SWOT Analysis of Nike and its Historical Success

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Wise SWOT Analysis of Nike and its Historical Success

Nike is a famous American multinational corporation that manufactures fitness equipment, apparel, footwear, services, and accessories. Today, Nike is one of the biggest suppliers of athletic apparel and shoes in the world. It also manufactures high-quality sports equipment and fitness gear. Athletes, fitness freaks, and health-conscious people love to buy its products. This SWOT analysis of Nike will highlight its internal as well as external business environment that involves strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and strengths. Let’s get started.

Background of Nike:

Company Name: Nike, Inc.

Founder: Bill Bowerman, Phil Knight

Company’s Former Name: Blue Ribbon Sports, Inc. (1964-1971)

CEO: John Donahoe

Founded: 1964

Area Served: Worldwide

No. of Employees: 73,300 (2021)

Annual Revenue: US$44,538 million (2021)

Net Income: US$5,727 million (2021)

The main purpose to conduct the SWOT Analysis of Nike is to define the successes story of Nike. It is one of the most popular sportswear brands in the world which sells top-quality sports apparel, shoes, and accessories. There are several sports stars associated with this brand such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Rafael Nadal, James LeBron, and Neymar. It has a strong worldwide presence and offers online services too. The company’s logo is the most renowned symbol in the world.

Time to Time Development of Nike:

1964: Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman founded Blue Ribbon Sports, Inc.

1971: The Company cancels affiliations with Onitsuka Tiger.

1971: The name of the company changed to Nike.

1984: Micheal Jordan Signs a deal with Nike and they launched Air Jordan Series.

1990: The Company opens its first outlet in Portland.

2002: Nike acquired Hurley, a surf-apparel company.

2004: Nike acquired Converse.

2012: The Company becomes the first supplier for NFL apparel.

2015: The Company becomes the supplier of the NBA.

SWOT Analysis of Nike:

With this SWOT analysis, Nike can easily identify its strengths, current market scenarios, latest situations, and threats present in the market. This article will help them how to tackle these problems and exploit opportunities.

Strengths of Nike – SWOT Analysis of Nike

For any company, it is important to identify its strengths. In the case of Nike, it is really crucial as it can help the company to stay on top and gain a stable position in the market. Here are some prominent strengths of Nike:

When it comes to brand perception, Nike is one of the leaders. It has high brand awareness as it is associated with several organizations, sports events, and athletes.
As a global sports apparel brand, the company has such a strong consumer base. They manufacture low-cost sports products and due to this reason they have affordable product portfolio. It is a big strength of Nike as they can attract customers easily.
The company has strong hold on its online and retail business. The company is making huge profit from both sources such as outlets and online.
The advertising strategy of Nike is really robust and they know how to run ad campaigns. Due to this reason, they are associated with celebrated athletes, sponsors, sports events, and more. These people praise the company due to their high quality products.

Weaknesses of Nike – SWOT Analysis of Nike

Just like any international brand, Nike has its own weaknesses in different segments. But, they can eliminate these weaknesses by working on their strengths. They can enhance their services and products to remove negative things. Here are some major weaknesses of Nike:

As Nike is a global company, but it is heavily dependent on North American markets. Most of its revenue comes from these markets. They need to expand their reach to other regions of the world such as Asia, Africa, and Europe.
The major weakness of Nike is that its retailers get higher margin cuts.
The company is facing many lawsuits, controversies, and scandals. They are facing sexual harassment issues, poor labor conditions, and other problems. These things continuously affecting the repo of the company internationally and they can face loss in terms of sales and profits due to these reasons. This kind of thing can lead to negative criticism which is unbearable for the company at this stage.
Outsourced manufacturing is one of the biggest weaknesses of Nike. They need to improve the strength and quality of their workers just to increase brand awareness. Due to the poor outsourcing, the quality of Nike products is not same in every country.

Opportunities for Nike – SWOT Analysis of Nike

In sportswear, Nike is a top-notch brand that is hard to beat. They have a lot of growth opportunities that can take the company to the next heights. Moreover, the sportswear market is really dense and competitive, so Nike should take some important decisions to take the competitive edge. Here are some growth chances for Nike:

Nike is associated with several non-profit organizations. These organizations can help the company to build products from recycled materials. For this purpose, the company should fortify its R&D department. They can produce sustainable products to support nature and brand as well. In this way, the company can take the attention of environmentalists.
By developing a dedicated workforce, Nike can tackle poor labor management and sexual harassment issues. They should create a legal team to defend the brand at any level. They can’t afford scandals, lawsuits, and controversies at this level.
By creating AR/VR-related items, the company can give a solid boom to its online business.
The company doesn’t have strong sunglasses section and sports glasses. By introducing this segment, they can increase their product portfolio.
They should expand their business to other parts of the world. But, they must maintain the quality of products.

Threats for Nike – SWOT Analysis of Nike

Sportswear is a highly competitive market and there are several threats associated with it. By identifying the threats, Nike can take a competitive edge and expand their business. Here are some threats for Nike that they should address as soon as possible:

The pandemic has created several negative impacts on the companies especially Nike. Nike is dealing with the aftershocks of Covid-19 in terms of low revenue and sale. This thing can disrupt the growth of the company.
There are so many counterfeit products in the sportswear market that continuously affecting the profitability, brand image, and growth of Nike. It is hard to identify and control these counterfeit products or brands. It is one of the major threats for the company.
The sportswear market is highly competitive due to the presence of several giants. They are delivering better quality products at cheaper rates. In this way, they are attracting more consumers and threating the consumer base of Nike.
The company’s image is under constant danger due to the sexual harassment accusations. On the other hand, poor labor management, outsourcing manufacturing, and poor product quality are some of the major threats.

Conclusion:

This SWOT analysis of Nike specifies the major issues of Nike. The company should address these issues to take the competitive edge. But, Nike is really doing fine in this competitive environment in terms of annual revenue and awareness. Here are some of our honest recommendations:

The company should pay attention on the quality of products. Due to the outsourcing, they don’t have same product quality in different countries. They must ensure that the products they are selling are top-notch.
Nike must tackle accusations and negative criticism wisely. These things can destroy the name of the brand, so they must investigate any kind of matter thoroughly and take appropriate action to resolve issues.
Many fake brands are selling same products in the market. Nike’s product portfolio is really limited. They should increase their product portfolio by adding new fashion lines. They must manufacture and develop unique sports products to give competition to counterfeit brands.

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SWOT Analysis of Nike and its Historical Success

Nike SWOT