Marketing Management

Assignment No 01

 Assignment Title: Case Studies of Nike, Google &

Emirates

 Submitted to: Dr. Shameel Ahmed Zubairi

 Group Members:
1. Abeeha Jalal
2. Afia Afaq
3. Muhammad Shahzad Gul
4. Muhammad Umair Sharif
5. Osama Ahmed Kalim

 MBA (SCM) 2.5Years (Evening)

 To be Submitted On: 10th Sept, 2021

Case Study # 01: Nike
Nike, Incorporation is an American multinational corporation that is engaged in the designing,
development, manufacturing, and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel,
equipment, accessories, and services. It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and
apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment

The company was founded on January 25, 1964, as "Blue Ribbon Sports", by Bill
Bowerman and Phil Knight, and officially became Nike, Inc. on May 30, 1971. The company
takes its name from Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Nike markets its products under its own
brand, as well as Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Air Jordan, Nike Blazers, Air Force 1, Nike Dunk, Air
Max, Foamposite, Nike Skateboarding, Nike CR7, and etc including Jordan Brand and Converse.
Nike also owned Bauer Hockey from 1995 to 2008, and previously owned Cole Haan, Umbro,
and Hurley International. In addition to manufacturing sportswear and equipment, the
company operates retail stores under the Niketown name. Nike sponsors many high-profile
athletes and sports teams around the world, with the highly recognized trademarks of "Just Do
It" and the Swoosh logo.

Question No. 01:

What are the pros, cons, and risks associated with Nike’s core marketing strategy?

Answer:
Pros: Nike target clearly defined audience which comprises of athletes, sports enthusiasts, well
to do and brand conscious customers. This enables them to take up target-centric ad
campaigns. It appeals to their emotions, this helps to promote it as a brand of allegiance,
loyalty and cult following. By signing up super star in sport industry like Michael Jordan, Kobe
Bryant and LeBron James in basketball, Tiger woods in golf and Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal
in tennis, Nike is targeting millions of fans around the world who are influenced by these
figures.

Cons: Its main focus is on the production of high products with cutting edge technology. It
concentrates on selling them at competitive prices. The lower and middle classes in the society
are not given much importance.

Risks: The negative influence of spokesperson’s personal life or scandals can damage reputation
of company and intense competition pose a risk to their strategies. A continuous change in the
demands and choices of the consumers and the international expansion may also pose a danger
to their strategies.

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Question No. 02:
If you were Adidas, how would you compete with Nike?

Answer:
Pricing: Nike products are expensive and can compete by reducing the prices of the products
without compromising on the quality.

Positioning: As world is facing global warming, I would build image as an Eco-friendly company.

Innovative Products: I would make this possible by creating a strong brand based on high
quality, innovative products that top athletes choose to use in training and competition.

Choose Winning Team: Adidas can gain its recognition as providing the winning team with the
shoe needed for victory but also marketing to the consumer a specific Adidas product.

Target Market: I would create a premium brand but target it to young people, women and
others who are into fashionable shoes.

Emerging Market: Consumer in developing countries looking for product that have low price
with best quality, because their buying power so I would compete with Nike is by focusing on
emerging markets such as in Asia and Latin America by giving Adidas significant leverage over
Nike.

Case Study # 02: Google

In 1998, two Ph.D. students of Stanford University, Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded a search
engine company and named it Google. The name plays on the number googol-1 followed by
100 zeroes, and refers to the massive quantity of data available online that the company helps
users find. Google's corporate mission is "To organize the world's information and make it
universally accessible and useful." As such, the company focuses first and foremost on creating
the perfect search engine. Google search works because it uses the millions of links on other
Web sites to help determine which sites offer the most valuable content. The company has
become the worldwide market leader for search engines through its strategic business focus
and constant product innovation. Google creates and distributes its products for free, which in
turn has attracted a host of online advertisers seeking targeted advertising space. About 96% of
its revenues come from online advertising, which means that creating new advertising space is
critical to the company’s growth.

Questions No. 01:

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With a portfolio as diverse as Google’s, what are the company’s core brand values?

Answer:
Core brand value defines as what an organization stands for, expectations, and the ultimate set
of behaviors and skills. With a portfolio as diverse as Google, the company’s core brand value
is universally accessible information. Google has invested its resources to organize the world’s
information and make it universally accessible and useful. Since it had been launched, Google
had determined to be able to work with great people so they can create an environment where
the employer can improve and develop their skills. By having great people working around,
therefore they will be able to challenge each other’s ideas openly and make the innovation
improved from time to time.

Google had built the world’s best technology and product. From the products to Google Apps,
technology, and product had proven to be successful all around the world. For example, Google
ads had been proved to help clients to increase their revenue and sales also at the same time
help them to review and analyze their products and services. Besides, Google allows their
programmers to develop and to work on the project that they believed will bring benefit to the
company. For that, Google has applied and developed technology and creativity to solve
problems.

