Measuring Brand Personality of Nike

Measuring Brand Personality of Nike

Introduction:

A brands personality is formally defined as a set of human characteristics associated with a product, service or company, but thats just fancy brand talk for adjectives used to describe a brand. So, quite literally, brand personality attributes are brand adjectives. For example, Marlboro is associated as a masculine brand, while Dove is seen as feminine. IBM is seen as older, while Apple is perceived as younger. Indeed, Apple is almost known entirely for its brand personality attributes innovative, stylish, intuitive, cool, casual, easy-going and friendly. In recent years, there has been an increased interest in the brand personality construct as its strategic importance has become more apparent. A distinctive brand personality can help create a set of unique and favorable associations in consumer memory and thus build and enhance brand equity. As a result, brand personality is considered to be an important factor for the success of a brand in terms of preference and choice.Indeed, a well-established brand personality can result in consumers having stronger emotional ties to the brand and greater trust and loyalty, thus providing an enduring basis for differentiation which is difficult to copy. From a managerial perspective, brand personality enables firms to communicate with their customers about the brand more effectively and plays a major role in advertising and promotional efforts. As such, marketing practitioners have become increasingly aware of the importance of building a clear and distinctive brand personality.What do endorsers contribute to the brands? Brands, by utilizing classical conditioning principles seek to acquire qualities and traits that these endorsers stand for. The assumption here is that these associations create a human like feel and character to an otherwise inanimate piece of jewelry and push it on a couple of notches higher on the value hierarchy.

Theoretical Background:

The work of Aaker (1997) inspired the majority of the research on brand personality to date. She meticulously developed a 44-item Brand Personality Scale, which encompasses five broad dimensions: Sincerity, Excitement, Competence, Sophistication, and Ruggedness. The scale has served as a brand personality measure in many studies, and its factor structure proved to be robust in many of these studies (Aaker, 1997, 1999; Aaker et al., 2001; Kim et al., 2001).During the last two decades, many people have interested in the concept of brand personality in two concepts: brand characteristics and human personality. Due to its comprehensiveness, the Big-Five is often conceived as an integrative framework in personality research. Brand personality ensured a stable brand image over time and permits consumers to show their own personalities (Aaker, 1997). Brand personality also affects consumer attitudes towards the brand (Wysong, 2000).Aaker (1999) showed that people tend to select and use brands with aspects of their own personality in different situational contexts.

Jennifer Aakers Brand Personality Model

Research objective:To profile NIKE brand using qualitative and quantitative measures including Aakers brand personality scale.Practical implicationsThe findings will helpNikein formulating effective productdesign, positioning and promotion strategies.MethodologyBrand Selection:Since the focus ofthe study is onbrand personality, we included a brand that is dominating the market, known to consumers, and that has a distinct image in the market. NIKE is a well known brand and it was easy to find respondents who were aware of it. Sampling method:25 respondents (randomly chosen and who volunteered), who use sporting goods, were asked to fill questionnaire. A structured questionnaire was prepared based on qualitative and quantitative techniques including Jennifer Aakers Dimensions of Brand Personality, recognition and recall and brand association ratings.

Data Analysis and Results:

56% said NIKE comes to their mind whereas, 32% said Adidas. So NIKE has Adidas as a tough competitor.

99% respondents recognized and recalled NIKE which shows that people are well aware of the NIKE logo.

Mostly people recognize NIKE as a shoes/sneakers/trainers brand.

This result shows that NIKE is an affordable and conveniently available brand.

Q5.Aakers big five applied on NIKE

PersonalityMINMAXMean ScoresMean Score of category

1Sincerity

Down-to-earth152.32.725

Honest2.7

Wholesome/original2.2

Cheerful/friendly3.1

2Excitement

Daring/trendy4.64.05

Spirited/young4.2

Imaginative/unique3.8

Up-to-date3.6

3Competence

Reliable3.23.03

Intelligent3.1

Successful2.8

4Sophistication

Upper-class2.92.85

Charming/feminine2.8

5Ruggedness

Outdoorsy/masculine4.84.75

Tough4.7

The mean scores show that people perceive NIKE & associate it with excitement and ruggedness.

