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PEP GUARDIOLA VISITS FOOTBALL TRAINING CENTRE IN SOWETO 2
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Nike FEATURE
Nike Just Keeps On Doing It Nike is the established brand leader among international sports stars. But as Seruscka Naidoo tells Colin Chinery, in South Africa Nike is also out front on behalf of all sports participants as well as health and social enhancement.
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t’s the coolest accessory in international sport, the ‘must have’ aspiration of young people, and delivers the ultimate kickbutt antidote to procrastination – ‘Just Do it.’ Nike - named after the Greek goddess of victory – are brand leaders in South Africa, with product designed to help athletes achieve high performance along with an unmistakable fashion design statement. Nike is the world’s leading designer, marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities. Its iconic shoes are designed for the hard core sports enthusiast. And with more and more people taking up sport, sport shoes in this fashionable society are seen increasingly as an indispensable product.
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KOBE BRYANT VISITS YOUTH IN SOWETO AT FOOTBALL TRAINING CENTRE
South Africa’s Number One brand. “Statistics show that both from retail and a consumer research point of view, we are the number one brand in South Africa,” says Seruscka Naidoo, Communications Manager, Nike South Africa. “If we look at football, our target audience is 16-19. But the 24 hour footballer also considers the brand to be super premium as well as really cool, and I think these descriptions stand out when it comes to consumer perception of Nike premium and cool.” Nike core products are manufactured overseas - China, Indonesia, USA, and with Italy an important football boot source. And while it has a number of ‘local for local’ factories in South Africa producing items such as socks and basic T- shirts, Nike’s focus is almost exclusively on design and marketing. 4
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“From a consumer’s point of view and the results of research, it always comes back to the fact that we are and are perceived to be, an international super premium brand,” says Seruscka Naidoo. “Many brands that have tried to produce an entire local for local collection have found this does not sit very well with the consumer. They are almost losing credibility. “We are an international brand with the best products available in the key macro market, and people want the same products that are available in these countries and in major cities like London or New York.”
Forefront of innovation. Nike is at the forefront of innovation says Naidoo, “and everything we do comes back to product innovation. We are a company that’s rooted in sport and we are continuously looking at elevating the innovation experience for consumers.
“For example with the football product offering, Nike collaborated very closely with the core athletes. Last year we sat down with a number of players and asked them what they wanted to see improved in football boots to enable them to become better footballers. “The feedback included issues like more traction control or a better grip. And the end result is better footwear that will make a difference in the performance of top athletes, while the consumer gets access to the same product.” A recent investment/growth focus for Nike in South Africa has been in warehousing and logistics. “With our new warehouse in Johannesburg we are able to bring in many more products available in major international cities, and get them to the retailers as quickly as possible. “Delays used to bring a lot of frustration but now with our own warehouse we can manage the quantity of products coming in to the country and make them accessible to the consumer as well.”
The consumer if key. The consumer and consumer experience are key. “Yes we are a company that produces great products but it’s how we make the product accessible to the consumers, enabling them to participate more in sport and give back to their communities. “The World Cup was a real eye opener for everyone, and there’s a lot of work that needs to be done on the ground. Sport in general must become more accessible and the youth most especially more involved. “You find very talented young players - in football and rugby for example - and they need access to great training to take them to the next level. I think that what Nike has done is pretty remarkable. We are partners with the best coaches, nutritionists, life coaches, and all this is having a ripple effect on youth development.
It’s not just the elite. “Every training project we have incorporates a coach coaching programme. So you could have a three day training programme targeting 300 young footballers and also 50 coaches who with this knowledge go back to their clubs and academies and teach these fundamentals to another set of youngsters. So it is not just the elite that get exposure.” In the World Cup all nine Nike-sponsored national teams, including Brazil, Portugal and The Netherlands wore shirts made entirely from recycled polyester, each one produced from up to eight recycled plastic bottles. As a result Nike prevented nearly 13 million plastic bottles, totalling nearly 254,000 kg of polyester waste, from going to landfill sites enough to cover more than 29 football pitches. If the recycled bottles used to make the jerseys were laid end-to-end they would cover more than 3,000 kilometres, more than the entire coastline of South Africa.
Post World Cup blues. Seruscka Naidoo says that for two weeks after the close of the competition she went into “serious World Cup blues. It was just awful. “But more importantly, as a brand we have always been very closely involved with the grass roots programmes we’ve been rolling out in South Africa over the last two years.” This is Nike South Africa’s commitment to serve as an engine for social change, one aspect of which is the new community football training centre in Soweto. The centre will give 20 000 young footballers a year the chance to develop their football talent while having access to HIV/AIDS education through football life skills programming.
Enhancing social change. “In South Africa we have a very high HIV prevalence rate, especially among the 16-24 age groups. And as a brand we have always reminded ourselves that everything we do
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is rooted in sport, and so we use sport as a platform to engage with the consumer and enhance social change.” The project has been acclaimed by leading sports stars like Kobe Bryant, TNT and Sporting News Player of the Decade 2000-2009. “While basketball is my chosen sport, I’ve been a football fan all my life. So to be in South Africa for the first time and see how Nike is utilizing sport to inspire youth and educate them around HIV/AIDS is amazing.
Enhancing life skills. “It’s crystal clear that this centre will help keep kids out of trouble, improve their game, as well as empower them with the life skills they need to live better and HIV free.” The Soweto centre is part of Nike’s commitment to the communities of South Africa dating back 15 years, and follows a recent partnership to leverage the power of
sport to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa through the ‘Lace Up, Save Lives’ campaign. With each purchase of a pair of Nike red laces, Nike contributes money to support programs offering education and medication on the ground in Africa, again harnessing the power of sport to engage youth in the fight against AIDS. Nike’s strategic focus says Seruscka Naidoo, is to continue enhancing the consumer experience. “From the retail point of view, as a brand we are one of the top retailers in the country that offers a unique in-store experience. “We will also continue driving sporting experiences for our youth, engaging with them through the trial products we have and the programmes we have to help them become better people. “Nike’s mission is to bring innovation and inspiration to every athlete in the world. And as per Nike’s co-founder Bill Bowerman, if you have a body you are an athlete.” END
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