eye perceives and, subsequently how the
body reacts and performs -- in the sun glinting over the upper deck,
shallow contrast on a putting green, or quickly adjusting from
shadows to light on a tennis court or mountain bike single track.
Nike knows that in athletic competition, even small advantages are
critical to performance. Nike has spent the last eight years
exploring the human eye to understand the science of vision in the
development of the new Nike MaxSight Sport-Tint Contact Lens,
available August 2005.

WHAT IT IS
Nike MaxSight, developed in partnership with Bausch & Lomb, is
a tinted soft contact lens that behaves like sunglasses, reducing
glare and filtering out 95% of UVA and UVB and more than 90%
of blue light. But because the lens rests directly on the eye, there’s
virtually no distortion as with standard sunglasses. Athletes get the
same clear view at all angles.

Plus, Nike MaxSight eliminates the environmental effects that

plague sunglasses like fogging, scratching, additional weight, or
nosepieces and frames to obstruct vision. There’s no obstruction
from the edge of the lens, the frame or the nosepiece, because they
don’t exist. And there are no pressure points and no slippage. Max
Sight also eliminates light leakage, reducing the need to squint,
allowing the eye to relax and perform more naturally.

Nike MaxSight is, in effect, one giant visual sweet spot.

Nike Maxsight
HOW THEY WORK
Nike’s patented Nike MaxSight Light Architecture™ selectively
alters specific wavelengths of light within the visual spectrum to
enhance key elements in sport. The athlete gets crisp, clear vision
without anything getting in their way. By removing most of the
blue light, contrast and clarity are enhanced — a decided
advantage for any competitor. For sports not conducive to eyewear,
such as golf, tennis and soccer, athletes will see marked
improvement, even on days where the sun’s not at its brightest.

Nike MaxSight provides through-and-through tinting (unlike

cosmetically tinted lenses), so there’s no bending or scattering of
light. Plus there’s limited incidental light or peripheral flickering
creeping around the sides, as with sunglasses. Athletes tested in
Nike MaxSight lenses found they squinted less, were able to relax
more, and had exceptional views of contours and movement.

Marco Materazzi of Italy’s Inter Milan football club and Baltimore

Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts are among the pro athletes
wearing Nike MaxSight. “It has been a lot of fun to start the season
this hot,” said Roberts early in the MLB season. In fact, he became
one of the first true fans of Nike MaxSight after impressive initial
results. During a spring daytime game, Roberts said, “I wore the
lenses and went 2 for 4. They are so awesome.”
With Nike MaxSight, there’s minimal squinting in bright light, and
quicker visual definition when going from bright light to shadows.

Wearers will also discover a game-day benefit – the look. “It

makes the eye look distinct, the large-pupil effect,” says Alan
Reichow, Nike Vision Consultant. “It looks competitive.”

ROLL OVER PHOTOS FOR A MAXSIGHT LENSE

SIMULATION
THE WEAR
Nike MaxSight is a 30-day lens, though most athletes will wear
them selectively and for short durations. Lenses come in six-pack
packaging. Nike MaxSight is available with or without a
correction, thereby making it accessible to athletes whether they
wear contacts or not.

THE HISTORY
Nike began exploring the Nike Max Sight technology in 1997,
conducting an initial clinical project, then subsequent research
projects using collegiate athletes. Oregon’s Pacific University
baseball players were the first athletes to undergo testing. Coach
Greg Bradley requested that he be allowed to try them before his
players. “He’d never worn contacts,” says Dr. Reichow. “He took
two pitches and turned around and said, ‘I’ve never seen a ball that
distinct and clear. Put them on anybody who wants them.’

INDUSTRY OVERVIEW
Bill Bowerman said this couple of decades ago. The guy was right.
It defines how he viewed the world, and it defines how Nike
pursues its destiny. Ours is a language of sports, a universally
understood lexicon of passion and competition. A lot has happened
at Nike in the 30 years since we entered the industry, most of it
good, some of it downright embarrassing. But through it all, we
remain totally focused on creating performance opportunities for
everyone who would benefit, and offering empowering messages
for everyone who would listen.

We feel lucky to have a genuine, altruistic reason to be: the service

of human potential. That's the great benefit of sports, and we're
glad to be in the middle of it.
What started with a handshake between two running geeks in
sleepy Eugene, Oregon, are now the world's most competitive
sports and Fitness Company. The World Headquarters is in
Beaverton, Oregon. The Pacific Northwest is Nike's hometown,
but like so many ambitious souls, we have expanded our horizons
to every corner of the world. Nike employs around 23,000 people,
and every one of them is significant to our mission of bringing
inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.
Along the way Nike joined up with some great partner companies
that help extend our reach within and beyond sports.

Cole Haan offers casual luxury footwear and accessories out of

New York City and Yarmouth, Maine.

Bauer Nike Hockey, based in Montreal, Quebec, is the world's

leading manufacturer of hockey equipment and a wholly owned
subsidiary of Nike, Inc.

Nike partnered with Hurley International, a premium teen lifestyle

brand founded by 20-year industry veteran Bob Hurley based in
Costa Mesa, California.

In 2003, Nike completed the acquisition of Converse, the globally

recognized footwear brand with nearly a century of sports heritage,
and home of the perennially popular Chuck Taylor All-Star and
Jack Purcell footwear.

Exeter Brands Group: In August 2004, Nike created the Exeter

Brands Group, a wholly owned subsidiary, dedicated to building
athletic footwear and apparel brands for the value retail channel.
This portfolio of brands includes the Official Starter Properties
LLC and Official Starter LLC which are the sole owners and
licensors of the Starter, Team Starter and Asphalt brand names as
well as master licensee of the Shaq and Dunkman brands, a line of
athletic apparel, footwear and accessory products for the value
retail channel.

Separate business units within the Nike brand include The

Jordan/Jumpman 23 brand and Nike Golf.

As small as we feel, the Nike family is a fairly vast enterprise. We

operate on six continents. Our suppliers, shippers, retailers and
service providers employ close to 1 million people. The diversity
inherent in such size is helping Nike evolve its role as a global
company. We see a bigger picture today than when we started, one
that includes building sustainable business with sound labor
practices. We retain the zeal of youth yet act on our responsibilities
as a global corporate citizen.

If you have a body, you are an athlete. And as long as there are
athletes, there will be Nike.

PRODUCT TREND
Bovine skin was by far the most preferred leather material,
followed by goat/kid/lamb/sheep skin and crocodile skin.

Respondents overwhelmingly preferred the color black and, to a

lesser extent, dark brown. For handbags/briefcases, popular colors
included light brown, white and red. Consumer Segments with the
Biggest Spending Power Male professionals, managers and
executives are the segment with the biggest spending power for
now and in the coming three years. Other major consumer
segments include male office workers; sole proprietors/business
owners; female office workers; and female professionals, managers
and executives.

The Competitiveness of Hong Kong Brands/Suppliers of Leather

Consumer Goods. Most retailers consider Hong Kong brands to be
either very competitive or quite competitive in both high-end and
mid-range segments, but less competitive in the low-end segment.
The competitiveness of Hong Kong brands mainly rests on their
product style/design and quality, with most respondents picking
those as the major reasons behind the attractiveness of Hong Kong
brands in the high-end and mid-range segments respectively.

PRODUCT PROFILE
Apart from delivering a pair of comfortable sports shoes Nike also
provides a number of value-added features with its products. The
features that are a part of every Nike sports shoe are as follows.

High Performance Sports Shoes: Nike has patented the “Air”

system and has made it into a regular feature in most of its models.
Many models feature an air pocket in the shoe that reduces the
weight of the shoe and reduces pressure on the heels. Besides the
overall design and compactness of the shoes have made it a
favorite of many professional athletes around the world.

Comfort: Nike shoes are renowned all over the world for the
comfort they provide. Well padded and cushioned, they provide a
tremendous level of comfort to the wearer and reduce the strain to
his feet while playing.
Lightweight: This attribute is in line with the two described above.
A lightweight shoe provides greater mobility and eases the
pressure on the feet of the wearer.

Durability: People purchasing a pair of shoes at such a high price

often feel that they have made an investment. They would
obviously want to see their shoes last a long time. To prove this
point we draw the example of the authors of this marketing plan.
All of us own a pair of Nike’s and have been wearing them for well
over two years – a symbol of the durability of Nike shoes.

Style: Nike’s designs are considered to be the most stylish in the

industry and beat all others as far as looks are concerned.
Attractively packaged, it is a delight to bring a pair home. Add to
this the “Swoosh” – the most recognizable symbol in sports and
you have a product that would give the user a definite sense of
pride.

Nike shoes also come with a guarantee card that enables the owner
to return it in case of manufacturing defects. However, owing to
the fact that the company implements strict quality control
measures, coming across a defective pair in a store are a rarity. The
most recent additions to their line are the Nike 6.0 and Nike SB
shoes, designed for skateboarding. Nike has recently introduced
cricket shoes, called Air Zoom Yorker, designed to be 30% lighter
than their competitors'.[ Nike positions its products in such a way
as to try to appeal to a "youthful....materialistic crowd".[5] It is
positioned as a premium performance brand.

NIKE 6.O

NIKE SB

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research comprise defining and redefining problems, formulating

hypothesis or suggested solutions; collecting, organizing and
evaluating data; making deductions and reaching conclusions; and
at last carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they
fit the formulating Hypothesis.
In short, the search for Knowledge through Objective and
Systematic method of finding solutions to a problem is Research.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
 To study the tastes, preferences, and buying behavior of
consumers in case of footwear of Bata.
 To analyze buying behavior of ladies segment of consumers.
 To recommend strategies to Nike to increase sales in ladies
segment.

