Sneakers War Essay Example for Free

Sneakers War Essay Marketing Management SNEAKER WARS 2007 Nike never lacks for boldness. The Beaverton sneaker goliath recently offered the German National Soccer Federation $778 million to sponsor its national soccer team for 10 years in an audacious move to rattle its German rival adidas and long-time sponsor of the German team. Nikes new chief executive, Mark Parker, upped the boldness quotient again on Feb. 6, when he outlined an ambitious plan to grow revenues by $8 billion in five years. In his first major initiative since inheriting the top spot (Chief Executive) in January, 2006, Parker explained to investors at Nikes annual analyst conference how the company aims to grow to $23 billion in global revenue by 2011. The comprehensive long-term strategy calls for reshaping the management structure; redefining Nikes relationship with its fast-changing, digitally driven consumer; and adding 100 new company stores worldwide in three years. Were fundamentally changing the way we organize the company, Parker said. Nike is as hungry and as driven as weve ever been before and becoming more focused and more competitive. While analysts and investors applauded much of Nikes new strategy, some questioned whether the company could actually do it. After all, revenues would need to rise 53% over five years, or average about 9% a year, to reach the target of $23 billion. Its going to be challenging to achieve $8 billion in new sales without turning around slumping sales in Europe, Japan, and the U. S. basketball market a crucial $3 billion to $3. billion market segment. I think its going to be tough for them, said John Shanley, financial analyst for Susquehanna Financial. Basketball, for example, is shrinkin g in terms of sales. They have 96% of the market share in the $100 or more price point. How do you get high single-digit growth when you already have more than 96% of the market? Nike executives fell short in offering specific details to some of these questions and focused more on painting a broader picture of the new strategy. They stressed a multi-pronged approach that includes reorganizing the Nike brand into six main athletic divisions running, basketball, soccer, womens fitness, mens training, and sport culture that are expected to generate 75% of the brands growth. The company had previously divided the brand into three segments: footwear, apparel, and equipment. Growth is also expected to come from emerging markets and potential acquisitions. But Nike Brand President Charlie Denson said the company can reach the $23 billion target without new acquisitions. As for new markets, China is expected to become Nikes second biggest market behind the U. S. , potentially chalking up $1 billion in sales. Nike is building a strategy for growth across China that will foster new connections with Chinese youth, a market share plan designed to reap benefits far beyond the Beijing Olympics next year, top executives said last week. By tapping into swelling consumerism, label consciousness and new social freedoms among Chinas youth, Nike hopes to cement and expand its current position as the leading athletic footwear and apparel brand in the worlds most populous country, currently the companys fourth-largest market. With about $600 million in current annual sales, Nike believes China has the potential to be the companys second-largest market behind the United States with revenue of $1 billion within five years. The company estimates some 50 million Chinese youth play basketball. We think our opportunity there is to connect more deeply with local culture, Parker said, explaining Nikes overall China strategy. Parker said Nike will create products and retail and digital experiences designed to resonate with wired, hip and willing-to-spend Chinese youth living in different cities and regions. Ultimately, thats going to be our best foundation for growth going forward, Parker said. China is a prime component in the global Nike puzzle that will help push total sales for the Beaverton, Oregon-based company toward a target of $23 billion by 2011. Nike also views India, whose population growth rate is rising faster than China’s and Russia as potential $1 billion markets. Although the budget for Nik es 2008 Beijing Olympics strategy has not yet been planned, Nike Brand President Charlie Denson said that commitment would be major. But, Denson said, We are looking beyond Beijing. A recent Just Do It campaign that aired on Chinese television featured a young woman basketball player and a young male skateboarder who spoke of their lives and dreams through sports. A popular Internet-based advertising campaign that followed the television advertisements encouraged teenagers to send in their own stories. While soccer and basketball are the most popular sports among Chinese youth, Nike also sees a huge market for its sports culture footwear and apparel lines that capture the allure of sports without the performance aspects. Trevor Edwards, Nikes vice president of global brand and category management, explained that Nike