Internatioal Marketing Paper

HISTORY It was established in 1964 with a casual agreement and a handshake between University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight. Bowerman and Knight formed Blue Ribbon Sports and began importing Japanese brand Onitsuka Tiger running shoes. Bowerman was looking to expand the shoe line by experimenting with the concept of athletic shoes with rubber spikes. Bowerman then poured a liquid rubber compound into his wife’s waffle iron. Nike unveiled “moon shoes” featuring the waffle sole for athletes competing in the 1972 Olympic trials (Vann, 2009). Nike went public in 1980 and signed a basketball megastar Michel Jordon in 1984. The release of the “Air Jordon” was originally banned from the MBA because it didn’t match up with the leagues dress code. The ban served to give the design a higher profile and more publicity. In 1986 Nike topped $1 billion in revenue. INTERNATIOAL MARKETING TASK The international marketing task is more complicated for international companies than that of domestic companies. The international marketer must deal with two uncertainties rather than one. Marketing Decision Factors The marketer of Nike needs to have an understanding of each controllable element in order to gain an understanding and control over the uncontrollable elements. The controllable elements include: firm characteristics, price, product, promotion, channels of distribution, and research. The uncontrollable environment of international companies includes: political/legal forces, cultural forces, geography and infrastructure, structure of distribution, level of technology, competitive forces, and economic forces. GLOBAL MARKETING MANAGEMTENT Planning and Organizing There are three people that Nike has promoted to strengthen brand management. Trevor Edwards was named to the newly created position of corporate VP/global brand management; Joaquin Hidalgo replaced Edwards as VP/US brand management; and Don Remlinger was promoted to replace Hidalgo. "These...