This shows that mostly people recognize & perceive NIKE as a brand with energy & passion.What are the strongest associations you have to Nike? What comes to your mind when you think of Nike?MIN1MAX5Mean

a) Comfortable 3.2

b) stylish product designs4.3

c) Used by athletes4.5

d) Up to date3.8

e) Convenient2.2

f) logo4.8

What do you like about Nike?MIN1MAX5Mean

a) Comfortable 3.2

b) stylish product designs3.8

c) Used by athletes2.6

d) Up to date2.8

e) Convenient2.2

f) logo3.6

What do you dislike about Nike?MIN1MAX5Mean

a) Comfortable 1

b) stylish product designs2.2

c) Used by athletes1.3

d) Up to date1.4

e) Convenient1

f) price4.3

What is unique about Nike?

MIN1MAX5Mean

a) Comfortable 1

b) stylish product designs3.6

c) Used by athletes2.6

d) Up to date1.4

e) Convenient1

f) price3

One personality that comes to your mind when you hear the word NIKE?85% said Michael Jordon15% said Roger fedrerOne fruit that comes to your mind when you hear about NIKE?

mostly said Banana

One animal that comes to your mind when you hear about NIKE?Mostly said either horse or cheetahOne SPORT that comes to your mind when you hear about NIKE?Mostly said basketball.

Conclusion and implication:The main objective of this research was to measure the brand personality dimensions of Nike using the Brand Personality Scale suggested by Aaker. The personal and demographic profile of the users indicated that majority of the users are young male in the early twenties or late twenties and belonged to the educated group. The analysis done indicates that NIKE brand mainly communicates the brand personality dimension of excitement and ruggedness.Brand recall and recognition results indicate that Adidas is NIKEs main competitor in sportswear.

The approach followed in the study described in this article can offer good general insights to marketing managers, managers of distribution channels, sellers and purchasers of sporting goods despite the fact that it has concentrated specifically on how brand personality is shaped in the minds of customers. One of the best application of this research, in particular the used model and methodology of this survey, is that the conclusions of this research are applicable for designing appropriate marketing plans for NIKE brand and then, efficiently implementing of these plans.

QuestionnairePlease fill this questionnaire and get a chocolate in appreciation of your coopration :)Gender: male/female Age: ______ Income: ______(per month approx.)1. When you think of sportswear (shoes & clothing) and equipment, which brand first comes to your mind?

2. One word that comes to your mind when you see a swoosh sign (tick)?

3. When we mention the brand Nike, what NIKE product comes to your mind first?

4. Have you ever used Nike products? Yes/ No

5. Please rate how the following personalities agree with the characteristics of brand NIKE. Please circle the right choice, 1 being does not agree and 5 being fully agree?

PersonalityDoes Not Agree12345Fully Agree

1Down-to-earth12345

Honest12345

Wholesome/original12345

Cheerful/friendly12345

2Daring/trendy12345

Spirited/young12345

Imaginative/unique12345

Up-to-date12345

3Reliable12345

Intelligent12345

Successful12345

4Upper-class12345

Charming/feminine12345

5Outdoorsy/masculine12345

Tough12345

6. What type of music do you associate Nike brand with?a) Folk b) Classical c) Rap d) Rock e) Pop

7. What are the strongest associations you have to Nike? What comes to your mind when you think of Nike?Strongly disagree12345Strongly agree

g) Comfortable

h) stylish product designs

i) Used by athletes

j) Up to date

k) Convenient

l) logo

8. What do you like about Nike?Strongly disagree12345Strongly agree

a) Comfortable

b) stylish product designs

c) Used by athletes

d) Up to date

e) Convenient

f) logo

9. What do you dislike about Nike?Strongly disagree12345Strongly agree

a) Comfortable

b) stylish product designs

c) Used by athletes

d) Up to date

e) Convenient

f) price

10. What is unique about Nike? Strongly disagree12345Strongly agree

a) Comfortable

b) stylish product designs

c) Used by athletes

d) Up to date

e) Convenient

f) logo

11. One personality that comes to your mind when you hear the word NIKE? __________________________________________________________

12. One fruit that comes to your mind when you hear about NIKE?

___________________________________________________________

13. One animal that comes to your mind when you hear about NIKE?

___________________________________________________________

14. One SPORT that comes to your mind when you hear about NIKE?

A) Football B) Cricket C) Basketball D) Tennis E) Other