is trying to encourage Chinese youth to find their individual voice. The Just Do It campaign and others, Edwards said, communicated that we were a brand about opportunity; we were a brand about hope. Nike sponsors 22 out of 28 Chinese sports federations. While the best-known Chinese athlete in the United States, basketball centre Yao Ming, is signed with Reebok, a division of Adidas AG , popular Chinese hurdler and Olympic gold medallist Liu Xiang is a Nike athlete. Even though much of Nikes marketing campaign in China is based on youth individuality, Nike wants to make sure their footwear fits the millions. To that end, Nikes engineers and physiologists back at their headquarters have been collecting data about Chinese feet. But the company will not say whether specific footwear lines will be launched for China. Nikes India business has grown 40% since last year thanks in part to its efforts in cricket. Nike executives also said they plan to invest aggressively in other potential billion-dollar markets such as Russia and Brazil. Back in the USA, Nikes efforts to add new retail stores and elevate its partnership with existing retailers is a big part of its new strategy. This effort comes at a time of sluggish sales from some of its biggest retailers mall-based chains Foot Locker (FL) and Finish Line (FINL). Nike executives said the company plans to grow its direct-to-retail business to 15% of total sales, or $3. 5 billion, from 12% today. The segment includes its own stores, factory outlets, and an e-commerce division, which executives expect to see a significant increase in revenues over the next five years. For the planned retail investment, Nike will increase capital spending to $475 million annually, up from just under $400 million, Nike said. Gary DeStefano, president of Nikes global operations, stressed its retail goal is to make Nike a better retail partner: This is not about Nike vs. the retailers, he said. This is a partnership. We believe this could be a growth strategy. But probably Nikes boldest bet is on the consumer. In the eyes of Parker, this new and evolving digitally driven consumer is reshaping the retailing landscape. The power is now in the onsumers hands, and Parker believes Nike and other consumer brand companies need to adjust to the new market dynamics. Consumers have never held as much power as they do today, Parker said. And clearly the power has shifted to consumers. Nikes Denson said this fundamental shift can be captured in the way the company studies its consumer profiles. In the past, managers used to consider 18- and 22-year-olds as part of the same demo graphic target. Now he says they are treated as separate and distinct markets when it comes to age, interests, and tastes. We spent the last 30 years trying to bundle things, and now its almost the reverse and we have to un-bundle things, Denson said, explaining Nikes new efforts to tailor products to individual consumers. Despite these fundamental changes in how Nike approaches its customers and its reshaped management structure, some things never change. Nike remains its audacious self and competitive juices still run strong. It still has goals to dominate markets where it is not already No. 1, and it’s redoubling efforts to unseat rival Adidas as the worlds top supplier of soccer shoes and apparel. Its recent bid to sponsor the German national team is part of its 2010 goal to dominant the football brand, said Nike marketing vice-president Trevor Edwards. We believe its time to create separation. This is not a game of chicken. Some things never change. Adidas expects growth overseas, particularly in Asia, to push sales at its Reebok division to US$5 billion ($7. 42 billion) over the next three to five years, up from US$3 billion, adidas chief Herbert Hainer said yesterday. The worlds second-largest sporting goods maker after Nike also said it expected to cut costs including at Reebok, which it acquired last year by about 87 million euros ($1. 6 billion) this year. That will more than offset integration costs, resulting in an overall cost savings of about 10 to 20 million euros, Hainer said. For the Reebok brand, the main growth driver will be Asia and to a certain extent Europe as well. Key markets like Germany and France are underdeveloped, as is Russia. Emerging markets have a huge potential and we will grow in the US, but by far not at the pace of Asia. Much of that growth will come toward the latter part of that period with the brand expecting only modest revenue growth, said Paul Harrington, president and CEO of the Reebok brand. Adidas, the German based sporting goods giant, bought Reebok in a US$3. 