Social Listening

I selected Nike . Its a brand that I've always had a lot of interest in. They are usually at the forefront of the the apparel/ shoe industry and usually stir up a lot of controversy with their marketing. I chose them because they use unorthodox marketing tactics that always find a way to generate more revenue than all of their competitors and they have been able to accomplish this for over 3 decades. 

Nike's value proposition includes the following: accessibility, innovation, customization, and brand status. 

Accessibility is created through having a wide variety of options. Innovation is through the athletics research that they do at their headquarters. This helps with improving their athletes performance. Customization is through their nikeid website, where consumers can completely customize the shoe material and color to their preference. Brand status was established through the athletes that they endorse. They endorse championship level athletes and with the performances of their athletes, it promotes the brand as the best of the best. 

Nike has been in the news recently, as they have decided to resell the shoes of recently passed NBA star Kobe Bryant. People are supporting this, as the proceeds will be going toward his charity and will be going toward a good cause. On the other end of the spectrum, in 2018, Nike came out with a Colin Kaepernick ad that sparked a boycott of nike and cause their stock to drop a lot. This campaign was very controversial, because a lot of people took the advertisement as anti-patriotic and didn't take kindly to the approach. Lastly, they were in the news for a track controversy that athletes claimed the nike shoes were giving the runners a special advantage. All nike shoes have been temporarily banned by the international track and field governing body. 

Nike sells mainly athletic products. From shoes to clothes to sports apparel, that is their main market and it is what they are trying to promote. 

The problem that nike is trying to address is the choosing right from wrong in a marketing perspective. I would say about 90 percent of their marketing campaigns are super succesful and do a lot of good for the brand. However that 10 percent that doesn't do well for the brand, oftentimes ends up blowing up in their face and hurting the company pretty significantly. They need to do a better job with risk prevention and avoid situations that will hurt the brand in the future. 

Nike didn't respond to the Kaepernick controversy, which is the biggest they had in two years. Why? Because they are a big enough company, that even if the sales fell for a month or two it wouldn't have made a difference. They dug their heels in and stood by their advertisement even in the face of adversity because they thought it to be the truth. 

 

If I was the brand manager, I probably would stick with the advertisement. Why? because if I was on the team that put out the advertisement and then quickly turned around saying the opposite because of detractors, shareholders would see this and question why I was the head of the branch and why I was making the big decisions. It would create doubt within the company of whether the management team is actually competent or just figureheads doing the task. 

I learned that you can't satisfy everyone. If you have an agenda, try your best to follow it even if you have detractors. If you're afraid of the issues that may arise if you voice your opinions, you shouldn't be in a position to make those decisions. As a brand manager you have to be strong willed and believe what you are doing is right and will be best for the company. 

Marketing in the news

I chose an article on Netflix and their struggles in India. I'm not the biggest supporter of Netflix because I think that there i much better alternatives on the market. I hope to learn where they went wrong with the marketing and why they haven't been doing well in such a large market.


Netflix is having trouble with their marketing strategy in India. This is due to substantial price hikes by Indian telecom companies and the content offered is suffering as well. The production has been having issues that has forced Netflix to go in and correct the content in the post production, which has created a bottleneck issue for them. They were able to secure the financials they needed for 2019, but the CEO has reported that they have been unable to gain users in recent months. They also have been losing market share to the Amazon Video streaming service, which is cheaper and offers more attractive features.

Netflix's value proposition has 10 parts to it. These include content library, no ads, on demand consumption, ability to binge watch, simple pricing, convenience and mobility, high quality connection, freemium, personalization, and lastly localization.

The marketing relevance in the article is how Netflix will be able to manage the crisis. They are using cloud computing to streamline the efficiency and keep post production costs down. It will allow them to have better control of the production and avoid future problems. They also will be putting 418 million dollars into creating more original content.

The challenge that the company is facing is trying to streamline the operations in India to keep the costs down and produce better content.

The marketing approach that the company used is unique because it is taking a newer technology (cloud computing) to revamp their production. Especially in a poorer country, it brings a new approach to the streaming service that will make the product more appealing.

If I was the brand manager, my main goal would be to eliminate all the production issues. Then following that, I would try my absolute best to make the price of the service cheaper than Amazon's. If the price is cheaper, more people will be willing the try out the product and once the product is bug free, hopefully they will stick with the company.

I think the marketing solution is good and will help rebrand Netflix as a more complete product. I feel as though a lot of the Indian market will be much more satisfied after the product has been streamlined and it will produce much better results.

I learned that company's need to always have a back up plan in case something goes south. Also, you need to be willing to invest if you want something to work for you.


Link to Article: https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/01/15/netflixs-new-problem-could-prove-costly-in-this-ma.aspx

About Me

My name is Matt Murdough, I am currently a junior in standing and I am participating in the DPP program through Oregon State. I enrolled in this course because it is a requirement for my major to graduate. I am double majoring in Finance and Accounting. I would like to learn about the basics of marketing and hope to apply it into my future work in the industry. I am really into physical activity (i.e. Weight lifting, playing sports, etc.). I played soccer in high school and I will go play basketball at the recreation center. I am also apart of a fraternity at the university.

Looking forward to the class!
-Matt