Cultural Analysis Of Nike

Today we live in a world filled with millions of commodities; therefore it is important that the commodities stand out from one another (Goldman & Papson, 1998:6). According to Polanyi (1968:33) “all commodities are goods which are produced to be sold”. Making a commodity stand out from another commodity allows for the commodity to sell to large amount of consumers, creating a profit for the company which created the commodity. Commodities possess their own significant sense of Culture (Williams, 79: 79). Culture is not one dimensional and has transformed significantly over time (Smith, 2001: 10). Culture has been defined as the intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development of individuals, groups or societies; in addition culture is defined

Culture has allowed the consumer to feel as if they have institutionalized knowledge of the commodity which they are wearing, and part of an elite group of people which differ from people who are wearing a different kind of brand (Williams, 1976: 85). Culture is all around media consumers, as this being filtered through by radios, televions , newspapers , and films, therefore consumers are controlled by what they see and hear , forming a sense of their own identity, through what they consume (Lury, 2011: 5-7). The swoosh, which is the logo which represents the brand Nike has become so rich in meaning through the years, and extended its value towards objects and people (Goldman & Papson, 1998: 4). The vice-chairman, Richard Donahue said the following about the brand Nike: “The commitment is to be a global company- one management, one theme, one value, one ethic around the world” (Goldman & Papson, 1998: 4). Therefore the swoosh has created its own ideology , which is promoting that if a person wants to become the best possible human they can be, they can make this dream into a reality by wearing the Nike logo , the ‘swoosh’ on their clothing logo (Hill, 2002:

Brands such as Nike, Coca Cola and Gillette have become assets with economic value (Kerin & Sethuraman, 1998:1). Brand value can be defined as the possibility to gain tangible wealth, by maximizing cash flow by linking a flourishing brand which is well established to a product or service ( Kerin & Sethuraman, 1998:1). The interest in brand value became popular in the a1980s, as intangible commodities , meaning these commodities could not be touched, this does not mean the commodities are not real, it however means it has no physical existence. The intangible properties of brands became a source of tangible wealth for the companies ( Kerin & Sethuraman, 1998:1). The brand value of Nike can be seen through intangible properties such as brand name awareness, brand loyalty, perceived brand quality and a favorable brand symbolism such as the swoosh, which creates a competitive advantage and future earnings platform ( Kerin & Sethuraman, 1998:1).As the brand Nike outsources the production of the brand value to their consumers , it becomes difficult to legitimize their exclusive rights to derive value from the commodity (Arvidsson, 2006:188-189). With the increasing interest in brand value, which is something which is something that is intangible to the product, trade mark law shifted (Arvidsson, 2006:188-189). The trademark law has shifted to confusing the consumers of the Nike products, showing that there is a