8 billion deal, looking to complement its strength in Europe with a major US brand that had greater strength in the fashion segment. But the Reebo k brand has been a drag on Adidass performance thus far. In November 2006, the German company lowered its 2007 profit growth forecast to 15 per cent from 20 per cent, citing trouble at Reebok. Adidas shares have slid almost 14 per cent since the Reebok takeover closed on January 31, 2006. Rival Nikes shares have risen about 24 per cent over that time. Reeboks sales have been lagging in the United States and the United Kingdom, though adidas plans a big expansion for the brand in Asia, including about 3200 stores in China, India and Russia by 2010. It is to open 200 stores in China and 90 in Russia this year. The brand is also eyeing an expansion in Japan, South Korea, Turkey, Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe. In Brazil, Argentina, Switzerland and Spain, where the brand is still sold by third-party distributors, the company is working to buy out those contracts, but some may have to run their course through to 2012. At present, about 40 per cent of the Reebok brands sales come from North America and 40 per cent from Europe. Part of what makes the expansion outside the United States so appealing is that profit margins tend to be higher in the rest of the world, Hainer said. You have much higher quantity on the US market, but much more value, higher profit margins on the European or Asian market. Adidas plans to reposition its Reebok brand to target athletics apparel consumers who value individuality, with a goal of broadening beyond an urban youth target audience and re-emphasizing Reeboks roots as an athletics performance brand. The strategy comes as Germany-based adidas ramps up its investment in Reebok a year after acquiring the brand and then seeing Reebok sales fall into a slump. The revised brand strategy builds off the edgy I am what I am campaign Reebok adopted four years ago by embracing hip-hop culture and youth-oriented entertainment alongside its traditional athletics performance market. The new strategy will maintain the I am what I am theme in many of Reeboks advertisements. But it also will position Reebok as an American-inspired global brand that celebrates individuality in sport and life, according to Adidas. Reebok President and Chief Executive Paul Harrington said the brand will gently shift emphasis toward suburban consumers of all ages without abandoning the urban youth targeted by I am what I am. Reebok also will try to reconnect with consumers who value athletic performance over fashion. While I am what I am wont go by the wayside, It may not be as loud as it was when we first launched it, Harrington said in an interview at Reeboks Canton headquarters, where he was joined by Adidas CEO and Chairman Herbert Hainer. The street-influenced I am what I am campaign helped Reebok connect with youth by featuring endorsers such as rappers 50 Cent and Jay-Z. But some industry analysts said the campaign risked alienating customers who prize performance over fashion and marked too sharp a departure for a brand that gained traction pitching aerobics shoes to women in the 1980s. Were not going to move totally away from music, but were going to reach for a broader audience, Harrington said. Adidas hopes Reebok will double its U. S. business and narrow Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike Inc. s market leadership. But adidas said in November last year (2006) that sales of Reebok-branded shoes and other apparel fell 7 percent in the first nine months of last year, compared with the same peri od in 2005. Adidas also conceded that Reeboks profit growth this year would fall short of initial expectations, and it said it intended to increase Reebok investment this year. Among other things, Reebok has been hurt by a recent decline in the once-hot market for retro-styled sneakers that mimic styles from the 80s a trend that Reebok helped drive, said John Horan, publisher of Sport Goods Intelligence, a Glen Mills, Pennsylvania-based industry newsletter. Since Adidas completed the Reebok deal in January 2006, analysts have speculated as to how the one-time athletics sneaker and apparel rivals would position the two separately managed brands to avoid competing against one another in the same market niches. The strategy announced Thursday will be launched with two Reebok campaigns this year. The first is a Run Easy campaign beginning this spring emphasizing the fun and joy of running, rather than its blood, sweat and tears aspect and winning. Reebok plans to launch a broader campaign in August targeting a variety of athletes as well as lifestyle apparel consumers around the theme Best On/Best Off suggesting that Reebok products offer the best in apparel both on and off the playing field. New products Reebok plans to introduce this year include a running shoe created especially for women, a new Allen Iverson model basketball shoe, and an apparel collection endorsed by actress Scarlett Johansson. Andrew Rohm, a former Reebok marketing employee and now an assistant professor of marketing at North-eastern University, said the revised strategy reflects an attempt by Reebok to create a new niche to complement the Adidas brand, whose traditional strength has been in athletic performance, especially soccer. I think it may be a reflection of looking less at sheer sales volume, and more in terms of owning a unique space, and becoming more of a niche player than they have tried to be in