The main objectives of this study are:

 Working of Insurance Plans
 SWOT analysis of the product sold
 Comparative study with the competitors

RESEARCH DESIGN

TYPE OF RESEARCH: -
Descriptive research
Descriptive research includes Surveys and fact-finding enquiries of
different kinds. The main characteristic of this method is that the
researcher has no control over the variables; he can only report
what has happened or what is happening.

DATA SOURCES
There are two types of data.
Source of primary data for the present study is collected through
questionnaire and answered by consumers of Nike shoes. The
secondary data is collected from journals, books and through
Internet search.

PRIMARY DATA
The data that is collected first hand by someone specifically for the
purpose of facilitating the study is known as primary data. So in
this research the data is collected from respondents through
questionnaire.

SECONDARY DATA
For the company information I had used secondary data like
brochures, web site of the company etc.
The Method used by me is Survey Method as the research done is
Descriptive Research.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS
Selected instrument for Data Collection for Survey is
Questionnaire.

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN FORMULATION

Under this method, list of questions pertaining to the survey are
prepared for marketing staff of consumers of Nike shoes.
Questionnaire has structured type questions as well as unstructured
type questions. Structured objective type questions are prepared for
the respondents with fixed response categories. Some of the
questions are of multiple-choice type. The questions have more
than one alternative.

Questionnaire: - A questionnaire consists of a set of questions

presented to respondent for their answers. It can be Closed Ended
or Open Ended

Open Ended: - Allows respondents to answer in their own words &

are difficult to Interpret and Tabulate.

Close Ended: - Pre-specify all the possible answers & are easy to
Interpret and Tabulate.

TYPES OF QUESTION INCLUDED:

DICHOTOMOUS QUESTIONS
Which has only two answers “Yes” or “No”?

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

Where respondent is offered more than two choices.

IMPORTANCE SCALE
A scale that rates the importance of some attribute.

RATING SCALE
A scale that rates some attribute from “highly satisfied ” to “highly
unsatisfied “ and “very inefficient” to “very efficient”

SAMPLING UNIT: -
Who is to be surveyed? The marketing researcher must define the
target population that will be sampled.

The sample Unit taken by me; General public of different age

group, different gender and different profession

EXTENT:-
Where the survey should be carried out?
I have covered entire residential area of Delhi city for the survey

TIME FRAME:-
When the survey should be conducted?
I conducted my survey for 8weeks from 10th may to 10th July

SAMPLING FRAME:-
The source from which the sample is drawn

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE: -
How should the respondent be chosen?
In the Project sampling is done on basis of Probability sampling.
Among the probability sampling design the sampling design
chosen is stratified random sampling.
Because in this survey I had stratified the sample in different age
group, different gender and different profession

SAMPLE SIZE
Consumers of shoes, 50 nos

STEPS FOLLOWED IN COMPLETING THE STUDY

(i) Libraries at (a) Indian Council for Applied Economic Research
(ICAER), (b) Indian Institute of Technology, (IIT) Delhi, (c)
Council of scientific and industrial Research (CSIR) (d) PHD
chamber of commerce, are visited. Management / marketing
books, journals are consulted.
(ii) Internet sites containing information on Nike shoes &
marketing are browsed.
(iii) Sample survey was conducted.
(iv) Data was thoroughly checked for error.

DATA PROCESSING METHODOLOGY

(i) Once the primary data have been collected, they are (I) edited –
inspected, corrected and modified.
(ii) Tabulation – bring similar data together and totaling them in
meaningful categories.
Questionnaires are edited both in the field and later in home. Field
editing took place just often the interview. Generally editing is
required for open type of questions. Brief notes or symbols are
frequently used during the interview to initially record the
interviewer’s response since it was not desirable to interrupt the
flow with lengthy note taking. Then immediately after the
interview, brief notes are respondent. The responses are thoroughly
checked in home for incorrect, inconsequential or contradictions
categories are developed only often the replies has been reviewed.
This review provided a feel for the pattern of answers and thus
determine what categories best represent the answers.

The collected data are placed into an order. Percentages of

respondents answered similarly are calculated and placed in a
table. Then this is interpreted. This involved drawing conclusion
from the gathered data. Interpretation changes the new information
immerging from the analysis into information that is pertinent or
relevant to the study.

CONCLUSION WAS DRAWN BASED ON THE SURVEY

FINDINGS
Finally recommendation was made to improve the sales strategy of
Nike shoes to increase the sales volume in ladies segment.

SAMPLE DESIGN
THE BASIS OF SAMPLING: -
Consumers of Nike shoes are chosen randomly, so that unbiased,
representative sample may be obtained.

LIMITATIONS OF RESEARCH

The geographical area was very much limited to residential area &
so the results are not particularly reflection of the current behavior.

BIASES AND NON-COOPERATION OF THE RESPONDENTS.

 The collected data are placed into an order. Percentages of
respondents answered similarly are calculated and placed in a
table. Then this is interpreted. This involved drawing conclusion
from the gathered data. Interpretation changes the new information
immerging from the analysis into information that is pertinent or
relevant to the study.
 Due to limited time period and constrained working hours for
most of the respondents, the answers at times were vague enough
to be ignored.
 Most of the people in India take their Nike Shoes in the period
preceding March & so the response to initial contacts were not all
encouraging and that has been the primary reason in the inability to
quantify the results large enough so as to deduce any relevant
outcomes.

COMPANY PROFILE

NIKE INDUSTRIES LTD. – A COMPANY PROFILE

Nike India Ltd (BIL) is India‘s largest footwear company. Nike
first established itself in India in 1931 and commenced
manufacturing shoes in Batanagar in 1936. The company has its
Headquarters in Kolkata and manufactures over 33 million pairs
per year in five plants located in Batanagar (West Bengal),
Faridabad (Haryana), Bangalore (Karnataka), Patna (Bihar), Hosur
(Tamil Nadu). It secures its leather supply from two tanneries in
Mokamehghat (Bihar) and Batanagar (West Bengal). It has a
distribution network of over 1,500 retail stores and 27 wholesale
depots provide excellent access to consumers and wholesale
customers throughout India.
As on December 31, 2006, the Canadian parent had a 51 per cent
stake while institutional holding was about 13 per cent.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Nike India has said that it’s Faridabad and Mokamehghat units are
being taken over by Fashion Shoe Private Ltd and BDCL
Enterprises Pvt Ltd, respectively. The company is also enabling the
buy back provision in its Articles of association to enable buy back
of shares.
The assets and liabilities of both the units will be transferred to
these companies and shares will be offered in the agreed ratio to
the existing shareholders of Nike India Ltd on a record date, which
will be fixed by the Calcutta High Court.

While retail sales have increased both in value and volume,

wholesale sales have declined due to restriction of supplies as a
means to recover customers‘outstanding. General recession and
sluggish market conditions in the industry also have had a direct
impact on lower sales and profitability. Resistance of consumers to
price rises in popular volume products as well as discounts to clear
slow-moving stocks and under utilization of production capacity
adversely affected the operational results. The lockout declared at
the Peenya factory on October 1, 2007 due to serious industrial
relation problems and non-compliance with the tripartite settlement
has been withdrawn. The footwear manufactured in this factory,
which was shifted to the company‘s other factories and associated
manufacturers, will now be gradually produced within the factory.
The commencement of production from this factory will help in re-
cooping the minimal loss being suffered by the company from this
lockout.

In Simonson’s words, “The benefits and costs of fitting individual

customer preference are more complex and less deterministic than
has been assumed.” That’s because “customer preferences are often
ill-defined and susceptible to various influences, and in many
cases, customers have poor insight into their preferences.” In one
of his recent papers, Simonson tackles the issue of one-to-one
marketing and mass customization. Supporters of these marketing
approaches have suggested that learning what customers want and
giving them exactly what they want will create customer loyalty
and an insurmountable barrier to competition.

But Simonson has this to say: “The fact that consumer preferences
are often fuzzy, unstable, and manipulatable is unlikely to change.
So, the effectiveness of methods to give customers exactly what
they (say they) want has been grossly exaggerated.” His take on
the long-held assumption that individual marketing will supplant
targeted marketing is “not so fast.” In studies, he has learned that
“even when customers have well-defined preferences and receive
offers that fit those preferences, it is far from certain that the
response to such offers will consistently be more favorable than
those directed at larger market segments.”

It’s all psychology. Consumers with well-defined preferences may

be skeptical that a marketer could match expectations. Those who
don’t know what they want may not ever see the fit with what the
seller wants them to buy. So, individualized offers depend on
customers’ preferences &; how the offer was extended &; and on
trust. “Effective individual marketing requires not only an
understanding of individual preferences and matching offers to
those preferences, but also a thorough familiarity with the various
factors that impact customers’ responses,” Simonson writes. This is
a tall order, one that some companies have been able to fill, at least
to some extent. For example, Amazon keeps track of customers’
purchases and suggests other books they might like. Dell builds
computers from mass-made parts to customers’ specifications. But
Simonson argues some companies can take the concept too far, like
the Custom Foot chain of shoe stores that took detailed
measurements and specifications from each customer to design
one-of-a-kind shoes. Custom Foot didn’t take into account that
some customers were put off by the individualized attention,
Simonson says, and felt obligated to buy the shoes because the
store went to so much trouble. They often didn’t come back. So
knowing only the customer preferences is not enough. It is
required to understand other aspects of customer behavior. Kipping
this in mind, present study will find out and analyze consumer
behavior of Nike shoes with reference to ladies segment.

FUTURE PLAN
The management says that it is not averse to outsourcing if it
worked out cheaper. It is also open to the idea of importing shoes -
mostly from China - if it works out cheaper.
Nike and Reebok India Company have announced an agreement to
foray into retailing partnership for sale of Reebok and Rockport
footwear in Nike outlets. The partnership entails retailing a range
of sports shoes for walking, running, tennis and training for
personal fitness and sports ranging between Rs 900-2,500.

