Brand Deconstruction - By HM

Brand 1: Nike
Nike’s professional site says it all. They precisely cut their brand into multiple sections. The different sections include the following:
Nike Store – for shopping online
NikeID – for customizing your products the way you want
Nike+ - a joint program between Nike and Apple
Nike Pro – for Nike underarmour, and related apparel
Nike Sportswear – for general sports apparel
Nike Women – Nike apparel specialized for women
NikeFootball, NikeBasketball, and NikeSoccer – for equipment relating to the specific sport.

Nike’s outstanding advertising campaign, along with their many customizable options are what make Nike so successful. For example, when you go to the site, one whole section is dedicated to NikeID – customizing your products the way you want. This will definitely be incorporated in my company. I plan to start with one product that will be totally customizable – including elements like colour of various features, logo style, and perhaps the material.

Another major advancement made by Nike is joining with other companies. This is especially evident in the Nike+ program. Partnering with Apple, Nike has created revolutionary equipment – using your Nike wear to track your running, etc, all on your iPod. The idea is ingenious, and brings profit to both Nike and Apple. I plan to replicate this idea by partnering with Apple, or perhaps some other company, and create some kind of training equipment (related to cricket), which somehow tracks your sport-specific achievements – for example, some small, portable device that tracks how hard you are swinging, and how many strikes you have made, and perhaps your accuracy. This could be done by making measurements of the force at which you are hitting the ball, based on calculations of acceleration and mass of the item.

Lastly, I will advertise my products just like Nike – by showing the viewers why my company gives the athlete the upper hand, and display the superiority of the product. In fact, Nike almost advertises its products as indestructible. Their products are portrayed as overcoming any challenge. An example of this is Nike’s advertisement titled “PROOF THAT COLD IS POWERLESS”, which advertises that “Nike Pro competition base layer will keep you warm, even when it isn’t.”

Brand 2: Reebok
Reebok is quite a unique brand. One would assume that it is quite similar to Nike. However, there are many differences. First of all, Reebok's advertisements do not have a dark colour theme. They are actually quite bright. Also, the advertisement is not centralized around the logo, but the logo fits in nicely with the people. There is not as much emphasis placed on the logo. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. While Nike's continous, repetitive advertisements about how their brand is superior does gain them quite a reputation, the reputation's integrity is weighted down by an aura of boastfulness. Reebok's, on the other hand, while it compromises the brand's instant recognition, upon glimpse of an advertisement, it also strengthens the integrity of its reputation. Now, because I'm just starting up, I think it would be a sound strategy to lean my advertising towards Nike's setup.

Another notable character of Reebok is it's clean layout (of it's website). It is easy to navigate to the page you want, and there are professional product shots, which show a clean, crisp side and top view of the product. My company will definitely mirror that style, when advertising the brand specifically. However, for advertisements within magazines and billboards, this would not be a great strategy.

Another great strategy employed by Reebok is their exploration of specific features, and a detailed description of their product. This stands out especially when examining their sports equipment. I will also employ that strategy into my brand.

Posted by HM