Oklahoma City Community College Sports Marketing Nike Corp Research

Chapter Review

Case Study

What It Takes to Be a Brand Manager in Sports and Entertainment Marketing

Many aspiring marketers dream of working for a major corporation like Coca-Cola, Nike, Southwest Airlines, or the Marriott Corporation. Each of these corporations has spent time and money on brand strategies. Brand association is important in a world that offers a vast number of choices to consumers. A brand is more than a name. The brand represents a company’s quality, reliability, and leadership in an industry.

Nike understands the importance of providing an excellent product endorsed by experts in the field. Nike has received endorsements from top athletes in every sport, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Maria Sharapova, LeBron James, Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter, and Michael Jordan. Although celebrity endorsements are effective, companies cannot rely on them solely to sell products. Today’s consumers are more sophisticated and better educated than previous generations. Successful companies like Nike anticipate what consumers want and provide a product or service that is better than consumers’ expectations.

Do You Have What It Takes?

Nike’s brand managers are expected to provide strategic leadership when developing marketing plans. To identify “influencers” and keep current with the latest market trends, a brand manager travels to major sports and entertainment events, works closely with consumer groups, and interacts with the company’s various marketing teams.

Strong communication skills are necessary to lead the development of strategic marketing plans. The brand manager establishes measurable business objectives, executes the marketing plan, and monitors the results to ensure excellence.

The brand manager position requires a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in marketing, business, or a related field. Experience in advertising, social media, and digital marketing are preferred. In addition, Nike looks for brand managers who can develop innovative and creative ways to reach consumers. A challenging responsibility of the position is to develop and lead marketing plans that utilize talent (celebrities) to enhance brand initiatives and events.

Think Critically

1. Why is the brand so important when marketing a product? What do consumers associate with a brand?
2. Why is it important for the brand manager to be able to connect with consumers?
3. What are the education requirements to become a brand manager for a major company?
4. Why do you think the Nike brand manager would be required to travel to sports and entertainment events throughout the world?

300+ words,. Cite references.