An attractive valuation compared to its peers is the main trigger for

the scrip. Besides, the company’s aggressive focus on retailing and
revamping of business (a division into shoes and apparels) is also
helping sentiment for the scrip. Plans are afoot to start selling
apparel in India made by the joint venture North Star. There’s talk
that the company is planning on a voluntary retirement scheme
(VRS) to cut costs.

For the third quarter ended 30 September 2007, Nike India reduced
its losses to Rs 5.68 crore (Rs 8.51 crore) on a 9.2% increase in net
profit to Rs 154.27 crore (Rs 141.26 crore). Despite reducing its
losses for the quarter, Nike India has, over the last few quarters,
been continuously recording weak performances as a result of an
overall slowdown in the industry due to lower consumer spending.
Increasing domestic competition, particularly from the unorganized
sector, has also been eroding into the company’s market share.
The company is finding it difficult to maintain its market share in a
highly price-sensitive Indian market, despite having strong brand
recall.

97% of the company’s revenues are from the domestic market

while the remainder is from exports. Nike India is the biggest
player in the Indian shoe market.

Nike India’s major problems include its high cost of production

and low emphasis on marketing. The company may be able to
address the first problem through outsourcing products. Bata’s
brand image has been restricted to that of a company that
emphasizes on utilitarian products more than trendy ones.
Customers feel the company is lacking in innovation. Hence, their
preference has shifted to other local brands.

Nike India has a large marketing network with over 1,500

showrooms, 27 wholesale depots and eight retail distribution
centers across the country.

Besides, there is a network of 300 exclusive wholesalers servicing

25,000 dealers all over the country. However, in spite of this and
the license to sell other brands like Nike, Hush Puppies and Lotto,
Nike has not been able to improve sales consistently. The recent
rise in sales during the third quarter ended September 2006 can be
attributed to the festive season. Recently, it also entered into a
retailing tie-up for Lee Cooper shoes.

Nike India has also been trying to focus on aggressive marketing

of its product. The company has been going through a period of
transition for the past one year. With the expansion of the retail
industry in New Delhi and Mumbai, the company has recently
decided to shift its marketing operations to Delhi in order to
provide value shopping for its customers. However, the
manufacturing activity and the registered office will continue at
Kolkata.

Nike India has plans to invest in sophisticated machinery to retain

its niche place in manufacturing. The company has put a fresh
focus to its retail business. The company has decided to cleanse its
wholesale operation by building relationships with credit-worthy
buyers.

It is to the company’s credit that it has lately overhauled its

marketing set-up into a four-tier retail structure that will be stocked
with products matching the area’s customer profile. A Nike outlet
in an up market place will offer a distinctly different range of
footwear from another in the suburbs.

At the top of the four-tier structure will be international stores

stocking brands like Nike and Reebok. Next will be city stores,
located in up market areas and catering to middle and high-income
groups. The company has identified the brands Power, North Star,
Bubble gummers, Marie Claire and Hush Puppies for the top end
of the market. Third in line will be family stores at commercial
locations displaying basic and mid-range footwear. At the bottom
will be bazaar stores that will basically aim at driving volume sales
at lower price points.

The management of Nike India is taking major steps in terms of

improving market penetration, focus on stores configuration,
distribution logistics, better industrial relations and overhead
rationalization. Launching of new products always remained at the
center stage of the company’s operations.

At the same time, with the opening up of the economy, more and
more goods will be imported from China. This may significantly
affect Nike India’s prospects unless it manages to wean away
customers with a drastic cut in costs. Alternatively, like other
Indian manufacturers, even Nike may consider relocating its
manufacturing bases in China. However, it is not that easy a task to
undertake.

Nike India, the 51% subsidiary of Toronto-based Nike Shoe

Organization, remains the biggest player in the Indian shoe market,
though its share in footfalls has been decreasing over the years.

Now in a determined bid to straddle across all product and price

points, Nike India has decided to restructure its 1,300-outlet strong
retail business division along specific customer segments into
Bazaar, Family, and City and Flagship stores.

Nike India has decided to appoint brand managers for each product
group in a newfound aggression to tackle dwindling sales. Each of
these managers assisted by a dedicated team would be like a brand
champion responsible for procurement, production, advertisement,
promotion and re-supply.

Nike India has roped in Ogilvy & Mother for devising its festive
season advertising, side-stepping JWT, its incumbent agency. The
job involves developing special communication directed towards
the festival season shoppers.

Nike India Ltd (BIL) is India’s largest footwear company selling

over 60 Mn pairs per year in India, USA, UK, Europe, Middle East
and Far East. BIL has a market share of 60% in leather products
and 70% in canvas shoes.

The footwear industry in India is highly fragmented and dominated

by the unorganized sector. The industry size is around Rs 75 Bn
and is growing at around 10% annually. It competes with Indian
players such as Liberty Shoes, Phoenix International, Mirza
Tanners, Tatas, Action Shoes and Lakhani Shoes and global players
like Adidas, Reebok and Nike. Accessories and garments
contribute footwear sales account for more than 96% of sales while
the balance. The turnover break up is as follows –
 Products Volume (%) Value (%)
 Rubber and Canvas 50: 30
 Leather 29 :57
 Plastic 21: 9

GROWTH DRIVERS
The company has a very comprehensive distribution network
which comprises its own and franchise stores. It has 1500
showrooms, 25 wholesale depots and 8 distribution centers.

POPULAR BRANDS
Nike owns brands like Hush Puppies, Signor, Marie Claire Power,
Sandak, Hawai, Naughty boy and Ambassador. It also distributes
other brands such as Nike and Lotto.
Focus on middle-class and upper class Nike will continue to focus
on middle and upper class customers. It is introducing ‘budget
stores’ which will help customers to identify with the brand. It is
also increasing focus on rural thrust for volume growth in the low-
priced footwear segment.

RISK AND CONCERN

Lifting of quantitative restriction on import of footwear will lead to
the market being flooded by imports. Labor issues have always
bothered BIL and this resulted in disruption of manufacturing
activities on numerous occasions. Competition is hotting up in the
domestic market due to popular brands such as Gaitonde, Red
Tape, Lotus Bawa and Tatas. These brands are gaining market
share especially in the premium segment and in this segment BIL
has no significant presence.

Latest Results Sales for Q3 FY2000 increased by 5.5% yoy to

Rs1.7bn. profits dropped by 90% yoy to Rs3.8 Mn due to lower
operating margins and higher depreciation and interest.
Depreciation increased by 6.3% yoy to Rs 37 Mn while interest
cost increased by 9.3% yoy to Rs 23.4 Mn.

Operating margins dropped by 3.3% due to increase in input cost.

The Peenya plant has not commenced operations despite lifting up
of the lock out since July 3, 2007.

VALUATION
BIL’s long-term success is dependent on the how labour issue is
tackled and the flexibility, which it can adopt to meet threat of
imports and competition from local footwear companies. Long
term investors with a two-year investment horizon can accumulate
the stock at current levels. It is also increasing focus on rural thrust
for volume growth in the low-priced footwear segment.

Lifting of quantitative restriction on import of footwear will lead to

the market being flooded by imports.

Labor issues have always bothered BIL and this resulted in

disruption of manufacturing activities on numerous occasions.

Competition is hotting up in the domestic market due to popular

brands such as Gaitonde, Red Tape, Lotus Bawa and Tatas. These
brands are gaining market share especially in the premium segment
and in this segment BIL has no significant presence.

Sales for Q1 CY2001 decreased marginally by 0.6% yoy to Rs

1590.7 mn. There was a net loss of Rs 30.2 mn as against a profit
of Rs 39.6 mn in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The loss is due to lower operating margins and higher interest.
BIL’s long-term success is dependent on the labor issue and the
flexibility, which it can adopt to meet threat of imports and
competition from local footwear companies. Long term investors
with a two-year investment horizon can accumulate the stock at
current levels.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
(In Rs Million) 200012 (12) 199912 (12) 199812 (12) Q1200103
Q1200003
Sales 7,315.70 7,103.90 6,353.20 1590.7 1600.9
% Growth 2.98 11.82 (0.6)

Net Profit 304.60 242.60 166.30 (30.2) 39.6

% Growth 25.56 45.88 (176)
EPS(Rs) 5.90 4.70 3.20 3.08
% Growth 25.53 46.88

Ratios 200012 (12) 199912 (12) 199812 (12) Q300009 Q399909

OPM(%) 9.77 9.08 7.16 1.09 6.9
NPM(%) 4.16 3.42 2.62 2.5
ROE(%) 8.95 7.44 5.31
Nike understated 9 month losses -
Brief Financials (in Rs. Mn.)Detailed Quarterly
Period ending (months)30-Sep-2007 (9)31-Dec-2006
(12)31-Dec-2006 (12)
Net sales 4980.206461.177172.91
Other Income42.1063.6165.21
Total Income5022.306524.777238.12
Cost of goods sold4974.706471.797051.76
OPBDIT47.6052.98186.36
PAT-117.20-74.1039.80
Gross Block-2191.072062.26
Equity capital-514.22514.22
EPS (Rs.)--1.440.77
DPS (Rs.)-0.000.75
BV (Rs.)-37.2738.71
P/E range (x)-0.0 - 0.00.0 - 0.0
Debt / Equity (x)-0.320.26
Operating margin (% of OI) 0.90.82.6
Net margin (% of OI)-2.3-1.10.5
As on 30 June 2007, the public, institutions and foreign bodies
held
31.23%, 13.91% and 0.16% stake in the company, respectively

