Introduction
The 4Ps represent four essential elements in marketing campaigns: product, place, promotion, and price (Padhy & Sahu, 2008). These elements were developed by Professor Neil H. Borden at Harvard University in the 1950s, where they were officially named the 4Ps of marketing by E. Jerome McCarthy at Michigan State University in the 1960s (Wirtz & Lovelock, 2016). The concept continues to evolve as the market evolves dramatically in today’s world. The 4Ps are known to enable marketers to consider their products or services in the eyes of the buyers and consumers, referring to a framework that enables the marketers to build a holistic strategy that is based on some deep understanding of the products, pricing, and its influencing factors, promotional factors and the unique insights of the location or places where their audience are situated (Nuseir & Madanat, 2015). However, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought several changes to the 4Ps, with many businesses grappling over adjusting their strategies, with other exemplifying effective actions.
Figure 1 The 4 Ps of Marketing (Nuseir & Madanat, 2015)
Use of Promotion in Nike
The four components of the 4Ps are involved in marketing, each carrying its weight. However, even the most superior products do not sell themselves. Their customers need more information about them, which requires the company to invest in communication. The communication mix targeting potential customers is known as promotion, which makes it one of the most important components of the marketing mix. Nike, in particular, is one of the companies with the best promotion activities, where their promotional mix utilizes several marketing channels to target their customers, forming one of the company’s components of the 4P. These methods have specific purposes for communicating with the target consumers while maintaining the marketing dominance of the company’s products. These strategies have faced significant changes over the years, especially after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw the company try to shift promotional spending while benign and compassionate with commerce.
Effects of The COVID-19 pandemic on promotional Strategies.
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly influenced all industries, with issues ranging from the production department to the marketing department. Nike is strong among them who didn’t significantly face the delays in production due to preordering the materials and keeping them at the safehouses sometimes before. The in-person promotional strategy had been severely affected by the pandemic, where the countries prevented people from interfacing, and the nonessential supply stores closed down. The COVID-19 pandemic had two effects on the clothes and textile business, Nike included in the matrix. With most stores closing down, this affected the sales brought by physical promotional practices. Nike’s main revenue generator was from in-store purchases, where the biggest economic challenge that the company faced at that moment was keeping the sales high with the inability to buy the items in the stores. The stores were closed, so the revenue from these sales was no longer. Nike has invested in these promotional strategies seen below;
Personal selling– the customer experience of Nike’s products has been improved by executing a personal selling plan where personalized services play a significant role in the in-store purchase of the products. The company uses trained store personnel who provide quality customer service, creating better relations. The main focus of personal selling is customer experience, focusing on personal communication, quality, and product differentiation. However, it became difficult forfor Nike to advertise the brand during sports and other related events that required large gatherings of people and other personal selling strategies, which led to decreased sales from personal selling.
Public relations– the strategic ideas behind public relations involve creating publicity and enhancing customer relations, which promotes the brand. Nike has been involved in several charitable activities, including anti-discrimination practices in sports and related activities, donations to the community, and offering development programs. Nike uses its platform to communicate about the social issues linked to its business. During the pandemic, Nike built up initiatives like the Nike community impact, which saw the nation helping local communities and supporting grassroots communities that promoted sports and physical activities during the pandemic. In this way, they developed a corporate social responsibility strategy addressing social concerns (Nuseir & Madanat, 2015). Promotion is a complementary approach to the company’s corporate citizenship and is represented in the sporting goods business. The design of these efforts and, more so, the charitable activities represent the organizational culture at Nike.
Sponsorship– Nike has supported numerous sports activities and key athletes, which has amplified its global publicity. It has supported huge events in several ways, like sponsoring NFL jerseys and football clubs in Africa, Europe, Asia, and South America. To endorse the brand in West Africa, it funded Didier Drogba from the Ivory Coast, who happens to be one of the most renowned footballers in Africa. These promotional strategies improved its brand awareness and, consecutively, its market share in the regions, and more so during the pandemic, where it supported its brand influencers who were advocating for personal physical activities in the comfort of their homes.
