The Jordan Brands target market are primarily sports fans and people between the ages 12-30. The sports fans are the die hard people who want to be exactly like Mike. They go out and not only buy the latest Air Jordan shoes but they but thee apparel to go with it, matching sweat suit. The group of 12-30 which is the brands demographic segmentation, are those who follow the latest fashion trends. They stop at nothing to get a new pair of Air Jordan's. This group is mostly Generation Y. The Jordan Brand uses retro releases to keep attracting fans back to the brand because fans love the classic Air Jordan's.
In 1984 a young Michael Jordan signed a sneaker contract with Nike, this started there new product "Air Jordan". Before he signed the contract Michael Jordan had never wore a pair of Nike's. Nike teamed up with designer Tinker Hatfield to design & develop 15 out of the 23 Air Jordan's that have been released. Through his product development (which can be seen in the picture above) the Jordan Brand has gone on to be Nike's biggest and most profitable brand ever. The picture above shoes the Air Jordan 11's which are the Jordan Brands most popular shoe. As you can see the Jordan brand had to do a lot of brainstorming and screening to get the shoe to its perfect form.
The development of this sneaker was very innovative because it was the first sneaker of its kind to have patent leather on it. Fans looked at the sneaker as if it were a futuristic sneaker. It was a hit among sneaker fans. The commercial the Jordan Brand created for the shoe was Michael Jordan dunking on a 100ft rim. This commercial symbolized the Air Jordan 11's as another shoe that will make you fly even higher. With the re-release the this shoe different Blog sites have been getting sneaker fans excited. Showing different pictures of the shoe give the release date and even the price which inflated from $160 to $180. But the price hike wont stop sneaker fans from lining up for the new release.
The Jordan Brand is one of the most promoted shoe and apparel companies in the world. There promotional strategy consist of signing different star athletes from different sports to endorse there products. The picture above shoes Miami Heat superstar basketball play Dwayne Wade who use to be apart of the Jordan Brand on the front cover of Slam magazine which is a premier basketball and shoe magazine. One of the Jordan Brands biggest competitive advantage is that the greatest basketball player owns the company. When ever the new NBA season would start he would be sporting a new pair of Air Jordan's This would have fans of all sorts lined up at sneakers stores ready to by the latest installment in the Jordan Brand. They advertise most of there newest release on the internet to different sneaker blog sites. The Jordan Brand receives a lot of publicity from the news about people camping out overnight for new Air Jordans to be released. This boost the companies popularity and makes more people want to buy into the brand. This year the Jordan Brands new tagline is "One Shoe, Three Flights". This stand for one shoe which is the Jordan shoe and three flight which is quickness, air and explosiveness. These are the attributes that Jordan showed each game. The more people talk about the Jordan shoes on different shoe websites the more hype surrounds the new shoes. This makes more people want to buy the newest shoes which are released every Saturday.
The production of the Air Jordan shoe revolutionized the world of sneakers forever. They raised the bar when it comes to footwear. The Jordan Brand specializes in tow types of consumer products. There first product of course is consumer products, when purchased Air Jordan's satisfy the personal wants of sneaker fans across the world. These products come from general releases which occur throughout each month. The second is specialty products which in the world of sneakers are called "Quick Strike" which means there are only a limited amount of products being sold in a limited amount of stores. These shoes are the ones everyone wants and everyone search high and low for but only very few luck people have actual success with purchasing them.
"Air Jordan 1-25"
Over the past 28 years the Jordan Brand has had a product line of 25 original sneakers. Each sneaker is released in a variety of different colors with some colors more popular than others. The Jordan Brand has also made product modifications to certain shoes. The picture on the right shows a product modification where six pair of Air Jordan shoes were put together to make one. This shoe is called the "Six Rings" which gets its name from the six pair of Air Jordan's Michael Jordan wore when he won his six championships.
The Air Jordan Brand is represented by the logo above which is called the "Jumpman" the name came from the spectacular dunks Michael Jordan would do every game. The Jordan Brand owns the exclusive right to the Jumpman logo. This logo is the persuasive logo put on each shoe and sneaker box which indicates you brought an official pair of Air Jordans.