LITERATURE REVIEW
The study of consumer behavior has evolved since the Information
Processing Model (Bettman, 1979) assumed that the individual is
logical in his/her buying process. This model was criticized
because it failed to treat different consumption phenomena
motivated by symbolic meanings (Holbrook and Hirschman,
1982). Individuals are not always looking for efficiency and
economy, but also for distraction, aesthetic, expression, etc. (Boyd
and Levy, 1963). Calling for a broadening of theoretical
frameworks of consumer behavior, many authors pleaded in favor
of the study of all consumption forms (Holbrook, 1986), being
inspired by European semi logy and American semiotic (Levy,
1959, 1963, 1981; Hirschman, 1980; Kehret-Ward, Johnson and
Louie, 1985; Mick, 1986; Holbrook, 1986; O’Shaughnessy and
Holbrook, 1988; Nöth, 1988; Stern, 1988; Grafton-Small and
Linstead, 1989). These are the study of signs, meanings and
production of symbols. Fantasy, emotion and pleasant aspects of
consumption were then tackled from an experiential point of view.
The Experiential View is a phenomenological perspective that
perceives consumption as a primary state of consciousness having
a variety of symbolic meanings, responses and hedonist criteria
(Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982; Olshavsky and Granbois, 1979).
The basis of the traditional Information Processing Model is the
optimization of the utility of a product under the basis of a
utilitarian evaluation of its tangible characteristics. Nevertheless, it
neglects emotional aspects. On the other hand, the Experiential
View leaves out different factors such as economic conditions,
expectations, some elements of the marketing mix (price,
distribution), perceived risk and conflicts, but mostly the social
influence of the consumers’ reference groups (Holbrook and
Hirschman, 1982; Business Central Europe, 1994) which is the aim
of the Symbolic Interactionism Perspective. Acquisition,
possession and consumption are activities taking place in a process
of impressions creation or identity management which is,
according to Belk (1978), an interactive process concerning both
the image of goods consumed and that of the individuals
consuming them. The Symbolic Interactionism Perspective deals
with the relationship between consumers and the products they
consume, and suggests that a significant proportion of
consumption behaviors consist of social behaviors, and vice versa
(Solomon, 1983). This leads us to consider the importance of
socialization processes (family, reference groups) through which
individuals learn the meanings of symbols and those of
consumption. With the aforementioned meanings being negotiated
and built through interactions with others, consumption is not only
an individual activity, but also a social process of goods definition
(Gallant and Kleinman, 1983). Since individuals are often
motivated to acquire products according to what they mean to them
and to members of their social reference groups (Leigh and Gabel,
1992), their behavior is subject to the pressures of cultural norms
and the expectations of socialization institutions rules such as those
coming from family and other reference groups (Faber, O’Guinn
and McCarthy, 1987; Engel, Blackwell and Miniard, 1993). Thus,
Symbolic Interactionism Perspective considers the human spirit as
fundamentally social, and dependent on shared symbols. The
symbols being generated at a global level (Geertz, 1973; Solomon,
1983; McCracken, 1986, 1988; Leigh and Gabel, 1992), the
Symbolic Interactionism Perspective accepts as precept the fact
that society and its culture precede every individual action, and
that a cultural consensus results from interactions, communication,
and negotiation between social actors (Charon, 1989).

If, at a conceptual level, the consumption good becomes an

instrument of communication, at an operational level, image
variables may be regarded as the intangible attributes of the
product that carry cultural and social meanings. According to
Erickson, Johansson and Chao (1984), an image variable is defined
as “some aspect of the product that is distinct from its physical
characteristics but that is nevertheless identified with the product”.
The image variables emerge from four cognitive representations
individuals have of their environment: the symbolism of
advertising, the celebrity endorsement, the brand, and the country
of origin of the product.
The made-in is considered by Dichter (1962) as the fifth element
of the marketing mix, and is defined as the country where are
located the corporate headquarters of the organization doing the
marketing of the product or the brand (Johansson, Douglas and
Nonaka, 1985). The country of origin carries a rhetoric that
influences consumers’ preconceptions towards the products of a
country. Its meaning can be conceived as an indication serving as a
basis of evaluation (Bilkey and Nes, 1982), when one considers a
product as a bundle of information. Consequently, according to
Kaynak and Cavusgil (1983), the images of a foreign country that
are formed by consumers are made of cognitive, affective and
behavioral components. The first one represents the perceived
characteristics of the country. The second one concerns the
appreciation or not of those characteristics, and the third one
corresponds to the actions about the country that the consumer
feels are appropriate. A tendency to evaluate positively the local
production compared to imported production, and biases in favor
of industrialized countries have been found in previous studies
(Bilkey and Nes, 1982; Cordell, 1992). This does not mean the
consumer will not buy the product, but rather that he is not inclined
to do so (Schooler, 1971). “When entering foreign markets, sellers
often face quotas, tariffs, and non-tariff barriers. In addition, they
may face an intangible barrier in the form of consumer bias on the
basis of product origin” (Schooler, 1971).

The informational value of the country of origin was also found to

vary according to the level of involvement of the consumer in
purchasing the product and the presence of other cues such as
brand name, guarantee and price (Ahmed and d’Astous, 1993). In a
recently published meta-analysis of country-of-origin effects,
Peterson and Jolibert (1995) conclude that the average effect size is
lower (0.19) for purchase intention, higher (0.30) for
quality/reliability perceptions and context dependent. More
specifically, they found that the characteristics of the study
(research design, type of respondents, study cues, sample size,
stimulus context etc.) influence the relative effect of country-of-
origin to a lesser degree for quality/reliability perceptions than for
purchase intention. However, the type of respondents (students,
consumers or businesspeople) had no influence on
quality/reliability perceptions.

Stanford GSB marketing professor Itamar Simonson and Ran

Kivetz, an assistant professor at Columbia University, asked a
group of 195 Columbia students to do; eat a lot of
sushi.Participants were offered a "frequent diner" program that
would reward them for their patronage at various university dining
locations and given a card that would track their purchases. They
were randomly assigned to one of two groups those in the "low"
requirement group were told they would have to purchase 12
sandwiches to get two free movie tickets, whereas those in the
"high" requirement group were told they would have to purchase
12 sandwiches and 12 orders of sushi to get two free movie tickets.
So, the second group had to do much more to receive the same
reward. Kivetz and Simonson also asked participants how much
they liked sushi relative to the typical student. The result? Students
who liked sushi were much more likely to join the "frequent diner"
program that required them to purchase both 12 sandwiches and 12
orders of sushi. "It shows a common mistake that consumers make
& if they see an offer that seems to fit them better than other
consumers, for example, a program that requires sushi-lovers to eat
sushi that fit completely colors their assessment of how attractive
the offer is," Simonson says. "As a result, by creating what appears
like personal fit, marketers can attract consumers to frequency
programs and many other promotional offers." Kivetz and
Simonson replicated these findings regarding influences on
participation in frequency, or loyalty, programs in studies with
travelers interviewed at domestic airports.The sushi study is among
a number of studies Simonson has been conducting since the late
1980s about how consumers make choices. Much of his work
debunks the accepted theory that giving consumers what they want
and making a profit are the most basic principles of marketing.

The theme that pervades Simonson's work is that customers may

not know what they want and second-guessing them can be
expensive. In his words, “The benefits and costs of fitting
individual customer preference are more complex and less
deterministic than has been assumed." That's because, Simonson
says, "customer preferences are often ill-defined and susceptible to
various influences, and in many cases, customers have poor insight
into their preferences."

In another recent paper, Simonson tackles the issue of one-to-one

marketing and mass customization. Supporters of these marketing
approaches have suggested that learning what customers want and
giving them exactly what they want will create customer loyalty
and an insurmountable barrier to competition. In an example taken
to the extreme in the 2007 movie Minority Report, Tom Cruise's
character Anderson runs through a shopping mall past talking
billboards that recognize him by name and urge him to buy
products he has expressed interest in such as jeans and Ray-Bans;
the ultimate in personalized advertising. But Simonson has this to
say: "The fact that consumer preferences are often fuzzy, unstable,
and manipulatable is unlikely to change. So, the effectiveness of
methods to give customers exactly what they (say they) want has
been grossly exaggerated." His take on the long-held assumption
that individual marketing will supplant targeted marketing is "not
so fast." That's because consumers are very difficult to figure out,
science fiction and technology notwithstanding. "Furthermore,
even when customers have well-defined preferences and receive
offers that fit those preferences, it is far from certain that the
response to such offers will consistently be more favorable than
those directed at larger market segments."
It's all psychology. Consumers with well-defined preferences may
be skeptical that a marketer could match expectations. Those who
don't know what they want may not ever see the fit with what the
seller wants them to buy. So, individualized offers depend on
customers' preferences; how the offer was extended & and on trust.
"Effective individual marketing requires not only an understanding
of individual preferences and matching offers to those preferences,
but also a thorough familiarity with the various factors that impact
customers' responses," he writes.

This is a tall order, one that some companies have been able to fill
at least to some extent. For example, Amazon keeps track of
customers’ purchases and suggests other books they might like.
Dell builds computers from mass-made parts to customers'
specifications. But Simonson argues some companies can take the
concept too far, like the Custom Foot chain of shoe stores that took
detailed measurements and specifications from each customer to
design one-of-a-kind shoes. Simonson argues that Custom Foot
didn't take into account that some customers were put off by the
individualized attention and felt obligated to buy the shoes because
the store went to so much trouble. They often didn't come back.
Indeed, an Internet search produces no Website.