Digital sales, on the other hand, faced a thirty percent increase, which did not place technological challenges for Nike, who had implemented the strategies long before in 2017. These changes, however, had to be accomplished through online promotional strategies, which saw Nike face stiff competition from competitors like Adidas, Puma, and Reebok, among others. This called for fast and aggressive marketing to promote the brand online, building on their long-term advertising plan, which kept the business successful.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Nike invested in e-commerce strategies that saw sales promotion through direct-to-customer technique, which saw the company face some accelerated growth in their sales, which influenced the evasion of traditional issues revolving around the brand like cutting down on overproduction and streamlining discounts on their e-commerce platforms. The pandemic did not hinder them from posting pictures on social media, as well as using promotional people such as celebrities and athletes, as seen below;
Advertising– In expanding Nike’s reach and influence, advertising plays a major role in promoting products and services among the masses. Nike has produced several world-class ads that have created a lot of attention, attracting different consumers from around the globe. Different strategies are followed in advertising, like endorsing celebrities and megastars and partnerships with giant companies like Apple to improve their market share. We have seen Nike endorsing famous athletes and sports people like Christiano Ronaldo, Roger Federer, and Maria Sharapova in a TV commercial to advertise the “Nike Free, called Power to your feet.” When they endorsed Michael Jordan in their TV ad to advertise Air Jordan in 1984, the sales received a steady increase to their annual sales today, which in 2022 cost a total of $5.1 billion (Robertson, 2015).
Figure 2Jordan sales revenue and representation by Michel Jordan (Robertson, 2015)
Technology has slowly advanced to the sense that everything is done using social media, home to a lot of entertainment and information, which was made possible by the digital developments during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nike has more than 6194 digital creatives who work for the company. They create mobile ads, videos, and campaigns on different social platforms. These form some of the most unforgettable ads that Nike has ever published, like the Just Do It campaign.
Even though Nike’s overall digital sales had faced slow growth during the previous years, the Covid-19 and saw them making a significant move to $5.5 billion in 2020 and $3.8 billion in 2019, as seen in the figure below (Bhasin, 2023).
Sales promotion– promotions aimed at boosting the market demand for the company’s goods. It has been known to improve product values through a slight price reduction. It is conducted in a way that there are time limits, like certain dates for certain offers. Discounts count in this promotional mix for students, military services, and first-time buyers from their websites. They are also different from the promotions given by the retail store to promote these brands. These promotions match the sociocultural trends that inform the company of the customer’s preferences regarding the company’s products. It has been reported to improve inventory turnover over the years, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, as seen below (Jurevicius, 2023).
Figure 3 Nike promotion spend and advertisement (Jurevicius, 2023)
Direct marketing- as part of the promotional mix, Nike offers direct promotion and the sale of products to their target consumers. These groups are selected according to several strategies, which include age group, gender or sex, and their involvement and affiliation in sports. The customers are offered their products based on the product’s characteristics and the preferences of their customers. In this regard, the company promotes its products through certain apps like Facebook to encourage purchasing from them, utilizing them, and offering them feedback. On the other hand, these strategies offer the company opportunities to learn from its customers and offer them areas for improvement. Feedback is part of the research data, contributing to continual improvement. Direct marketing is important in contributing to customer loyalty, which is used to enhance the company’s competitive advantage in the sports market.
Digital platforms and social media– Nike has effectively utilized digital platforms and contacted millions of users. The company has grown to have a great social media following online, contributing to balancing its lifestyle and ads. With the help of running campaigns on these pages, they have brought attention to new markets, increasing their sales significantly (McKinnon, 2023)
Figure 4 Nike annual digital sales (McKinnon, 2023)
In conclusion, there is always a strong competitor in business regarding the business niche. Even though Nike negatively perceived the effects of Covid-19, some aspects still maintained the company’s sales, like the online and social media spaces, advertising, and celebrity endorsement. The quick shift in policy diminishes the severe negative effects that could be felt by the brand, enabling it to maintain its position as the global leader in the sports business. These strategies have been key instruments in placing the brand in its global position by focusing on the key elements of brand promotion. As they continue to innovate and adapt to their marketing approaches, the brand will continue to inspire and motivate the population worldwide, setting a minimum status of excellence.
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