the past, Rohm said. Reeboks Harrington said the revised marketing strategy will help position the brand for a comeback. It really positions us for growth in the back end of 2007, he said. Puma, the maker of athletic shoes, shirts and other sporting goods, said its fourth-quarter profit fell 26 percent as it tries to broaden its product base and expand into new regions. But the company, the worlds third-biggest maker of sports apparel behind Nike Inc. and adidas AG, said it expected sales and earnings in 2007 to increase in the higher single-digit figure range, largely on demand for its licensed products. Overall, we are very pleased with 2006 and our start to (the latest restructuring phase), as we set some ambitious targets and are on track or ahead on all accounts, Chief Executive Jochen Zeitz said in a statement. But more important than the past is the future and weve put ourselves in a solid early position to deliver on our objectives. Puma earned euro32. 8 million (US$43 million) in the last three months of 2006, down from euro44. 1 million in the same quarter of 2005. Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a profit of euro34 million (US$44. 6 million). Sales rose 38 percent to euro480 million (US$629. 7 million) from euro349. 2 million a year ago, still less than the euro492 million (US$645. 4 million) analysts had predicted. For the year, Puma earned euro263. 2 million (US$345. 3 million), down nearly 8 percent from euro285. 8 million in 2005, just below analysts estimates of euro264 million (US$346. million). Sales rose 33 percent to euro2. 37 billion (US$3. 11 billion) from euro1. 78 billion in 2005, just under estimates of euro2. 38 billion (US$3. 12 billion). The sales increase was led, in part, by better-than-expected demand for its shirts and helped by the afterglow of the 2006 soccer World Cup, in which Puma sponsored the champion Italy. It is also a key supplier to many African teams. Since Zeitz was named CEO and chairman of the company in 1993, Puma has returned to profitability and increased sales and expanded its research and development, marketing and branding programs. Its latest restructuring effort is aimed at expanding the companys reputation as a maker of lifestyle brands clothes, shoes and accessories, such as eyeglasses and expand in more regions and categories. For the year, Puma posted strong sales in North and South America, with sales reaching euro724. 1 million (US$949. 95 million), up 51. 8 percent from 2005. In Asia and the Pacific, sales more than tripled to euro486. 5 million (US$638. 24 million). In Europe, the Middle East and Africa sale increased 5. 1 percent to euro1. 15 billion (US$1. 51 billion). The companys backlog of orders a key indicator for future sales performance was at euro1. 12 billion (US$1. 47 billion) at the end of 2006, up 4. 7 percent from euro1. 07 billion in 2005. Shares of Herzogenaurach-based Puma were up nearly 2 percent after the results were released but fell back more than half a percent to euro288. 01 (US$377. 84) in Frankfurt trading. References: Business Week Online Can Nike Do It? By Stanley Holmes 7 February 2007 Reuters News Nike striving to be brand about hope in China By Alexandria Sage 12 February 2007 New Zealand Herald Reebok to race in Europe and Asia 3 February 2007 Associated Press Newswires Adidas shifting Reeboks brand identity By MARK JEWELL 2 February 2007 Associated Press Newswires Athletic apparel maker Puma says 4th-quarter profit drops 26 percent By MATT MOORE 19 February 2007 Questions 1. Conduct a SWOT analysis of the key players in the sneaker industry and critically analyse their influence within the industry and the market. (25 marks) 2. Evaluate all significant trends in the environment and assess what impact each is likely to have on the sneaker industry. (25 marks) (Total = 50 marks)

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Stanford Medical Center is located in Stanford, California and ranked as one of the best hospitals in the United States while also serving as a teaching hospital. Stanford is internationally known for its expertise in so many medical areas and for years they have continue to discover and create while working together to improve health on a global scale. In 2008, Stanford decided that they wanted to increase trainee and faculty exposure to international health and in doing so they created a team of Stanford and UCSF faculty to go on an exploratory mission to Vietnam. Vietnam lacks good health facilities and hospitals to better serve its patients. Stanford’s long term goal was to implement a curriculum development and provide opportunities for faculty to pursue research within different cultural and scientific environments. (Viet Nam Welcomes Stanford and UCSF Faculty, 2008) My report will discuss the scenario if the Vietnam government requested Stanford to develop a co-brandin g arrangement where Stanford Medical Center would operate a Vietnam healthcare facility and send some of its clinicians over to train and educate the facility’s doctors and nursing staff while helping improve