Simonson, who has received many prestigious awards for his

research on consumer behavior and marketing, teaches MBA and
Ph.D. marketing and consumer decision-making courses. The
loyalty program article is slated for publication in the Journal of
Marketing Research this year.
Online customization gives consumers the opportunity to choose
characteristics they want in a product when they shop for it online.
Many companies are looking at online customization as the future
of online business Janis Crow, Kansas State University marketing
instructor, researched how people make choices on the Internet.
She recently studied consumers in an online environment and their
ability to customize several products - pizza, shoes, and electronic
devices.

Crow said that her study posed two questions for respondents: first,
how difficult is it to customize a product, and secondly, how likely
is the person to purchase the product he or she has customized?

All participants in the study chose to customize products. In terms

of customers’ likelihood to purchase, a greater number of
customers made purchase decisions when there are more options to
choose, she said. However, it was slightly more difficult when
more features were offered.

She created a website where people could customize products to

their individual preferences and needs. Crow selected three generic
products: pizza, shoes, and a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).
Thirty-one college students took part in the study.

"Students could customize the three products, and I provided a

drop-down box on the site with attributes to choose from," she
explained. Consumers could click on a drop-down box to
customize a product they would want to purchase, she said. She
found that more people relied on the default choices rather than
selecting other choices that were offered. She said, some research
suggests that many people do not want to put a lot of effort into
purchase decisions. "A lot of times, people may not have
preferences already in mind," she said. When consumers have the
chance to create preferences, the question is whether they rely on
previous preferences or if they develop new ones, she said. In the
future, Crow says she will be studying strategies that consumers go
through during purchase decisions. "I will be studying decision
processes to develop computer aids that could help the consumer
reach their purchase decision," she said.
Although her current project involves analyzing the consumer
behavior of college students in an online environment, in future
projects she plans to analyze other demographic groups.”
Customization will be a key business opportunity in the future for
businesses online or in more typical shopping environments,"
Crow said.

She hopes her research will help consumers in making purchase

decisions and help businesses determine products to offer and how
to offer them.

Hong Kong companies, including leather consumer goods

suppliers, have shown a growing interest in tapping the mainland
consumer market after China's accession to the World Trade
Organization and gradual opening of its domestic market. For
Hong Kong companies targeting this vast market, a good
understanding of the behavior of mainland consumers is necessary
in order to formulate an effective and suitable market strategy.

In view of this, the HKTDC conducted a survey study in four

major mainland cities in February 2007. The study was composed
of two interlocking surveys. The first survey (survey on shoppers)
successfully interviewed a total of 1,000 shoppers of leather
consumer goods in four major cities, namely Beijing (BJ),
Chengdu (CD), Guangzhou (GZ) and Shanghai (SH). The second
survey (survey on retailers) interviewed managers/officers-in-
charge of major department stores in these four cities.

The survey study analyses leather consumer goods in terms of

consumer behavior, the competitiveness of Hong Kong brands and
the consumer segments with the greatest biggest spending power.
The main survey findings are as follows:
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Shopping locations, Department stores were the most preferred
type of retailers, followed by outlets in shopping malls and chain
stores. Product variety, guaranteed quality, brand choice, price,
services and store environment were cited as the major reasons for
visiting a leather consumer goods store.

SHOPPING TIME
Thirty-eight percent of respondents visited leather consumer goods
shops at least once a month.

Shopping during weekends is common. Other popular shopping

occasions include National Day (1st October), Chinese New Year
(January/February), New Year's Day (January) and Labour Day
(1st May).

MARKETING CHANNELS
Promotional activities in shopping malls and department stores are
the most popular promotional and sales activities, followed by
discount/price reduction, TV commercials, discount coupons,
promotional stands, exhibitions, buy-one- (or more) gets-one-free.

PURCHASING POWER
On average, respondents owned 4.2 pairs of shoes, 1.2 pieces of
wallets, 1.3 pieces of belts and 1.3 pieces of handbags/briefcases.
Over the past 12 months, an average respondent's spending on
leather consumer goods was as follows:
- Shoes: RMB 597 (total) RMB 328 (per pair)
- Wallet: RMB 226 (total) and RMB 193 (per piece)
- Belt: RMB 220 (total) and RMB 194 (per piece)
- Handbag/briefcase: RMB 476 (total) and RMB 359 (per piece)

SELECTION CRITERIA
When choosing leather consumer goods, product quality stood out
as the principal consideration for respondents, followed by product
material, craftsmanship, style/design, price and brand.

POPULAR BRANDS
Most respondents considered brands important.

4PS OF NIKE

Nike’s 4Ps comprised of the following approaches to pricing,

distribution, advertising and promotion, and customer service:

Pricing: Nike’s pricing is designed to be competitive to the other

fashion shoe retailers. The pricing is based on the basis of premium
segment as target customers. Nike as a brand commands high
premium.

Place: Nike shoes are distributed to Multi Brand store front and the
exclusive Nike stores across countries. While this necessitates a
second trip for the customer to come and pick up the shoes, it
allows Nike to offer a much wider selection than any of the
competition.

Promotion: Location, targeted advertising in the newspaper and

strategic alliances serves as the foundation of Nike advertising and
promotion effort. The athletes and other famous sports
personalities are always taken as brand ambassadors. They form
the prime building blocks of their portion strategy.

Product: The product range of Nike comprise of shoes, sports wear,

watches etc. Its product history began with long distance running
shoes in 1963. (Past 17 years: Air Jordan basketball shoes). Wide
range of shoes, apparel and equipment. For example:
 Nike Oregon Digital Super Watch
 Nike Presto Cee Digital Medium Watch
 Nike Presto Cee Digital Small Watch
 Nike Ron Analog Watch
 Nike Triax 10 Regular Watch
 Nike Triax Armored II Analog Super Watch
 Nike Women's Imara Fit Digital Watch

SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT ANALYSIS NIKE, INC.

STRENGTHS
 Nike is a very competitive organization. Phil Knight (Founder
and CEO) is often quoted as saying that 'Business is war without
bullets.' Nike has a healthy dislike of is competitors. At the Atlanta
Olympics, Reebok went to the expense of sponsoring the games.
Nike did not. However Nike sponsored the top athletes and gained
valuable coverage.

 Nike has no factories. It does not tie up cash in buildings and

manufacturing workers. This makes a very lean organization. Nike
is strong at research and development, as is evidenced by its
evolving and innovative product range. They then manufacture
wherever they can produce high quality product at the lowest
possible price. If prices rise, and products can be made more
cheaply elsewhere (to the same or better specification), Nike will
move production.

 Nike is a global brand. It is the number one sports brand in the

World. Its famous 'Swoosh' is instantly recognizable, and Phil
Knight even has it tattooed on his ankle.

WEAKNESSES
 The organization does have a diversified range of sports
products. However, the income of the business is still heavily
dependent upon its share of the footwear market. This may leave it
vulnerable if for any reason its market share erodes.

 The retail sector is very price sensitive. Nike does have its own
retailer in Nike Town. However, most of its income is derived from
selling into retailers. Retailers tend to offer a very similar
experience to the consumer. Can you tell one sports retailer from
another? So margins tend to get squeezed as retailers try to pass
some of the low price competition pressure onto Nike.
OPPORTUNITIES
 Product development offers Nike many opportunities. The brand
is fiercely defended by its owners whom truly believe that Nike is
not a fashion brand. However, like it or not, consumers that wear
Nike product do not always buy it to participate in sport. Some
would argue that in youth culture especially, Nike is a fashion
brand. This creates its own opportunities, since product could
become unfashionable before it wears out i.e. consumers need to
replace shoes.

 There is also the opportunity to develop products such as sport

wear, sunglasses and jewellery. Such high value items do tend to
have associated with them, high profits.

 The business could also be developed internationally, building

upon its strong global brand recognition. There are many markets
that have the disposable income to spend on high value sports
goods. For example, emerging markets such as China and India
have a new richer generation of consumers. There are also global
marketing events that can be utilized to support the brand such as
the World Cup (soccer) and The Olympics.

THREATS
 Nike is exposed to the international nature of trade. It buys and
sells in different currencies and so costs and margins are not stable
over long periods of time. Such an exposure could mean that Nike
may be manufacturing and/or selling at a loss. This is an issue that
faces all global brands.

 The market for sports shoes and garments is very competitive.

The model developed by Phil Knight in his Stamford Business
School days (high value branded product manufactured at a low
cost) is now commonly used and to an extent is no longer a basis
for sustainable competitive advantage. Competitors are developing
alternative brands to take away Nike's market share.

 As discussed above in weaknesses, the retail sector is becoming

price competitive. This ultimately means that consumers are
shopping around for a better deal. So if one store charges a price
for a pair of sports shoes, the consumer could go to the store along
the street to compare prices for the exactly the same item, and buy
the cheaper of the two. Such consumer price sensitivity is a
potential external threat to Nike.

DATA ANALYSIS

1. Demography of respondents

ANALYSIS:
It was observed that the majority of the respondents consist of
professional from various fields like engineers, software
professionals, working executive etc. who effective form 38% of
our database. While 36% were students from various fields. Others
constitute designers and athletes etc. the further study is carried on
the buying behavior of the above mentioned categories of
consumer, which shows that our consumer is well educated and is
very well informed about the product.

2. Consumer’s income level and spending capacity on shoes

ANALYSIS:
In the survey conducted a direct relation between the income level
and the spending capacity was observed. Also it was found that
students were spending in the range of Rs 1000 – Rs 3000 as
compared to the working class professionals who were ready to
spend between Rs 3000 – Rs 6000, since they have higher
spending power because of higher income levels.

SHOPPING SEASON
ANALYSIS:
Amongst the student and the professional it was found the
consumer buying BEHAVIOR does not change with respect to the
seasons and occasion as most of the consumer would like to buy
their shoes as and when need arises, whereas the businessman
generally do their shoes shopping during traveling or on special
occasion’s.