Furthermore, Google Apps and products are innovative and gained people’s attention. Plus
they are affordable for people to buy, yet still have a high quality. This aspect had help Google
to gain customer’s trust which is the most important thing in a well-developing business. Ever
since Google been launched, trust from the customer had helped them to expand their
corporate world far beyond than expected. Regardless of all the challenges from the
competitors, I believe that Google had taken every step it can to survive and maintain its
relevance in the corporate world. Their innovation is no doubt has been their strong and
effective way to maintain the company.

Question No. 02:

What's next for Google? Is the company right to put so much focus on Mobile?
Answer:

Google sells advertising space on its search pages through a program called AdWords, which is
linked to specific keywords. Hundreds of thousands of companies use AdWords by buying
"search ads," little text-based boxes shown alongside relevant search results that advertisers
pay for only when users click on them. Google also runs an advertising program called AdSense,
which allows any Web site to display targeted Google ads relevant to the content of its site.
Web site publishers earn money every time their visitors click on these ads. In addition to

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offering, prime online real estate for advertisers. Google adds value by providing tools so
businesses can better target their ads and understand the effectiveness of their marketing.
Google Analytics, for excise to Google's advertisers and provides a custom racer: detailing how
Internet users found the site, what ads they save and' or clicked on, how they behaved on the
site, and traffic was generated.

With its ability to deploy data that enable up-to-the-minute improvements in a Web marketing
program, Google supports a style of marketing in which the advertising resources and budget
can be constantly monitored and optimized. Google calls this approach "marketing asset
management," implying that advertising should be managed like assets in a portfolio depending
on the market conditions. Rather than following a marketing plan developed months in
advance, companies use the real-time data collected on their campaigns to optimize the
campaign's effectiveness and be more responsive to the market. Since its launch, Google has
expanded far beyond its search capabilities with numerous other products, applications, and
tools that benefit both consumers and businesses. The goal behind each product was to help
users find the information they need and to help them get things done better, faster, and easier
than before. As the world becomes more mobile, Google is betting big in the mobile category.
In 2008, Google launched Android, a mobile operating system that went head to head with
Apple's iPhone.

The biggest differentiation between the two was that Android was free, open-sourced, and
backed by a multimillion-dollar investment. That meant Google wanted its partners to help
build and design Android over the years. The investment paid off, and by 2010, Android became
the number-one mobile operating system in the market. As Google expanded into mobile
technology, it quickly became the leader in mobile advertising with a 75 percent market share
for search ads and approximately 50 percent market share for all mobile ads.

In 2012, Google entered the mobile device category when it purchased Motorola and launched
the Nexus 7, a sleek tablet that competed directly with the iPad and Kindle. As Google looks
toward the future, the company wants to offer the ultimate mobile solution—Google mobile
devices along with mobile services so users can use all of Google all the time. Google's ultimate
goal is to reach as many people as possible on the Web—whether by PC or by mobile devices.
The more users on the Web, the more advertising Google can sell. Google's new products not
only accomplish this goal but also make the Web a more personalized experience. Google has
enjoyed great success as a company and a brand in its short lifetime. From the beginning, it has
strived to be one of the "good guys" in the corporate world, supporting a touchy-feely work
environment, strong ethics, and a famous founding credo: "Don't be evil." Google currently
holds a 67 percent market share for core searches in the United States, significantly greater
than Microsoft's 17 percent and Yahoo!'s 15 percent market share. Globally, Google holds a

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more dominant lead, with 85 percent market share over Yahoo!'s 8 percent and Microsoft's 3
percent. Google's revenues topped $59 billion in 2013, and the company was ranked

The second most powerful brand is a brand value of $107 billion. In addition, Google's 5400
billion market capitalization in 2014 edged out companies like Walmart and Microsoft to
become the second most valuable company in the world.

Case Study # 03: Emirates

Emirates is the largest airline and one of two flag carriers of the United Arab Emirates (the
other being nearby Etihad). Based in Garhoud, Dubai, the airline is a subsidiary of The Emirates
Group, which is owned by the government of Dubai's Investment Corporation of Dubai. It is also
the largest airline in the Middle East, operating over 3,600 flights per week from its hub
at Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport before the COVID-19 pandemic. It operates to more
than 150 cities in 80 countries across 6 continents through its fleet of nearly 300 aircraft. Cargo
activities are undertaken by Emirates SkyCargo.

Emirates is the world's fourth largest airline by scheduled revenue passenger-kilometers flown,

and the second-largest in terms of freight tonne kilometers flown.

