MARKETING MANAGEMENT – III

Qualitative Research Project on

Consumer’s perception NIKE and Brand Receptiveness

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

S. No. Title Page No.

1 INTRODUCTION 2

1.1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 2

1.2 KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS 3

2 RESEARCH DESIGN 3

2.1 ASSUMPTIONS 3

2.2 RESEARCH TECHNIQUES TO BE USED 3

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 4

3.1 PROFILING OF THE RESPONDENTS 4

3.2 DATA COLLECTION TOOLS 5

3.2.1 FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION TOPICS 5

3.2.2 SEMI STRUCTURED INTERVIEW GUIDE 5

3.3 DATA COLLECTION METHOD 6

4 DATA ANALYSIS APPROACH 6

5 EXPECTATIONS FROM THE STUDY 7

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 1. INTRODUCTION

Nike, Inc. is a major traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The
company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan
area. It is the world's leading supplier of athletic shoes and apparel.
'If you have a body, you are an athlete' - Bill Bowerman
Nike produces a wide range of sports equipment. Their first products were track running shoes.
They currently also make shoes, jerseys, shorts, base layers etc. for a wide range of sports
including track and field, baseball, ice hockey, tennis, association football (soccer), lacrosse,
basketball and cricket Nike has contracted with more than 700 shops around the world and has
offices located in 45 countries outside the United States. Most of the factories are located in
Asia, including Indonesia, China, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Philippines, and
Malaysia.
Nike’s marketing strategy rested entirely upon a brand image which is favourable and has
evolved into a great multinational enterprise over time. The favourable brand image has been
kept afloat due to the strong association with the Nike’s logo which is quite distinctive and the
slogan “Just Do It” which has been used in advertisement for quite some time. The company has
been known to invest heavily in advertisements and brand promotion.

1.1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this research is to study the effectiveness of NIKE’s positioning as fitness brand
and to ensure that the brand is hugely accepted among its target customers. This study aims to
identify the various elements that must be included in the marketing initiatives of the sportswear
company that appeal most to the customers.

At a macroscopic view, we wanted to know what attributes the consumers attach with a fitness
brand, what are the gaps in the customer expectations and what is available in the market, who
are the role models they see for fitness, how do they associate fitness in their daily lives etc. An
extensive and comprehensive qualitative research study among the target consumers themselves
would give us better insights regarding the perception.

At a microscopic view, this research intends to validate the effectiveness of Nike’s positioning
initiatives. There are 3 specific objectives:

1. What type of campaigns do people get attracted to. What are the elements people like in a
sports/fitness campaign?
2. Do celebrity endorsers provide more credibility and repute for a brand? If yes, which youth
icons would people like to see for Nike?
 3. Get consumers insights for ideas about new fitness products especially for women.

1.2 KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Through this qualitative study, the consumer responses, attitudes, beliefs and aspirations are
sought and used to answer the following key problems:
 Are the Indian customers really fitness conscious? Do they perceive fitness as a lifestyle?
 Do they really attach importance to their sportswear when it comes to fitness?
 What are current gaps the customers witness in what they desire from a fitness brand and
what is actually available?
 Do they attach any credibility to celebrities’ endorsing for a brand?

2. RESEARCH DESIGN
2.1 ASSUMPTIONS

The following assumptions are made before effectuating this study:

 Nike is primarily a youth brand and it continues to keep its focus on youth

2.2 RESEARCH TECHNIQUES TO BE USED

The qualitative research techniques suggested for undertaking this research are:
 Focus Group
Discussion
 Semi-structured
interview

Focus group discussion is chosen to reach out to a younger audience and identify the
general perceptions, beliefs and attitudes of the youth community in general. Since, the
marketing strategy of Nike is built on aspects like Brand ambassador, marketing campaigns
such as ‘Live with Fire’ which are targeted at connecting with masses, an FGD would help bring
out the various aspects that the target consumer feel at a group level, not individual level. The
FGD could facilitate a useful discussion on the general aspects of do consumers actually
associate credibility to celebrity endorsers, what are the apprehensions of the consumers as a
group, which are the celebrity youth icons. The FGD would help similar consumers to interact
and help them share more thoughts.

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In this situation, since the company aims to reach out to as many people as possible, an FGD will
be convenient as well as save time, effort and money. The FGD can also be recorded providing
the option to explore data multiple times to discover finer nuances, aspects.
The FGD would also bring out contrasting opinions in a more pronounced manner since it would
be a homogenous group in terms of demographics, lifestyle but yet different in
opinions, experiences and attitudes. These different opinions would help in better designing the
marketing strategy.
From the FGD audience, certain people would be identified and taken for a semi-structured
interview where a more detailed information gathering would happen through means of open-
ended questions, encouraging the interviewee to share his stories, experiences about fitness,
fitness products, his routine etc.
A semi-structured interview is more suitable to let themes which are unknown to the interviewer
also emerge. It would give more freedom to the interview to speak of certain less obvious factors
through narrating stories, anecdotes, apprehensions etc. It would also ensure that we get pure,
verified information in case the participants provide socially desirable responses and group think
during the FGD. In a one-on-one interview, the answers they provide would be more reliable.

