Communication Strategy of Nike Inc Paper Example

Introduction

Nike Inc. is a well-known company known for producing branded sports shoes and quality sportswear. In the fall of 1980, Nike Inc. experienced a major setback when it least expected it. Immediately, they had to implement a communication strategy that would help in controlling the perception of the public and foster change and innovation within the company.

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Summary

The public saw Nike Inc. Company as one with an inconsistent attitude due to the constant change of their plans as they wished. Also, it was said to involve in child labor, underpaid their workers and exposed them to poor working conditions and hazardous environments (Nayak, 2017). Due to this, it made them face tremendous critics with their biggest competitor, Reebok rising above their sales. As a result, they had to come out with something that could encounter the perception of the public and rise above Reebok Company.

Communication Strategy

Nike Inc. Company is socially conscious holds into core values of consumer, the employees, the community, and the stakeholder. To maintain their consumer, the first action step involves holding a meeting and assembling a crisis team whose task is determining what they are up against and developing a plan for managing it (Liu, Austin & Jin, 2011). The team should take action by calling an open forum where consumers can speak up their mind concerning Nike products. Such communication is to help ease their minds on what the consumers want and significantly take a major step towards improvement. Additionally, they should set up a toll-free consumer hotline that field concerns of the consumers, thus becoming a valuable and effective channel of communication between Nike Company and the public. Significantly, this will make the consumers realize they are valuable and are part of the company progress since their needs are handled and paid attention to.

The issue of child labor and employees being underpaid and being exposed to poor working conditions and hazardous environments may be of concern to many including those who feel the company is putting the health of the community in jeopardy. Due to this, the company's management should assure the employees that their jobs and their working conditions are safe and take a step of making a press statement to reassure the whole community that Nike is working towards a positive goal of ensuring the health of all individuals in the society.

Since the community may have probably lost trust, Nike Inc. should anticipate to this by providing them with security to their children and assuring them that the only persons allowed in the company are those of above 18 years and holder of National Identification Cards. On the other hand, they should consider their stakeholders who might think that a lot of damage has occurred in the company and it is hard for the company to regain its foothold in the market. To offset this, the crisis team should appoint a spokesperson that can persuasively move the minds of stakeholders and show them the company is here to stay.

Conclusion

A company is able to recover from potentially devastating crises when it carefully executes a communication strategy that is focused on ethical values. Although the company may have made tremendous losses, executing a communication strategy will help them gain loyalty to the public. This will be through placing the safety and well being of consumers over their own welfare.

References

Liu, B. F., Austin, L., & Jin, Y. (2011). How publics respond to crisis communication strategies: The interplay of information form and source. Public Relations Review, 37(4), 345-353.

Nayak, T. (2017). " Just Do It"@ Ad Campaign: The Case of Nike Inc. Globsyn Management Journal, 11.