BRAND RECOLLECTION:

ANALYSIS:
When asked about reconciling a sports shoes brand about 70% of
the respondent were able to recall REEBOK or ADDIDAS were as
rest were able to remember NIKE and FILA brands. This was due
to the fact that REEBOK has brand ambassador like RAHUL
DRAVID and YUVRAJ SINGH.

FACTOR INFLUENCING THE BUYING PROCESS:

ANALYSIS:
Among the various factors like social, psychological, personal and
cultural factors it was observed that the consumer give more
preference to his personal choice and psychological factors like
50% of the people consider comfort and they generally do not
consider durability as an important aspect because they believe that
it comes along with the brand. Also the social factor like style was
second most important factor behind the consumer buying motives.

(B) COMPARISON WITH OTHER BRANDS

ANALYSIS:
In response to the question about giving, out of 100 point to the
various factors affecting their buying BEHAVIOR between NIKE
and OTHER’S following was observed:
OTHERS NIKE
a. Style ____20____ ___30_____
b. Price ____10____ ___10_____
c. Comfort _____30___ ___30_____
d. Brand ____10____ ___20_____
e. Durability _____30___ ___10____

this further shows that the consumer look for style in the NIKE
more in comparison to the other brand hence, gave their 30 points
to it whereas 20 in case of other brands it was seen that the comfort
remains at equal place even while choosing a competitive brand.

BUYING FORCES
ANALYSIS:
It was observed that consumer is forced by no factors like peer
pressure, family and friends and some time people would like to
buy a product because it is being endorsed by their favorite
celebrity. It was observed that the beside that personal choice of
the respondent, the pressure from the friends plays an important
buying force for the students, while the peer and college in case of
the professional and the least pursuing factor is family which was
seen in case of the respondents belonging to age group 35 years
and above.

NO OF PEOPLE BUYING NIKESHOES & REEBOK SHOES:

ANALYSIS:
This question was asked to know the market capture by the
REEBOK and the time period of association of the customers with
REEBOK. It was deduced that more than 75% of the respondents
were using the REEBOK shoes and were mainly associated with it
for a period of 1 year or more. While the remaining respondents
were using either the NIKE or ADDIDAS brand shoes.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION:
ANALYSIS:
Because of the quality product offered by the REEBOK about 60%
of the respondents were either very satisfied or satisfied, while
10% did not gave any response as they were not using the
REEBOK shoes.

3. Do you ask for a specific brand by name?

90% people say yes to this. and the remaining 10% say no.

4. Which brand do you generally use?

People in India prefer Nike the most as we can see that 24% %
people prefer Nike sports wear. Then comes Adidas and Reebok.
5. Has any sports shoes ad (seen on TV/in a magazine) made an
impact on you?

YES NO IF YES, THEN WHY

NIKE 43 57
ADIDAS 63 37
REEBOK 45 55
ACTION 30 70

Most of the people are influenced with Adidas’s ad, then with
Reebok and then Nike. The most un-influential is that of action.

6. What according to you is the relative importance of the

following?
V. Imp Imp. Not so Imp. Doesn’t matter
PRICE 50 28 12 10
DURABILITY 55 45 0 0
BRAND IMAGE 40 20 15 15
COMFORTABLE 54 36 10 0
LOOKS 40 40 15 5

By this we infer that the consumer wants the shoe to be durable

that is of primary importance for them. Then the price is also very
important for them. The shoe should be comfortable. Along with
that looks and the brand image is also important.

7. What features of Nike do you like the most?

The most liked feature of Nike is the light weight shoe. Then it is
the enhanced toe support. From here we can infer that most
important aspect for the consumers is the comfort they get from the
shoes.

8. What range you prefer?

Larger number of people goes in for shoes that come under the
range of Rs. 1500-3500. A s we know that Nike is a premium
brand 27% of the buy shoes that falls under the range of Rs. 3500-
7500 and lesser no. of people buy shoes ranging in between 3500
and 5500.

9. How often you buy Nike?

62% of the consumers buy Nike only once a year. Here we notice
one thing that some don’t buy Nike.

10. Are you satisfied buying Nike?

The people who buy Nike are fully satisfied buying it, their
percentage is 64%. Only 15 % are not satisfied buying it.

11. Do you think Nike serves the purpose of being a good brand,
for Sports wear?
56% of the people agree that Nike serves its purpose for being a
sport brand. Only 27% people don’t agree with it.

12. Will you prefer Nike launching a new range which can serve
the purpose of service class?

67% say yes to the idea of launching a new range for the service
class. 36 don’t have any idea of this.

CONCLUSION & FINDINGS

The specific brand objective of Nike India would be to build up its

brand reputation, image and equity. A brand is not simply a
collection of products and benefits, but also a storehouse of value
stemming from awareness, loyalty, and association of quality and
brand personality. A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design
or a combination of them intended to identify the goods or services
of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate from those of
competitors. In essence, a brand identifies the seller or maker. It
can convey up to six levels of meaning: Attributes, Benefits,
Values, Culture, Personality and User. If a company treats a brand
only as a name it misses the point. The branding challenge is to
develop a deep set of positive associations for the brand.

Although these six meanings are noticeable in the Nike brand in

the west and other parts of the world, they are yet to be cultivated
in India. Nike has to ensure that their brand is built up on these
pillars in India.

The secondary brand objective of Nike India would be to ensure

that they match the market share and sales volumes of its
competitors. After all, a company is in business to make profits and
stay ahead of its competitors. A company, product or brand may
have a very good reputation and image, but if it is not profitable, it
does serve its purpose. At the same time sales figures and data can
be misleading. Hence market share has also to be paid attention to.

Nike despite being one of the most popular brands in the world has
not really caught on in India. Yet, there is reason to believe that
Bata’s Power and Liberty would be ahead of Nike in terms of
popularity. We also notice that Nike is at par with Reebok. This
again does not reflect too well on the brand, considering that Nike
outsells Reebok everywhere else in the world.

Hence it is reasonable to state that Nike’s popularity level in India

could do with a boost. The best way to achieve this would be some
serious brand building. The image of the brand has to be improved
and people must be made aware of its presence. Thus, the rationale
behind choosing improvement of brand image and reputation as
the company’s primary objective is quite clear.

Nike’s distinctive competency lies in the area of marketing,

particularity in the area of consumer brand awareness and brand
power. On the global scale this key distinctive competency towers
over the competitors. As a result, Nike’s market share is number-
one in the athletic footwear industry in most places around the
world. Catch phrases like, "Just Do It," and symbols like the Nike
"Swoosh," couple with sports icons to serve as instant reminders of
the Nike Empire. It is about time that this competency is leveraged
on to India.

Two key attributes of a distinctive competency are its inability to

be easily replicated and the value or benefit it offers to consumers.
Few companies have such a recognizable image and the resources
to promote it. This ultimately translates into added value for
consumers. The public benefits from the strength of Nike’s image
at the point of purchase. For decades, consumers have come to
associate the Nike image with quality products. By associating star
athletes and motivational slogans like, "Just Do It," with marketing
campaigns that emphasize fitness, competition, and sportsmanship,
consumers identify their purchases with the prospect of achieving
greatness. Younger consumers especially benefit from this positive
influence. This image is something that competing companies can
not easily duplicate by simply enhancing the physical
characteristics of their products.

Nike’s vision is to remain the leader in the industry. The company

will continue to produce the quality products that have been
provided in the past. Most importantly, Nike will continue to meet
the ever-changing needs of the customers, through product
innovation. In the past, the company has utilized product
differentiation as the main competitive strategy. As Nike’s
reputation dictates, it will continue to place emphasis in this area.
Nike has built its business on providing products that rise above all
others and this has made it the worldwide success that it is today.

Nike is known for its technologically advanced products and is the

leader in this area. This allows Nike’s products to stand out from
the rest. The company’s focus also allows it to maintain a
somewhat narrow niche that enables it to effectively capture the
needs and wants of the consumers. An example of Nike’s superior
and innovative technology is its new range of shoes called “Air
Presto”. Termed as the first T-shirt for the feet, these shoes can take
the shape and size of the wearer’s feet. Unlike regular shoes it
comes are sizes like XL, L, M, S and XS. Each of these sizes can
accommodate three conventional foot sizes. Nike will continue to
produce such path-breaking products in the future and stay a step
ahead of its competitors.

Nike will also focus on making a strong effort in price leadership.

Nike’s products in the past have been concentrated in the higher
end of the pricing category. An entrance will now be made into
lower price categories with these quality products. This will enable
Nike to capture an even greater hold on market share.

Presently, the only form of customer relationship management

activity that Nike has adopted in India is product warranty. Nike
shoes come with a six-month warranty. If the shoe is found to be
defective or wears out within six months due to no fault of the
wearer, Nike replaces the product. This is only the first step and
more needs to be dome in this area.
Being a company that always strives towards excellence, Nike
needs to know exactly what its customers think about their
products. A good way of assessing this would be to have the
customer fill in a form at the point of purchase. The form will ask
the customer his / her opinion on the product as well as the
showroom. Suggestions and comments would be welcome.
However, care must be taken to ensure that these forms are not too
cumbersome and do not take up too much of the customer’s time.
Surveys have indicated that normally people don’t mind filling in
forms as long as they are not too long.
Another good method would be to introduce a system of customer
points. Every time a customer makes a purchase, he would earn
himself a certain number of points, depending on the price of the
product. After he crosses a certain point level, he would be entitled
to a gift from the company or choose a product of a certain value
from the range. This would be helpful in building customer loyalty
and give them an incentive to make repeat purchases. A most
valued customer database could be created from her e and various
forms of direct marketing could be directed at them. This would
help the company to retain its existing customers.