3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 PROFILING OF THE RESPONDENTS

The detailed profiling of the target respondents of this study is as follows:

Demographic Profile-

 Age group- 21 to 28 years

 Gender- equal representation of both males and females
 Location – Responders are mainly from Metro and Tier-1 cities.
 Economic status- Middle and Upper Middle Class
 Family size- Single, independent youth or couples
 Profession- Most of them are students with past work experience.
 Income levels- Medium
3.2 DATA COLLECTION TOOLS
3.2.1 FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION TOPICS

 On fitness:

o What does fitness mean to you?

o Do you see it as an integral part of their lifestyle?

 On Celebrity endorsers:

o Does your attraction to use a brand depend on the celebrity who endorses it?
o Do you associate any credibility to these celebrity endorsers?

 On Marketing Campaigns:

o What other activities/entertainment media do you most prefer like music

concerts, marathons, etc.?
o Do you like the online campaigns?
o How likely are you to attend/ watch a fitness campaign?
 On new product ideas:

o What are the typical sportswear, shoes, accessories etc. that you buy?
o Apart from running and gyming, what other physical fitness routines do you
indulge in

3.2.2 SEMI- STRUCTURED INTERVIEW GUIDE

o What are the parameters on which you decide your sportswear brand?
o Do you associate any sportswear brand as a fitness brand in India? Why?
o What is your definition of a fitness brand? What all features/services/products should it
provide?
o Do you see any gaps in your expectations from a fitness brand and what is currently
available?
o Do you know who the celebrity endorsers for Nike are? Adidas? Reebok? Puma?
o Do you feel satisfied with the products you have? Would you like to have some new
products in the market?

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3.3 DATA COLLECTION METHOD

The focus group comprised of 8 members. The respondents were 1st year MBA students. An
FGD moderator co-ordinated the GD. GD lasted for 35 minutes. The moderator was unbiased
and merely acted as a facilitator. FGD tried to cover all the themes mentioned in the above
section. The moderator made notes simultaneously about the points being discussed. The
notes/transcripts were neatly taken. They were be analysed to understand of any new, unknown
theme emerge from the discussion. The moderator also made notes of the facial expressions,
body language and any physical characteristics observed while the respondents were answering.

Apart from the focus group, 3 unstructured interviews were also taken by the research group.

4. DATA ANALYSIS APPROACH

The qualitative data would be analysed by following the below 5 steps and explanation is given
for each step:
1. Compiling – Post the FGD and interview, all the transcripts would be digitised, i.e.
computer files would be made and backup taken for all the files. Print copies would be
made to give to each researcher. Ideally, 2-3 researchers would be working on the same
data to ensure cross-validation of their findings.
2. Disassembling - Reflective notes would be made from the data recorded to identify the
emergent themes, factors and relationships. They would be grouped under the 4 heads-
fit-hub retail store, brand ambassador, new product ideas, marketing campaigns. Under
each head, Some existing or self-designed labels would be assigned to different sub-
groups of data.
3. Reassembling – In this stage, the data matrix would be prepared i.e. all the narratives,
would be written down under each label. Labels would be in the columns and the 4 heads
in the rows.
4. Interpreting – The narratives would be re-read, analysed to interpret the data. Based
on them, it would be identified what customers feel about each of the 4 initiatives
Nike plans and what suggestions do the customers recommend.
5. Concluding – Recommendations would be provided based on the interpretations made.
The findings of the researchers would be cross-validated and any contradicting findings
would be rechecked. The suggestions would be made for the Reebok’s marketing
strategy dimensions- how they should design their retail stores, what sort of marketing
campaigns they should launch and what channel should be used to promote fitness as a
lifestyle, should they go for celebrity endorsers and new products that customers would
like to see in the market.

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 5. EXPECTATIONS FROM THE STUDY

The proposed study follows a qualitative research approach, involving semi-structured interview
and FGD as the crucial data collection techniques to collect information from customers about
how they perceive a sportswear brand to be a fitness brand. Due to time, effort and cost
constraints, the research is limited to around 80-90 respondents.
Considering the limitations of the research, the expectations from the study are to provide a basic
foundation for the company to lay down its marketing strategy that is customer-oriented which
creates, communicates and delivers value to its customers most effectively about how Nikeis a
brand that is part of your fitness and lifestyle.
We expect to find out various marketing mix elements that play a crucial role in communication
effectively to the target group of Nike and how they should be designed.
The study tries to explore what features/services should be included in those fit-hub stores, what
sort of celebrity personalities should be associated with the brand, what new products can
Nike launch especially for women and what design of marketing campaigns would prove
biggest mileage to the brand as a lifestyle, fitness brand.