Blog post week commencing 7th October (Micro/Macro)

On the 3^rd of October we were put into a group in our workshop, after discussion we decided to focus on the sports equipment market looking specifically at the brand Nike. We decided as a group to focus on Nike because of its strong brand image and its high quality product range in this industry. Our group is made up of five members; Carmel, Alex, Abigail, Farah and Emily-Anne and in this session we discussed the allocation of tasks amongst the group.

Our first group task was to research the micro and macro factors of Nike’s sports equipment market. Our lecture on the 8^th of October on the micro/macro environment gave us structure for our research so that we could allocate the different factors to different members of the group. Each group member was given one micro factor and one macro factor to research and gather evidence for, this was our allocation:

Carmel – Economic and company. She looked at the general growth in the sports equipment industry and the effects of the recession. For the company aspect she looked at Nike and how much of the output is made up of sports equipment products.

Alex – Social and publics. Alex researched government campaigns for healthy living and wellbeing following increases in obesity. For publics he looked into Nike’s sponsorship deals and its shareholders.

Abigail - Political/Legal and suppliers. Abigail found that national minimum wages in emerging economies could affect Nike’s international competitiveness. She also found information on the many factories Nike own and analysed statistics for their website.

Farah – Technological and competitors. She looked at online shopping and how it has changed the way companies market their products. When looking at competitors Farah identified several different brands and compared product ranges and their success.

Emily-Anne – Environmental and market intermediaries. Emily-Anne looked closely at the growing recycling culture and how Nike could benefit from this. When looking at marketing intermediaries she found that Nike had many. 

We have planned to meet as a group twice a week to carry out our marketing audit effectively.