A third way to improve customer relationship would be to issue

gift coupons and vouchers. People would have the facility to buy
these vouchers and present them to their dear ones. This would be
a good way to reach out towards newer customers through existing
ones.

RECOMMENDATIONS

To explore the mainland market, Hong Kong companies should

position themselves in areas in which they are strong. From the
viewpoint of mainland consumers, Hong Kong's leather consumer
goods are considered competitive in the high-end and mid-range.
Mainland consumers are brand conscious, and it is vital to promote
own brands which have clear image.

This survey also shows that Hong Kong products are preferred for
their design/style and quality. Bearing these in mind, Hong Kong
companies should never compromise on quality, and they should
allocate more resources to product design, selection of material and
craftsmanship.

OTHER SUGGESTION INCLUDE

Department stores are the prime sales and marketing channel for
leather consumer goods. In addition, store decorations and product
displays should be designed to create a strong first impression.
Seasonal promotion campaigns, like special discounts and
advertisements, could be employed. New lines of collections
should be introduced for festivals.

In addition to promotional activities in shopping malls and

department stores, discounts and TV commercials are considered
effective channels for promotion. It is advisable to pay attention to
the affordability of customers in different cities, while setting price
points for different product categories. Meanwhile, leather shoes
offer better growth potential.

Popular materials used for leather consumer goods include bovine

skin, goat/kid/lamb/sheep skin and crocodile skin. Regarding
colors, black is by far most sought-after with dark brown in second
place.

Due to their growing spending power, the rising middle class

should be the target of Hong Kong's sellers of leather consumer
goods. Hong Kong companies should put more emphasis on
products for business use. In addition, it is useful to introduce
appropriate designs that cater for the tastes of the middles class.

Double Click 2006 Consumer Email Study October 2006, the

fourth of Double-Click annual consumer email studies points to an
increasing sophistication in consumer usage of email functionality
and a corresponding complexity of purchasing behavior. The Spam
crisis continues to affect consumer behavior online but does not
necessarily cloud consumer receptiveness to legitimate marketers:
an overwhelming majority of online consumers receive offers by
email and have made a purchase online or offline as a result.
Consumers are using available tools to limit spam and are
employing operate email accounts for purchasing, all in attempts to
increase control and improve their email experience. Working with
Beyond Interactive and the NFO//net source panel of 900,000 US
consumers, polled 1,000consumers via email from July 30 -
August5, 2007. All respondents recruited use email/internet 1+
times per week, which reflects the usage of the larger online
population (94% of the 18+ online population according to
Nielsen, 2006).There was an equal segmentation of men and
women and the average age was 42.7.This is the fourth of an
annual series of consumer research studies and trending
information was derived using the data from previous years. The
sample mirrored previous studies and is reflective of the online
population as a whole.
Key Findings The majority of consumers receive some kind of
marketing email with special offers from retailers most common
Sender recognition most impacts operates, while content relevance
increases likeliness to purchase Frequency ascertain category, are
very specific to the category of email but vary greatly from one
consumer to the next; frequency of permission based email is
clearly a great concern to consumers and has an impact on what
they consider to be Spam. Email drives multi-channel purchases
and has an immediate as well as a latent Nearly 64% of consumers
cite the line as the most important factor in opening an email.2006
Consumer Email Study impact. It drives consumers most often to
the online channel but also results in retail and catalog sales.
Consumers have become sophisticated in their use of ISP-supplied
tools to limits Pam and in their usage of various email addresses to
manage their varied email activities Home and free email
addresses are most often used for purchasing, within email address
specifically designated for that usage. Men and women have
radically different ideas of what spam is and different purchasing
behavior related to Spam. Women are more receptive to
promotions and discounts and correspondingly more interested in
and tolerant of marketing emails than men. Receptiveness to
Marketer Emails. The vast majority (91%) of consumers receive
some form of permission-based email with 57.2% receiving special
offers from online merchants, 55.4% receiving them from
traditional retailers, and 48.5%receiving them from catalogers.
Other popular types of marketing emails included account
statements/online bill payment information (received by 49.8% of
respondents), travel emails (43.3%), coupons for groceries
(40.0%), health (41.1%) and household tips/recipes/crafts (42.1%).
Of categories in which consumers do not currently receive e-mails,
respondents are most interested in receiving grocery coupons (cited
by 22.1%) and household tips/recipes/crafts (13.6%).Other
categories of strong interest were electronics and computer
software/hardware, 13.8% and apparel/shoes at12.3%. Permission-
based email also continues to be the preferred method of contact
from the favorite retailer regarding new products, services or
promotions (preferred by 59% of consumers), while only 32.1%
preferred direct mail. Sender Recognition, Content Relevance
Most Impacts Purchasing consideration behavior, the line
continues to be the most compelling reason to open permission-
based email, cited by 63.3% of all respondents, an increase from
59.9% in2005. This speaks to the growing significance of user
recognition of sender and the power of brands — even more
important in an era of spam. Of all types of subject lines, discount
offers are the primary motivational factor for opening permission
based email (increased to59.5% of all respondents from 56.7% in
2007), while compelling news and information fell from 57.6% of
all respondents to 48.6% in 2006.Special offers from
retailers/catalogers received by at least 50% of respondents

When asked what most compelled them to take action on a

permission-based email, product I needed at the time, a reflection
of the relevancy of the offer, was noted by37.8% of all
respondents, outranking the next most common choice, special
offer or discount, cited by 35.0% of respondents. Likeliness to
respond could be increased if an email contains relevant
information (noted by 67.3% of respondents) and contains
information based on interests specified to that company.
Consumers found recommendations based on past purchasing
behavior less appealing (noted by only 28.1% of all
respondents).Consumers clearly want a degree of control over
what marketers send them and would like their specified interests
taken into account. Consumers are also very specific in their
frequency preferences, with news and weather most often preferred
daily, special offers from retailers, online merchants and catalogers
most often preferred weekly, and account statements/bill payment
communications monthly. However, there’re significant numbers
of consumers who vary in these preferences, with just over20% of
those who receive special offers and discounts from retailers,
online merchants and catalogers preferring the communications to
come monthly. In accordance with specified frequency statements,
when asked what concerned them about their inboxes, frequency of
permission-based email was second only to Spam, cited by 42% of
respondents. This danger is even more pronounced considering
only 28% noted frequency of permission-based email as a concern
in2006. Clearly marketers need to test for optimal frequency and
solicit customer preferences. Email Drives Multi-Channel
Purchases But at the Expense of Offline Retail Permission-based
emails clearly drives purchases. Sixty-seven percent of respondents
received an email offer from a Consumers take action on emails
corresponding to product need Relevant content, information
specified by user increases likeliness to respond 2007 Consumer
Email Study, Cataloger or online merchant that resulted in a
purchase. Top purchasing categories were: apparel/shoes at
83.4%making a purchase, computer software/hardware at 81.4%,
gifts/flower sat 77.6%, travel at 77.2%, electronics at77.1% and
food at 71.7%. The only under performing category was financial
products and services at 41.5%, which could relate to the high
consideration necessary for these products, the incidence of spam
in this category or lack of interest due to the economy. The channel
purchased in as a result of permission-based email is highly
specific to the category of product: travel had the highest incidence
of online purchase at70% with only 13% purchasing by
catalog/phone/mail, while apparel/shoes had a relatively high
incidence of online purchase, 58% with 41% purchasing via offline
retail and 23% via catalog, and over the counter and prescription
drugs had equal levels of online and retail purchase at 32%.Email
marketing promotes use of the online channel. In comparing the
typical channel purchase behavior of respondents in a variety of
categories to where they were most likely to purchase after
receiving permission based email, the results show that
respondents are more likely than usual to use the online channel
for purchasing after receiving a permission based email; this is true
in all categories except financial services. In apparel/shoes, where
31% would typically buy online, a permission-based email resulted
in an increase of online channel usage to 58%, gifts/flowers saw
online channel lift from 45%to 61%, and electronics from 45% to
60%.For consumers who receive email offers from retailers in the
apparel/shoes category, email marketing does increase use of the
catalog channel. Of those who receive emails from catalogers, 16%
reported that they typically bought via catalogs. This number rose
to 23% saying they had purchased though a catalog after receiving
permission based email. This example illustrates the direct
connection between catalog drops with effectively sequenced email
marketing used as a purchase driver. The Latent Impact of Email
Marketing Most action taken in response to email marketing does
not result immediately from the click. While 27% clicked through
and made a purchase during that same online session, an even
greater number, 33.6%, clicked through to find out more
information, then purchased online at a later date. An additional
12.2% clicked through to find more information and then purchase
offline through catalog or retail. Permission-based offers generate
sales.

As was demonstrated by the great interesting discounts and special

offers, email usage for composing is on the rise and as offline thus
latent impact as well. Seventy two percent of respondents reported
having used coupons or offer codes (an increase of 57% over the
46%who reported using them in 2007). Fifty-eight percent of
respondents used the coupon or offer code at an offline store. All of
this latent activity resulting from email marketing demands that
marketers increase their own cross-channel sophistication in data
capture: unless they’re measuring both online and offline purchase
activity, immediate and latent impact, they are not capturing the
full effect of their email performance. Consumers Become More
Selective in their Practices, Increasingly Use Tools to Limit
SPAME mail volume as reported by consumers was up but not
markedly so (264 emails per week vs. 254 in 2007). Spam
remained the number-one concern about their email box, noted by
89% of respondents (consistent with last year).The percent of
email received that was Spam 56% was also consistent with2007.
What have changed are their opening practices: Only 27% opened
90% of their permission based email, while about a third (30%) did
so in 2007. In regards to what they are most likely to do with
Spam, an increasing number are deleting without reading (65% as
compared to60% in 2007) and only 4% are reading to determine
whether it is of interest (as compared to 5% in 2007 and 18%
in2006). The likeliness of unsubscribe has declined markedly
(from 33% in2006 to 24% in 2007).

