Nike: More than just the Iconic sneaker brand

Over the past 15 years Nike has endeavored to dominate every shoe market of importance. In order to do this they have taken over several major brands.

Nike made its first acquisition in 1988. Cole Hann was an up and coming dress and casual shoe designer. Cole Hann looked to utilize the same technology used for developing athletic shoes into fashionable shoes. This ideal appealed to Nike, as it wanted to develop a more athletic yet casual shoe for its athletes. Nike paid $80 million dollars for the acquisition of Cole Hann. It seems to have been a worthwhile investment.

In 1995 as the ice hockey business began to develop, Nike wanted to be a part of it. A brand named Bauer who is well known for producing high quality ice hockey skates and sports gear was brought out by Nike. It is believed that Nike over paid for this brand because at the time it was at the height of popularity. Nike paid $409 million for Bauer.

Over the past few years the popularity of extreme sports has sky rocketed. Nike heavily researched the extreme sport market and discovered buyers in this market were very brand loyal. Nike knew by starting there own apparel line would not be very successful so they decided to purchase in Hurley International for $95 million in 2002/ Buy purchasing this skateboard maker has helped Nike crack the youth market. However, Nike has taken a more hands off approach so the consumer doesn’t become distracted by a big known company such as Nike taking over the exclusive brand loyal market.

The most recent purchase by Nike has been in 2003. Nike paid $305 million for the retro style sneaker brand named Converse. Nike endeavors to keep this brand fresh and in doing so has allowed Converse to make its own decisions.

With the purchases of these brands it is evident Nike is wanting a stronger market share. I think it is a great marketing strategy that Nike has used by taking a more hands off approach. By allowing these brands to develop themselves gives the original consumer satisfaction that what they are buying is being represented by the original people that created them.