Nike SWOT Analysis and its Competitors

Nike SWOT Analysis

This article will completely describe the Nike SWOT Analysis and its Competitors.

Athleisure is one of the very invested and profited sectors in the industry worldwide, and it would not make any sense if one doesn’t say Nike is one of the best brands when it comes to athleisure. It has been around for more than half a decade since the brand was established. There is no doubt that it has set a standard for itself all around the globe.

Did You ever wonder how Nike manages to stay on top all the time, even after all this time? Well, there are many answers to those questions, and in this article, we are going to answer almost all of them for you. So be sure to read until the end to know some interesting facts and the reasons for its popularity and its competitors. 

To know more about this topic, let’s analyze Nike’s SWOT. Ever heard of SWOT? Don’t worry. You’ll be fully aware of it by the end.

What is SWOT analysis?

It is a method of analysis every organization follows to assess its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. SWOT is just the acronym term for this method. The growth of almost every business or brand, or organization depends on these four aspects. Hence the analysis is done now and then to improve or correct themselves to be more successful accurately. Let’s see the Nike SWOT Analysis.

An interesting Nike fact

The swoosh logo and Nike’s brand name are inspired by the Greek goddess of victory, Nike.

Nike’s SWOT analysis

Strengths 

Massive and historical timeline

Nike has been around for more than half a decade now, as said before, and there’s no denying the fact that the history of Nike is entirely known as well. From establishing the brand to sponsoring Micheal Jordan to this day, the brand has always given us what we expected.

Huge awareness

The brand is known worldwide, and the exciting fact is that it does not just attract the youth, but it’s also known among all age groups making it one of the most recognizable brands worldwide. Almost over half of the population immediately recognizes the swoosh symbol.

Improving in sustainable production

The CEO of the brand has announced that they have been aiming to reduce waste and move towards being more oriented in bringing sustainability into the brand, Nike’s brand name, which caught the attention of a lot around the world.

Top-notch in house professionals

It is a dream for every stream graduate to design for Nike or be on the team of professionals that work for Nike’s designs. The people who have already made it into the team are undoubtedly the best at what they do, resulting in exciting designs that attract the youth.

Very clever marketing strategies

It would be a lie to say that Nike has reached today with standard marketing strategies. It has been in and out, and through all of the processes, there are for a brand’s improvement and settled upon the best ones with massive success. They are very well known for their campaigns for the black community and many other issues that need support.

Versatile range of products

The brand has particular customization, and that too is done on an enormous scale. But the designs and ideologies of the brand are known to be adaptable to many cultures and activities and many other factors.

An interesting Nike fact

The company was formed as an idea for a college assignment by its founder, Knight, who went to the University of Oregon and moved on to Stanford, where he was asked to come up with a business plan.

Weaknesses

Dependency on the footwear apparel

It doesn’t come by as a surprise when one says that Nike is a brand known all over the world for its footwear rather than all the other athleisure. One cannot even try to imagine the brand without its footwear production, and it is a fact that the brand is where it is right now because of its footwear collection, which ended up being a weakness for the brand. However, this is not a very bothersome weakness when compared to others.

Retailers have a stronghold

Retailers are the people who buy the goods at wholesale markets, and we believe our products are from them directly. The retail sector buys the goods for a very reasonable price and then sells them for a completely different price. Of course, they take into account all the expenses they spend in the process, but the rise in the figure of expenses is very profitable for them.

Criticism for strategies

Nike has an extensive production base in a lot of second and third-world countries. Third-world countries are stereotypically the ones with all sorts of economic standards and are still developing in industrialization. Nike being clever with their strategies has started producing in these countries to reduce their production cost, which has resulted in them receiving a lot of criticism.

The expensive brand

It’s not just any brand, and not everyone can own a piece of apparel from the brand without awareness or an impressive income. The brand does have affordable things for most of the crowd, but not everyone can own the one product that is considered the best. This has been the case for almost all the years now, and the brand doesn’t seem to be fazed by this as their consumers save in order to buy a pair of sneakers from their favorite or, should I say the ‘trademarked brand.’

Dependency on the first world countries

The first-world countries are typically the ones that are pretty much revolutionized with a very lovely revenue per capita. As expected, the United States, Europe, and their allies are First-world countries. Are you wondering why this is a weakness? Although the number of consumers in these countries is a decent amount, the population of first-world countries is too less compared to the world. But the revenue difference covers up almost all the dents in the profits from other countries but not all of them.

Minor Improvement in Innovative designs

Matter of factly the world today is easier to win with innovation, and Nike indeed lacks in innovative designs because they think their traditional methods are doing pretty well, which is also very accurate. But it wouldn’t harm them to have more consumption and awareness by just putting in a little more thought and effort into the innovative production. Most of their consumers are Gen-Z, and they would spend their money in a heartbeat if they find something unique and technological.

Opportunities

Emerging markets

It has not always been this usual for people to wear athleisure every day. It was something only a sportsperson could relate to; however, times changed drastically, and everyone preferred comfort over a lot more than they did in the past, which resulted in the emergence of new markets worldwide. This increased the chances of expansion for the brand.

Innovative products

The brand has produced all varieties of products it could, and almost all of them did great in the market. But, stepping their game up a little bit by creating more innovative and exciting apparel or products would increase their familiarity.

Following new and relatable strategies

As said before, it’s not a lie that Nike’s marketing strategies are on another level, but moving onto systems that pull the crowd together would never harm a brand. Today’s young citizens respect strategies that help them relate to their life, or should I say financial life. So, keeping that in mind, the brand can always use the opportunity to explore this aspect.