and monitor Vietnam’s health quality programs. First, what is co-branding? Co-branding is a technique used by many businesses and healthcare to help with positive associations of another company’s product or brand. In this case the co-branding strategy is being used to gain more marketplace exposure. Long standing health care organizations as with any well-known organization will carry a franchise that represents loyalty both internally and with consumers. Stanford is a name already known by consumers which will further attract patients especially when ... ...ame to it. Second one would be to ensure that the original mission, values, culture, and benefits are instilled and guaranteed in every organization that’s in co-branding. My third recommendation is to expand the target market by suiting to the environments culture. (Mà ©lissa Bever, Stà ©phanie Lallemand , 2011) Localization or universal slogans are important because even though an organization’s brand values and culture means one thing in American markets, in a foreign land those words and meanings could be different and it’s a simple fact that some concepts don’t translate between cultures. This is when a team would perform a transcreation. Transcreation is copywriting in a foreign language and this is valuable because they re-write the brand message for the target country to help them understand and appreciate the original message and how it reflects the company.

English Texts in Time Speech Manuscript Essay

As times change and transition into new eras and periods, one aspect remains constant, which are societal values due to the linearity of human nature. Similarities in the influences of the respective contexts of authors can be examined in texts that explore identical thematic concerns. Two authors and texts that can be used to demonstrate this include Mary Shelley’s didactic novel Frankenstein written in the early 19th century and, Ridley Scott’s film noir, Blade Runner (Directors Cut 1982). As though these two texts have been constructed in distinctive time periods, they share similar or juxtaposed content that convey parallel social values in both their cautionary tales.  By analyzing the congruent components embedded in characters or warnings in texts, it can be proven that societal norms are sustained even through the influence of distinctive time periods. In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses the protagonist Victor as a representation of how society values individuality. She creates the didactic element in the text by Victor’s interaction with Walton. â€Å"Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge† exhibits how Victor realizes that his ulterior motive was ethically wrong and wishes to demonstrate to his fellow companion that shares the same â€Å"madness†. Walton’s character is created for the purpose of being compared to Victor. As Victor is the only one who experiences these consequences of blind and obsessive ambition develops him into a unique character, which can be reflected upon Mary Shelley’s context of the enlightenment. The enlightenment is a romantic era in the 19th century, which emphasizes reason and individuality, which is exploited in the character of Victor. Similarly, Eldon Tyrell in Blade Runner produces artificial human beings, the â€Å"Replicants† all for the purpose of his dominance in a scientific based commerce. Because of this Tyrell is represented as a dominant and wealthy character despite his stature. This by far demonstrating his individuality, which is further emphasized in his contrast to every other character in the film. Filmic devices such as lighting support this; such as when Tyrell is brought to the scene, natural light illuminates his body, which juxtaposes every other character of the film. Low angle camera shots of Tyrell also represent his superiority. By his creation of artificial life along with the motto of â€Å"more human than human†, he has embellished an ironic element to the text. This ironic element is how these artificial human beings begin to behave in a more humane way than actual humans depicted in the text. Blade Runner’s comment on this is influenced by Ridley Scott’s context of globalization, which is a concept that leads to the eradication of individuality which is shown in the depiction of humans as a globalized society that has been identically merged.  