Perhaps consumers have gotten fed up or decided the activity was

futile. When asked what specifically they were doing to eliminate
or limit spam, a vocal minority, 36.1% reported using a Spam
function of their email program, 15.9%downloaded spam filtering
software and13.7% created a secondary email addressor making
online purchases. A key finding of the 2005 study had been the
usage of on average 2.6 email addresses per respondent. This year,
respondents have clearly become tired of the complexity of
managing those accounts: this year, only 34% reported having
more than two addresses while44% reported having that many in
2007.Respondents seem to be consolidating, with an average
number of accounts at2.3 in 2007.Latent impact: nearly 46%
purchase online or offline some time after clicking through an
email With more than one in-box, what do consumers consider the
primary address? Perhaps in relation to the amount of job
instability and the desire of having a more permanent address, the
home address was considered the primary one. Of those with
multiple addresses, 74% had a specific email address that they
used for online purchasing, with either the home address (cited by
48.3%) and a free address (cited by 39.7%) as this purchasing
address. Retail-oriented email marketers clearly need to make
special efforts at improving deliverability among the major home
ISPs and free email providers as this clearly will impact overall
performance. Mars & Venus: Men Really Are Different from
Women in Respect to Email Marketing Two very specific areas
stand out in how men vs. women react to email marketing: men
have a much broader definition of Spam, while women are much
more likely to be active purchasers as a result of permission-based
email. More men than women consider spam to fall into these very
broad definitions: 65% cited an email from a company that I have
done business with but comes too often while only 56% of women
did so, 61% of men cited an email that may have been permission
based but comes too frequently while only 55% of women did so
and 36% cited any email that tries to sell me a product or service
while 32% of women did so. Correspondingly, women are more
sensitive to emails of offensive subject matter (94% women vs.
91% men) .Active purchasers, those who purchased in multiple
product categories or from various types of companies (multi-
channel shoppers) after receiving an email, are more likely to be
women than men. Aloof these data points add up to online
behavior that mirrors offline.

Women remain the primary household purchasers, 2007 Consumer

Email Study Respondents with multiple accounts likely to use a
free one for online purchases Women more likely to be active
purchasers, multi-channel purchasers.
The fourth of Double-Click annual consumer email studies points
to an increasing sophistication in consumer usage of email
functionality and a corresponding complexity of purchasing
behavior. The Spam crisis continues to affect consumer behavior
online but does not necessarily cloud consumer receptiveness to
legitimate marketers: an overwhelming majority of online
consumers receive offers by email and have made a purchase
online or offline as a result. Consumers are using available tools to
limit spam and are employing separate email accounts for
purchasing, all in attempts to increase control and improve their
email experience. Objectives/Methodology Double-Click, working
with Beyond Interactive and the NFO//net source panel of 900,000
US consumers, polled 1,000consumers via email from July 30 -
August5, 2007. All respondents recruited use email/internet 1+
times per week, which reflects the usage of the larger online
population (94% of the 18+ online population according to
Nielsen, 2007).There was an equal segmentation of men and
women and the average age was 42.7.This is the fourth of an
annual series of consumer research studies and trending
information was derived using the data from previous years. The
sample mirrored previous studies and is reflective of the online
population as a whole. Key Findings The majority of consumers
receive some kind of marketing email with special offers from
retailers, online merchants and catalogers most common Two to
one consumers prefer to be contacted by their favorite retailer
regarding new products, services or promotions via email rather
than direct mail. Sender recognition most impacts operates, while
content relevance increases likeliness to purchase Frequency
preferences, or how often respondents prefer to receive emails of
ascertain category, are very specific to the category of email but
vary greatly from one Consumers prefer to be contacted by their
favorite retailer via email.

ANNEXURE
QUESTIONNAIRE

1 I buy my own shoes

 Very frequently
 frequently
 sometimes
 never

2 I find buying shoes a pleasurable event.

 Very frequently
 frequently
 sometimes
 never

3. I buy costly shoes

 Very frequently
 frequently
 sometimes
 never

4 for purchasing shoes, I can travel long distance

 Very frequently
 frequently
 sometimes
 never

5 I buy shoes which are liked by my family

 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Indifferent
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree
6 I buy shoes which are advertised attractitively
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Indifferent
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

7 I buy shoes which are advertised and endorsed by celebrity.

8 I like to buy shoes which are imported from Paris or Italy.

 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Indifferent
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

9. I like to buy shoes which are designed in Paris or Italy.

10. I like to buy shoes which are very stylish & of latest design.
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Indifferent
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

11. I like to buy shoes which are less expensive but very stylish &
of latest design.
 Strongly agree 30.00
 Agree 50.00
 Indifferent 14.00
 Disagree 4.00
 Strongly disagree 2.00
12. I Like to buy shoes which are not very stylish but comfortable
(%.of Respondents)
 Strongly agree 10.00
 Agree 30.00
 Indifferent 18.00
 Disagree 32.00
 Strongly disagree 10.00

13. I Like to buy shoes which are not stylish but comfortable and
long lasting
 Strongly agree
 Agree
 Indifferent
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

14 I Like to buy shoes which are expensive & stylish but

comfortable strongly agree
 Agree
 Indifferent
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

15 I like to buy Nike shoes which are expensive & stylish but
comfortable
 Strongly agree 8.00
 Agree 24.00
 Indifferent 4.00
 Disagree 2.00
 Strongly disagree 2.00

16 I like to buy Nike shoes which are not very stylish but
comfortable
 Strongly agree 12.00
 Agree 16.00
 Indifferent 2.00
 Disagree 8.00
 Strongly disagree 2.00

17 I like to buy Nikeshoes which are not stylish but comfortable

and long lasting
 Strongly agree 8.00
 Agree 16.00
 Indifferent 2.00
 Disagree 12.00
 Strongly disagree 2.00

18 I like to buy Nikeshoes which are not very stylish but

comfortable
 Strongly agree 14.00
 Agree 16.00
 Indifferent
 Disagree
 Strongly disagree

19 I like to buy Nikeshoes which are less expensive but very

stylish & of latest design.
 Strongly agree 4.00
 Agree 10.00
 Indifferent 4.00
 Disagree 14.00
 Strongly disagree 4.00

20 I like to buy Nikeshoes which are very stylish & of latest

design.
 Strongly agree 2.00
 Agree 6.00
 Indifferent 8.00
 Disagree 22.00
 Strongly disagree 2.00
21 I like to buy Tailor made shoes which are very stylish & of
latest design.
 Strongly agree 10.00
 Agree 38.00
 Indifferent 24.00
 Disagree 16.00
 Strongly disagree 12.00

22 I will certainly buy shoes if high quality matching imitation

jewelry given free.
 Strongly agree 36.00
 Agree 56.00
 Indifferent 4.00
 Disagree 4.00
 Strongly disagree 0.00

23 I will certainly buy shoes if high quality imported scent given

free.
 Strongly agree 38.00
 Agree 60.00
 Indifferent 2.00
 Disagree 2.00
 Strongly disagree 0.00

24 My expectation is fulfilled by my shoe supplier.

 Strongly agree 6.00
 Agree 24.00
 Indifferent 42.00
 Disagree 8.00
 Strongly disagree 0.00
 25 Shoe companies should survey customer preferences.
 Strongly agree 24.00
 Agree 56.00
 Indifferent 16.00
 Disagree 2.00
 Strongly disagree 2.00

26 Shoe companies should suggest shoe design using celebrity.

 Strongly agree 32.00
 Agree 52.00
 Indifferent 14.00
 Disagree 2.00
 Strongly disagree 0.00

27 I know exactly what I want in my shoes.

 Strongly agree 8.00
 Agree 26.00
 Indifferent 24.00
 Disagree 22.00
 Strongly disagree 20.00

28 I don’t want to spend too much time on deciding my shoes.

 Strongly agree 28.00
 Agree 58.00
 Indifferent 8.00
 Disagree 6.00
 Strongly disagree 0.00
29 Stores display is the best form of advertisement
 Strongly agree 24.00
 Agree 48.00
 Indifferent 10.00
 Disagree 4.00
 Strongly disagree 0.00

30 T.V advertisement is the best form of advertisement

 Strongly agree 16.00
 Agree 52.00
 Indifferent 4.00
 Disagree 16.00
 Strongly disagree 12.00

31 Buying customized shoe by internet is very attractive.

 Strongly agree 24.00
 Agree 52.00
 Indifferent 4.00
 Disagree 16.00
 Strongly disagree 4.00

32 Buying customized shoe by internet is very attractive. But no

spam mail.
 Strongly agree 16.00
 Agree 28.00
 Indifferent 2.00
 Disagree 10.00
 Strongly disagree 44.00

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS

Marketing Management - Philip Kotler

Consumer Behavior, 6th Edition, by Hawkins, Best ad Coney.

WEBSITES

Nikebiz : NIKE, Inc. Official Site, the world?s largest, leading

athletic brand[/url]
Nike town:
Business.com: - The Business Search Engine and Business
Directory for Business Information[/url]
Apna Bangalore: ]Apnabangalore.com [Home][/url]
Indiainfoline: Indiainfoline.com-Comprehensive information on
stock market, equity, derivatives, companies, Commodities,Forex,
Global markets, Mutual fund, IPO,Personal Finance, insurance,
Loans, Credit cards,money,debt,mortgages,economy,sector[/url]
Nike’s online store for India: [

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