Upgrading their brand belief

The Owners and workers of the brand are always defending that Nike is not a fashion brand. However, the statistics of consumers say otherwise. A lot of people don’t buy the Products to participate in a sport. They buy them because they find them more comfortable, and Nike is yet to realize that it is basically a fashion brand among the youth.

Revenue maximization

As discussed before, the brand can continually expand its production and maximize its profits and revenue with just a few changes or additions to what it is now. They can focus on athleisure for all genders and come up with products that are more inclusive than they already are.

Improvement in product diversification

Nike product designing and ideas are very close to the traditions of first-world countries, which makes it harder for people from other countries to relate to the ideologies and buy their products. The lack of sports events and physical interaction amongst people due to the pandemic has decreased the diversification furthermore which would actually allow Nike to increase their revenue amongst other countries.

An interesting Nike fact

Micheal Jordan’s parents had to talk him into meeting Nike for his sponsorship which profited him very much with the immense profits and fame for his line of sneakers.

Threats

Competitive pressure

Like Nike, quite a few brands have been around for a bit now and are just as known as Nike. This has increased the pressure of producing more quantity and quality products all the time. Unlike Nike, some of the other brands are more affordable and relatable for people around the world, which leaves Nike with no other option but to expand their production and reach.

Maintaining the Reputation

Not everyone is as understanding when it comes to a brand not reaching or keeping up with their expectations or reputations. As stupid as it may sound, it is not a surprise that the brand’s reputation is a little too high to risk, which also increases the already existing pressure for always being the best at whatever they do or release. The disappointment will be inevitable in all aspects for the brand if they fail to maintain their reputation even once in a while.

Pending Debts

Nike having pending debts? Sounds impossible doesn’t it, but it is very much possible when investing on a large scale is happening almost every single month. Not just Nike, every brand that supports on a large scale regularly ends up failing one or two strategies because of poor planning, which leaves them in debt. Of course, they are paid eventually, but the records and pressure don’t go off the charts until they are entirely done paying.

Currency fluctuations

We all already are aware that the brand has a very massive area of the world occu[pied and the revenue of all the countries or continents the brand exists in are not actually similar. This is a possible reason for the change in the import and export or trade policies over a long period of time which will very undoubtedly affect the brand’s economy in no time.

Consumer price sensitivity

A lot of the weaknesses in a SWOT analysis end up being threats as well, which is Nike precisely what happened here. The Prices being comparatively high, the average consumption decreases by a surprising amount; however, this isn’t a threat that worries the brand too much because the consumers with higher revenue got it covered for them.

Increase in raw material prices

The raw materials for athleisure production are not a piece of cake to find at low prices, and in addition to that, the awareness about their importance has increased, resulting in the increase of their price range. For more than 30 years after its establishment, Nike had a huge advantage when it came to finding or buying raw materials. This has now changed and has become a very worrisome threat.  

An interesting Nike fact

Nike is always on the debate table for its pronunciation, but the original pronunciation is Ni-key which is the Greek goddess’s name.

Final thoughts and words

It’s not hard for Nike to find solutions and strategies that would help them increase their strengths and opportunities and reduce their weaknesses and threats. But just like any other large organization, they run mainly on human resources, and it might take a lot more time than expected for them to settle down with a better analysis.

Competitors of Nike

As much as we put Nike in the superior tier for their quality and designs in athleisure, it is no surprise that there are brands just as popular, out of which some are more on the affordable side for the consumers, and some are more expensive than Nike.

Some of the most known competitors of Nike are:

  • Adidas
  • Reebok
  • Converse
  • Under armor
  • Puma 
  • Fila
  • New balance
  • Asics
  • Skechers
  • Vans 

Conclusion

In conclusion, Nike does have a lot of room for improvement, but it is looked over because of the global success the brand has achieved since the start. The competition for the brand has been increasing at a phenomenal speed, and Nike has been doing quite an excellent job at putting up to the expectations and maintaining its high-profile reputation. The brand has been around for a lot of time, and the team working for it actually knows what they are doing. Sure there are a lot of weaknesses and threats, but they wouldn’t be possibly ignored by the brand at any cost.

Frequently asked questions
  • How to pronounce Nike’s brand name?

The correct and only way to pronounce Nike is Ni-key, as confirmed by the sports giant’s chairman. The logo and the brand name were both inspired by a Greek goddess of victory, Nike.

  • Is Adidas more famous than Nike?

It is safe to answer this question as Nike is the world’s leading athletic footwear and apparel brand and also the most profited and well-known sports brand around the globe. The sales and revenue of the brand are outstanding and very high compared to its mainstream competitors Adidas and Puma. Nike has been around for much less time than Adidas but has managed to go ahead of the older brand with interesting and versatile designs for people globally.

  • Does Nike have a weak presence globally?

Nike does have a lot of weaknesses like lack of diversification, dependency on the western market, having lesser direct strength when it comes to retailing, etc., but Weak presence is not one of them. The brand has one of the vastest spread empires all over the seven continents. It has retail stores in more than 170 countries, which explains its presence.

  • What is Nike’s slogan?

The phrase ‘Just do it’ has been very known among a large amount of the population because of it being Nike’s slogan or tagline. An interesting fact many of you might not know is that the phrase was inspired by a convicted killer Gary Gilmore who was shot to death in Utah in the year 1977 by a firing squad. His last words were ‘let’s do it,’ which a decade later was modified to ‘just do it’ by Nike’s ad agency’s executive Dan Weiden and has since then never been looked over ever again.

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Nike SWOT Analysis and its Competitors

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