The Jordan Brand is a world renown shoe and apparel company that has been around for 28 years. Unfortunately for fans and consumers of the shoes they have never offered any coupons for money off your purchase or rebates for your purchase. In a sense they just take our money and tell us to have a nice day. Now although they don't offer any physical samples for consumers they do show consumers samples of future products that are coming out soon. These type of samples give consumers a chance to see the latest shoe that will hit the market in the months to come. The only time there are consumer sales promotions is through the actual retailer who sells the shoes mark the price down. Even with these negative factors the Air Jordan still manage to sell out when they are released. A lot of the Jordan Brands sales come from there online sales promotion. The Jordan Brand release photo's and potential release dates which add more excitement for fans and consumers. This builds up a bigger buzz for the next release. The price for these shoe's go up every year, from last year's $160 to the $175 price that stands today but the shoe's still sell out within hours of it release.
With a bunch of retro Air Jordan slated to be released in the next couple months the Jordan Brand will be raking in a bunch of sales. As long as fans and consumers still demand retro releases to be made the Jordan Brand will continue to profit because these are thee most popular basketball shoe's to ever be made.
The effect that the Jordan Brand has had on the world of advertising is very historical. One of the most clever ways the Jordan Brand use to advertise their brand was on a TV show called "Fresh Prince Of Bel Air" which starred Will Smith. In the video above Smith can be seen in a Air Jordan jacket and sneakers. Also at the end of the video Smith is seen mocking the Jordan Brand with his own line of shoes called the "Air Smiths". This product advertising drew many sneaker fans and fans of the shoe to dress like Will Smith so they would go out and buy thee exact same Air Jordan sweat suit and sneakers he had on. This advertising technique help Air Jordan sales to reach high level throughout the 90's.
(Michael Jordan & Spike Lee a.k.a Mars Blackmon)
An advertising campaign that the Jordan Brand still uses is the legendary Mars Blackmon commercial campaign. It started in the 80's when the Jordan Brand teamed up with Spike Lee to create a character who was Air Jordan crazy. This character Mars Blackmon would appear in various Air Jordan commercial reciting his classic "do you know" line asking do people know why Michael Jordan was so great. These commercials would become a fan favorite among Jordan fans.
Another very clever and smart way the Jordan Brand advertised there Brand was when they teamed up with Looney Tunes stars Bugs Bunny in various commercials (such as one seen above). As a kid when I seen this commercial I begged my mom to buy me these shoes because Bugs Bunny was wearing them. Another way the Jordan Brand took advertising to the next level was when they did the movie "Space Jam" with the Looney Tunes. This movies featured Michael Jordan playing basketball with the Looney Tunes while wearing his Air Jordan shoes throughout the movie. This attracted more demand for the shoes by young children because their favorite cartoon characters were seen playing basketball with their favorite basketball player.
Space Jam
These days Jordan does very little to any advertising. Most of the advertising is done by them just releasing photo's and release dates of upcoming shoes and apparel to different sneaker blogs on the internet. These sneaker blogs are host to millions of sneaker fans who check the sites daily for future shoe updates. This new form of advertising is great for the Jordan Brand because the demand for the shoe's are at a all time high with fans camping out in front of stores or paying double the retail price for the Air Jordan shoes.
One of the only things that's missing from the Jordan Brand footwear & apparel empire is a retail store. Foot Locker's "House Of Hoops" store which is located on 268 West 125th Street in New York fills in that void with a very wide, extensive and exclusive variety of Air Jordans and other footwear & apparel. This store is one of thee most famous stores known to all Air Jordan fans. House Of Hoops is another retail chain store under Foot Locker's corporations which includes others stores such as Champ Sports, Lady Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Footaction USA and Eastbay.com. There are a chain of House Of Hoops stores around the country. The Jordan Brand's electronic retailing is a growing wider with each release. Now instead of consumer's camping out in front of "House Of Hoops" or "Foot Locker" consumers can stay in the comfort of their own home and order straight from the companies website. This also gives them a chance to read customer reviews on how well the shoes may be which may also lead them to purchase other items.