Both texts utilize their characters to portray how society values individuality. The creature in Frankenstein has an obsession for vengeance and acceptance due to his constant alienation. Throughout the text he never finds a true sense of acceptance. Roy, as well as the other replicants however shares an obsession for attaining a prolonged life span. These desires and experiences that transpire in the two creations of selfish ambitions reflect the nature of humanity. The creature is a pure being as he enters the world space that Mary Shelley materializes. â€Å"I was benevolent and good, misery made me a fiend, make me happy and I shall again be virtuous† this use of alliteration conveys the monsters cause of maliciousness as his own misery. This misery is caused by his treatment by society and how prejudice they are based on appearance. This portrays how society judges based on aesthetics. This can be reflected upon Mary Shelley’s context of Aestheticism, which is a period of emphasis on aesthetical value. As the monster is continually called loathsome and hideous, we muster sympathy towards him in his desire for acceptance in which he is continually denied. Which reflects societies value of difference. Conversely in Blade Runner Roy Batty, is â€Å"perfect† but yet audiences still manifest sympathy towards him. This is because of his final state of agony before his death. Roy asks a rhetorical question in eloquent manner, â€Å"Quite an experience to live in fear isn’t it? That’s what it’s like to be a slave† which is the point of when the audience begin to pity him even with his disoriented state. As Roy’s last fellow being Pris is â€Å"retired† he expresses his emotions, another factor that humans lack in film. His emotions are expressed through a howl simulating a wolf, which acts as a symbol of isolation. The term â€Å"retired† instead of more appropriate words like murder or kill in terms of the replicants shows clear distinction of treatment based on difference. This further hyperbolizes the presence of the societies value of judgment and difference in both texts. The treatment of the ideas of denaturalization that is present in texts from different times can juxtapose each other but still reflect the same social value. Both Mary Shelley and Ridley Scott capture a sense of nature through the world space they create in their texts. Mary Shelley shows more of a realization to the importance and beauty of nature and how it can act as a place of tranquility. This is done by the characters interactions with nature and how it nurtures the individual. â€Å"My spirits were elevated by the enchanting appearance of nature; the past was blotted from my memory, the present was tranquil,† depicts the creatures encounter with nature and its benefits. It reflects how society values nature, in her context of the beginning of the industrial revolution. In contrast Ridley Scott presents the full pessimistic perspective of denaturalization by creating a dystopian world space. With a landscape that is completely devoid of nature, it implies how society values nature.  The treatments of nature by these two composers are complete inverse but they still both reflect the same societal value of denaturalization. Even with the disconnection between Mary Shelley and Ridley Scott, they both produce texts with reflections to different contexts but similar social values. Through the comparison of characters and warnings intertwined in both texts it can be demonstrated that as times change, societal values are sustained. Both composers’ representations of social values both are demonstrated through the characters, cautions and world spaces they convey in their texts.

Breast Cancer Awareness And Cancer - 1530 Words

Breast Cancer Awareness Cancer cells can grow on any part of your body, and start when cells begin to grow out of control and eventually become invasive. What is breast cancer? (2015, June 10) The breast is made up of lobes that have 15 to 20 sections and in each lobe there are many small sections that are called lobules. The lobules end in tiny bulbs that produce milk, the bulbs, lobes, and lobules are all linked by thin tube called ducts. Breasts also contain blood and lymph vessels. Lymph vessels carry lymph between the lymph nodes, which are small bean shaped structures that can be found through out the body. Lymph nodes filter the substances that go through the lymph to help fight infection and disease. Breast Cancer Treatment, (2015†¦show more content†¦What are the risk factors of breast cancer? (2014, September 9) Other risks include not having children or having them later in life, certain kinds of birth controls, using hormone therapy after menopause, not breastfeeding, alcohol, and being overweight or obese. Everyone one is different and won’t have the same signs and symptoms that another person may have. Early signs are usually found on the breast and are visible like lumps, skin dimpling, a change in skin color or texture, the nipple changes shape or seems to look like it is pulled, or clear or bloody fluid that leaks out of the nipple. Other signs include thickened tissue in the breast, most lumps are not cancerous but should be checked to be sure. Breast Cancer: Causes, Symptoms and Treatments (2015, July 10). Other experienced symptoms include pain in the armpits, redness of the breast, a rash on or around the nipples, the size or the shape of the breast changes and the nipple may peel, scale, or flake. Very often, these symptoms are not related to cancer but if you have any of these symptoms the best thing to do is get your breasts evaluated to rule out the worse cause, which is breast cancer. Symptoms and signs (2015, July 23) There is a series of tes ts that are done to rule out of diagnosis breast cancer. One very common test is a