Nike's JDI Campaign in a Collectivist Culture in the GCC Region - Essay Sample

Introduction

A culture of collectivism exists within the GCC region particularly in the Middle East (Pirju, 2015, p.90-95) where Nike has intensified its JDI campaign. Collectivism is principally described by such features as conformity and safety, as well as, taste orientation towards luxury products.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Farah and Fawaz, (2016, p.140) described the collectivist culture as one that involves a society where the individuals are integrated into cohesive and strong in-groups, along with their extended families that continually offer protection in return for unquestioning loyalty. The cultural context of Nike's JDI campaign involves a sense of belonging and innovation (Nike, Inc., 2019 p. 37) that incorporates all employees and consumers in a collective approach. For instance, in the GCC area particularly in the ME (Middle East) region, the developed an extension of the its JDI campaign called Dream Crazier featuring Zahra Lari (Nike Lari. 2019) and Manal Rostom (Egyptian Athlete) (Nike Rostom, 2019) to launch its pro hijab line product in the firm's expansion within the ME region. The two videos also signify the conformity to religion characteristics by empowering the Muslim women across the GCC region through inspiring young generations to achieve their dreams.

Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 2: Rastom (Left) and Lari (Right) Source: https://stepfeed.com/just-do-it-like-these-arab-women-hijabi-athletes-star-in-latest-nike-ad-5485

The advertisement highlighted in the posters above seeks to break barriers among Arab nations, with a theme of inclusivity, a sense of belonging as well as inclusivity among the Arab women through the Pro Hijab product across the GCC region. Similarly, in the USA, the JDI campaign is represented by Colin Kaepernick, a former NFL player to illustrate a sense of inspiration relayed by a powerful message that encourages the society to believe in something, albeit the fact that they risk losing everything as illustrated in the figure below.

Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 3: Colin Kaepernick Source: https://adage.com/article/special-report-agency-list/creativity-award-2019-campaign-year-nike-just-do-it-dream-crazy/2163641

Furthermore, Nike's campaign across the United States incorporates advertisements with a pattern inflated by inspirational messages. For instance, a recent JDI campaign's extension titled "Dream Crazier" released on 24th February 2019, reflects a message of inspiration through emphasizing on female athletes like Serena Williams, who have broken barriers to bring together individuals from diverse cultures through their successful performances that saw them attain their goals. As such the message from the advertisement revolves around the element of inspiring generations to pursue their dreams.

Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 4: Nike's Dream Crazier Campaign: Source: https://news.nike.com/just-do-it

3.0 Nike's Marketing Strategy (Adaptation vs. Standardization)The JDI campaign has enabled Nike Inc. to position itself in the mind of the consumers which the firm targets in both the GCC as well as the US regions based on a global standardization marketing approach. Concerning the analyzed images above illustrating distinct advertisements, they all utilize a single patter of standardization exemplified by the JDI campaign both in the USA as well as in the firm's expansion across the GCC region. One of the standardization approaches employed includes its notably operational slogan, "Just Do It," along with the Swoosh symbol that is considerably recognizable when viewing the advertisements irrespective of nationality.

The JDI campaign's adaptation to the desires as well as the cultures exhibited in the GCC region could be classified as multinational localization to the GCC's standard market conditions. In particular, the JDI campaign mostly targets Arab women across the GCC region, for instance by using the Dream Crazier ad that features Lari (Nike Lari. 2019) and Rostom (Egyptian Athlete) (Nike Rostom, 2019). JDI's cultural adaptation in the GCC region is widely stimulated by the firm's implementation of a "rigocentric" marketing strategy. This approach aims at targeting precise sections of the world instead of different countries to advance the localization of its product to specific cultures within a large regional culture. As such, the JDI campaign has emphasized on the Muslim women's culture of wearing hijab clothes within the ME area in its quest to expand to the greater GCC region through the Pro Hijab advertisements.

Marketing Mix

Marketing strategies are essential for multinational co-operations as they play crucial functions in achieving competitive advantage, access to available resources, risk-sharing, freeing up resources, as well as in attaining cost efficiency. Asosheh, Shahidi-Nejad, and Khodkari (2012) described the concept of electronic commerce as an approach involving the selling as well as the buying of products over electronic systems such as the internet. As such, the "Just Do It" (JDI) campaign was established over the internet platform, where the targeted market can access various products offered by Nike in both the USA as well as the GCC region. The marketing mix variables mentioned above will also be analyzed passed on Porter's five forces approach. According to Hafezi, Akhavan, and Pakseresht (2017, p. 5), Porter's five forces theory was mainly developed in the fundamental assumption that competition within the scope of an industry is evaluated using five competitive forces. These forces include suppliers' bargaining power, the buyers' bargaining influence, the threat associated with substitutes, the threat to the new entrance as well as a competitive rivalry (Pakseresht, 2017, p. 5-6). As such, the next sub-section seeks to analyze the marketing mix variable of Nike's JDI campaign in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) region in comparison with the US region based on Porter's five forces model.

Product

Nike, Inc. provides a variety of products including equipment, apparel, and shoes, all of which are standardized as sporting products both in the US as well as the GCC regions. Nike's initial product included running shoes. However, the JDI campaign incorporated athletics products across the two regions including, along with other sporting products such as baseball, ice hockey, tennis, soccer, lacrosse, as well as basketball products, particularly in the USA. The advertised commodities include shoes, shirts, and shorts, along with the pro-Hijab clothing which is precisely advertised within the GCC region.

Price

Ahmed (2016, p. 16) noted that the prices of products are usually influenced by the nature of commodities to be marketed. Nike's pricing master plan is more competitive than other shoe brands. The brand's pricing is highly dependent on its target customers who have the financial capability to purchase the company's products. Concerning Nike's strategic campaign in both regions, adopted a vertical integration approach that enabled the firm to contribute to different channel levels as well as prioritized its role in operations level to regulate cost and product pricing which present low prices. For instance, the campaign targets Muslim women through using affordable clothes (Pro Hijab Line) (Nike Rostom, 2019), as a status symbol across the GCC region (Ahmed, 2016, p. 16). This approa...