(Product, Place, Promotion, Presentation)
The "House Of Hoops" on 125th is a one floor store but it is very spacious. Seen in the picture above and to the right are the four of the six P's (product, place, promotion, presentation) on display when you walk in the store. Shoe's and clothing are properly displayed to shoe sneaker fans this is the place to get your latest gear for the Jordan Brand . The last two P's (price and personnel) occurred when I was approached by a House Of Hoops referee who in the last picture below helped me with all the information I need to know about the Air Jordans from the price of the shoe which is on a sticker inside the shoes to the quickstrike limited edition.
(The photo below shows consumers camping out for air jordan sneakers)
Fan's and sneaker lovers the decision making process of purchasing a new pair of Air Jordans is a simple yes. When a new pair of Air Jordans are released the want and demand for them are incredible. Consumers have no problem camping outside of stores for two and three days even the whole week just to satisfy the want for the shoe. Fans of the Jordan Brand spend a lot of time with the involvement of decide which shoe to choose. They follow up on how the shoe looks, the quality of the shoe, how limited the release will be. For sneaker lovers the Jordan Brand is the number one sneaker for the culture. Its the most sought after sneaker for the culture. The recognition sneakers lovers receive for having a new pair of Air Jordans is abundant because people see the shoe as a badge of honor among sneaker lovers. Consumers love how the Air Jordans bring them so much great attention from the culture around them. Aspiring basketball players who look up to be just like Michael Jordan seek to purchase Air Jordans because they feel the shoe will motivate them become more "Like Mike". This myth is untrue but for most fans it drives them to buy the shoe because the self conscience feeling makes them feel like they are Michael Jordan. A big issue that comes up in the consumers decision making process is the price of the shoes. Most people complain that the shoe is too expensive because it cost $160 and it goes up almost every year. With this issue consumers are left with other options such as other shoe companies that offer other shoes for less.
Michael Jordans is a global phenome in the game so without question the brand he built is just as popular. Fans all around the world anticipate the release of his sneakers just as much as fans in the United States. Once a year the Jordan Brand holds a basketball competition for the youth called "Jordan Brand Classic International Game". The international players battle a group of New York City High School All-Stars in packed a arena in front of basketball fans and also basketball scouts. Each year in order to pick the players the Jordan Brand invites the 40 top players from around the world for a fierce three day training camp with basketball experts. The prospects compete for one of the 10 MVP awards and a chance to play in the "Jordan Brand Classic International Game". The Jordan Brand is connecting with more international fans and players because people from around the world anticipate this annual game. This annual game is The Jordan Brand's biggest global promotional tool for the company. The game is shown global on ESPN and the arena where the game is held is transformed into everything Air Jordan. The arena banners, and everything you can think of has the Jordan logo on it. The most of the commercials shown during the presentation of the game are Air Jordan shoe commercials. Players are supplied with the latest Air Jordan shoes and are not allowed to wear any other brand of shoes during the game.
The year 1985 started with a shoe that would become a phenom for generations to come. The Jordan Brands Air Jordan shoe has been in every major shoe retailer like Foot Locker, Foot Action and local stores ever since. But its what Michael Jordan brought to the game of basketball that attracted people to the shoe. The popular 90's phrase "Be Like Mike" starred Michael Jordan in a .59 second Gatorade commercial doing all sorts of slam dunks in his Air Jordan shoes. The commercial also feature children and adults of all ethnicity's emulating the NBA superstars moves down to the sneakers, come on if you wanted to "Be Like Mike" you of course had to have a pair of his shoes to start the journey. The Jordan Brands target audience for there products as you can see in the photo above start from infants all the way up to adults and everyone in between. That's because the company is gearing everyone to "Be Like Mike" right out of the womb. The Jordan Brands marketing environment is also very diverse. Its not about what color or how tall or how much you weight. The Jordan Brand is marketed so everyone can try to "Be Like Mike".
