The Success of Nike

Nike’s origins as a startup in Beaverton, Oregon can still be found somewhere inside the global athletic apparel behemoth. Since its founding in 1964, the company has built itself into one of the shining examples of global marketing operations. Nike’s ability to adapt to the times is the reason it remains a global powerhouse when countless apparel companies have fallen by the wayside.

The company’s global web operations bring Nike’s presence to approximately 190 countries worldwide and has allowed for its substantial growth in India, Brazil and China. In 2012, revenues for the company exceeded $21 billion worldwide, a 16 percent growth from the year previous, according to an article by the Oregonian.

The brand describes its Web strategy as “the world’s most distinctive, authentic and connected brand in sports,” and Nike’s continued growth after almost 50 years is due in large part to its Web presence and willingness to adapt its brand to the times. The company’s social media efforts are massively successful worldwide and have been leveraged to personalize the brand on a global scale.

One of Nike’s Twitter feeds works as a customer service function and responds to product inquiries directly. Nike’s willingness to respond to global consumers through their Twitter strategy “goes a long way to turn customers into brand advocates,” reports an Econsultancy article.

Another global marketing solution from the company was that Nike launched a social media campaign during the 2012 Olympics, even though Adidas was the official sponsor of the London games. During that time Nike gained 80,000 more Facebook fans than Adidas.

The potential of Nike’s future was recently validated when Citigroup upgraded the company stock status to a buy based mainly on Nike’s growth prospects in China, according to an article by Barron’s. Going forward, market penetration in China and ecommerce growth look to be two of the biggest contributing factors for Nike, both of which would...