During the mid-1980s, Gulf Air began to cut back its services to Dubai. As a result, Emirates was
conceived in March 1985 with backing from Dubai's royal family, with Pakistan International
Airlines providing two of the airline's first aircraft on wet-lease. With $10 million in start-up
capital it was required to operate independently of government subsidy. Pakistan International
Airlines provided training facilities to Emirates' cabin crew at its academy. The airline was
headed by Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the airline's present chairman. In the years following
its founding, the airline expanded both its fleet and its destinations. In October 2008, Emirates
moved all operations at Dubai International Airport to Terminal 3.

Question No. 01:

How has Emirates been able to build a strong brand in the competitive airline industry
worldwide?

Answer:
The airline is seventh largest in the world in terms of revenue that is AED 83 Billion and largest
airline in Middle East in terms of revenue generation, fleet size, passengers carried and
technological innovation.
The size of passengers also multiplied in few years which shows the efficient provision of
services by Emirates. The passenger size increased 44.5 Million to 49.2 Million and passenger

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seat factor increased from 0.2% to 79.6%. This indicates effective capacity utilization of the
Airline.
Emirate build strong brand by ensuring lean business resource, getting support from
government, high employee satisfaction, high customer loyalty, innovation and technological
advancement, adaptation to seasonal changes.

Other prime factors which made the Airline a brand in airline industry include Proper
maintenance of aircraft in order to avoid fine from FAA, Good system for customer reservation
system to be flexible, fast and user-friendly, Strong investment in market research to enable
sales forecast and market situation analysis, Proper training and quality to make the customer
feel satisfied and get the luxury in food and other services, Good systematic maintenance of
accounts in loan interest repayment, lease payment, depreciation in order to have a clear view
of the actual profit, Strategic allocation of expenses on promotion and advertisement, sales
forecast and social performance and Strategic approach on pricing and increasing the number
of sales person according the number of flights operated.

The airline has invested in a number of improvement programs to ascertain its growth and
success. One of the major program is named as “Tailored Arrivals” which allows the air traffic
control to uplink to air craft new route by determining the speed and flight profile from the air
onto runway, which helps the crew to accept and fly a continuous decent profile and helping in
saving fuel and emissions. Wide area of business activity also a reason to be able to build a
strong brand globally in the competitive Airline Industry. In addition to this, the simulation gave
the airline a vast experience about the concept of risk management, strategic approach and
resource allocation. The importance of group dynamics in running a successful business of
Emirates worldwide.

Question No. 02:

What are some of the apparent weakness with the company’s strategic direction? How can the
airlines address them?

Answer:
Emirates has strongly built and are strategically positioning their brand in airlines industry but
they are lack in taking into considerations of their competitors in determining their future
directions.

There are some deficiencies in the company’s direction which are addressed below:

 They overlook the faults in marketing strategies and too much over confident about
their position in aviation industry.

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  Absence of international alliance as they are not art of any alliance.
 They are completely ignoring the competitions. They totally ignore their competitors like
Gulf Air Company GSC, Air France, Lufthansa AG, British Airways and Qatar Airways
Group.
 They do not look into the advantages and disadvantages of their competitors. For
example: Etihad Airways and many other airways have also signed the open skies policy
and are ready to compete with emirates with the same quality of service at a very
competitive price.
 They only target the elite or high class people as their customer which is also a threat for
them in future, as because if people get same service at a low price, they will go for that.

We can have some remedies for the above addressed issues:

 Improving inflight service meanwhile taking cognizance of completion offerings.

 Their routes need to be extended.
 They need to develop their products like developing private suits.
 Incorporating in budget airlines.
 By repositioning and aggressively evolving novel strategies as per the target market
response.
 They can roll out packages for non-premium class travelers.

Though Emirates has strong brand position but if they want to keep that position for the long
run, they need to do some changes in their business strategic direction.

Question No. 03:

With the decline of fuel prices globally, airlines companies continue to reap the benefits. What
impact will this have on Emirates’ business strategy in future?

Answer:
The low oil price helped reduce operating costs. This will in turn increase the profits of the
airline as it will invest more in technology and maintenance. Moreover, decreases in the
effective cost of fuel impact the air transportation system through the supply-side and the
demand-side of the market for air transport. Supply-side effects include decreases in direct
operating costs of airline, resulting in changes to networks and fleet assignments. Demand-side
effects are due to increase in economic activity, as well as passenger and freight sensitivity to
fare balanced with the price.

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Decline in fuel price globally affect Emirates business strategy in the following ways:

 Company will now attract cost conscious customers through declining of fuel price.
 To reduce price-fluctuation risk on projected operating costs, many airlines hedge a
proportion of their future fuel needs six to 24 months in advance by buying jet fuel or
crude oil contracts from banks or on an oil futures market.
 When the oil price is falling, options would be in favor of Emirates as it is cheaper to
hedge forwards and get protection if prices go up, but if one pays a premium for
options, they also retain the potential to benefit from lower oil prices more
immediately.
 Risked slower growth in the coming years as heavy investments in new planes and
premium- class services begin to erode profit margins.