After doing basic research on the internet from different sneaker blogs a popular tool the Jordan Brand added to there marketing environment was the release of retro Air Jordan's which are the Air Jordan's of the past. With these releases fan's of the Air Jordan sneaker young and old get a chance to purchase the shoes that help build the brand to what it is today. These releases are done periodically and with the use of the internet pictures, release information and discussions about the shoe add more hype and promotion to what ever shoe may be released at that time. A big problem that fan of the Jordan Brand have with the company is the continuous inflating price of the sneaker. Most people don't expect the retro sneakers to be as expensive as they are but none the less fans of the popular shoe continue to purchase them.
The Jordan Brand has a program for the youth called "Wings for the Future" program. The program is designed to help the youth with different programs for education, sports, creativity. The professional athletes and youth that are apart of "Wings for the Future" program helps to rebuild refurbished basketball courts, classrooms and computer labs. They also visit children's hospitals and put together basketball clinics for elementary students. Students who are apart of the art and creativity program are given a chance to make murals for their school and they also get design tips from other artist. The "Wings for the Future" program is conducted all around the world throughout the year.
The Jordan Brand awards grants to teachers who teach grades 1-12 at disadvantaged schools. The name of the grant is called "The Jordan Brand Fundamentals Program". It awards $1 million dollars in grants to these schools. Since 1999 "The Jordan Brand Fundamentals Program" has awarded more than $8 million in financial aid to public secondary school teachers. Every winner of "The Jordan Brand Fundamentals Program" prove there worth everyday by being devoted to helping children succeed with a strong educational background.
The Jordan Brands code of ethics are deeply routed in Nike's tradition of bring about positive, systemic change for workers within there supply chain in the industry. The cover workers protections as well as the companies environmental impact which there internal team enforces.
The Jordan Brand's strongest aspect in there strategic planning first is that the brands owner is the greatest basketball player ever. This inspires buyers to want to buy the shoes because it gives them a connection that they are becoming more "Like Mike". The second part of there strategic planning is thee other NBA players who are endorsed by the Jordan Brand. The picture above shoes Michael Jordan (on the left) and Miami Heat superstar Dwayne Wade (on the right). Now with this it opens up a marker for Dwayne Wade's fans to purchase the Air Jordan shoe and the shoe that Dwayne Wade puts out under the Jordan Brand. With the Jordan Brand endorsing superstar players it gives them the upper hand over competitor's such as Adidas and Reebok because the fans of the superstar players want to wear the same shoes the superstars are wearing.
A weakness that the Jordan Brand has it the limited amount of sneaker it produces and its bizarre prices that continue to rise every year. Also they release a new sneaker every week which for most consumers doesn't fit in there weekly budget .
The Jordan Brand gives away free sneakers at basketball tournaments during the summer which attracts more fans to the phenomenal shoe because now they actually get a pair of sneakers for "FREE"
A major threat to the Jordan brand is of course it competitors who's prices are lower and quantities are higher. The competitors are also endorsing big name athletes to there brand to promote more shoes to a wider variety of fans. This leaves the Jordan Brand with a more reason to tighten up there belt to continue to have dominance over the sneaker market
Since 1984 Michael Jordan has been a global phenom. He took the NBA by storm withhis outrageous dunks but he took the world of sneakers by storm with the release of the Air Jordan's. The Jordan Brand is a shoe and athletic apparel company designed by Nike. The company's market orientation style personifies that buying this sneaker will make you more like Michael Jordan. This has led to billions of dollars in sales in revenue for the NBA legend. The Jordan Brand was the first sneaker brand to sell a sneaker for $100 dollars and 28 years later the pricey shoe goes for $160 plus tax. The sneaker is very popular among basketball fans and also fans of the sneaker culture. The Jordan Brand is Nike's most successful sneaker brand. The Jordan Brands mission statement "One Shoe. Three Flights" represents Michael Jordan himself as the shoes main endorser, the Jordan Brand as a business, and finally the legacy behind the shoe itself.
