Nike’s Expansion into The Netherlands and Global Sales Strategy

WC = 1,489 GEO 101 Dr. Housel April 20, 2012 Nike – Hilversum, The Netherlands Hilversum, The Netherlands Hilversum, The Netherlands Beaverton, OR Beaverton, OR Have you ever heard of the phrase “Just Do It? ” Do you know what the ‘Swoosh’ is that represents Nike’s logo? Nike’s headquarters in the United States is in Beaverton, Oregon and became a mainstream sporting sales corporation in 1978. The popularity of their apparel increased when multiple athletes signed a contract to promote and wear Nike in sporting events.

Since citizens in other countries thrived on Nike clothing, Nike finally went overseas to build a corporation in The Netherlands (or The Dutch); this project was complete in 1999. The headquarters is located with easy access to the train station and was the site of a former harness track and Olympic training ground (McDonough). Nike products are sold to customers around the world. The athletic gear is made to have style and catch the eye of others. If the sales were good and there wasn’t a relapse, then why did Nike go overseas?

In 2007, Nike got a lift courtesy of favorable exchange rates; a weaker dollar means greater sales abroad, as the products are priced more cheaply (Forbes). The income that Nike receives is thrived on by many features including promotions, new gear, and athletes. Both promotions and new gear have to do with buyers altering their costs to Nike for their deals and willingness to pay for the product. Athletes are the ones who sign a deal (either with Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, etc…) to wear and encourage viewers to buy their apparel while participating in their sport.

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As Nike moved into Europe where soccer is popular, more European soccer professionals made contracts with Nike. In past years, Nike has been one of the most prolific companies to excel in overseas sales with reaching 1. 48 billion dollars a year (Forbes). As football continues to be rise in the United States, Nike sales in football equipment are doing the same. Likewise, soccer is dominant in Europe, therefore more soccer paraphernalia is being produced overseas; every corporation will produce whatever brings in the most capital.

The Netherlands’ most popular sport is soccer, with the Royal Dutch League being the largest sports federation in the country with over a million players (WIKI). Following the transaction of Nike going to Hilversum, The Netherlands National Soccer Team that participates in the Olympics changed sponsors to Nike in appreciation and to support the new corporation. Viewers realized the move and sales of The Netherlands gear rose to an all-time high. Another reason why they built in The Dutch was their living standards.

The Dutch prosper through life with building wealthy families and neighborhoods to provide one of the most attractive places to settle in. The architecture of Nike’s Corporate Office in Northern Europe reflects the creativity and eye-catching techniques they believe in. When Nike went global, they made sure to adapt to the culture of The Netherlands and Northern Europe – if they didn’t and kept everything that Americans viewed as normal, employees may not feel comfortable in the workplace.

Once the building was signed off, architects had already started implementing a plan to make the architecture of the new Nike European Headquarters match the unique, beautiful designs of other buildings in The Netherlands. The creative company of architects, William McDonough + Partners, has built many structures in Europe and this was their next challenge. In 1999, after years of work, the building was ready to be put to use and attract everybody in sight. The part of culture that sports, especially soccer, plays in Northern Europe is a strong.

Therefore, it’d be smart to establish grounds around the Headquarters to promote athletics; and that’s what they did. The Nike European Headquarters site was once a former harness track and Olympic training ground that now continues the tradition of physical excellence through a jogging track, a central pond that freezes in the winter for an ice rink, and numerous athletic fields and courts (McDonough). Nike welcomes customers day in and day out to visit their grounds and enjoy the outside comradery with the rest of the community.

Also, Nike created and bought multiple soccer attires to sell to the soccer-like customers in the region. As expected, the articles of clothing were a hit and that only created different types of soccer gear to be produced. The public was very intrigued with the effort and creativity of Nike employees, leading the entire Nike company (in both Europe and the United States) to receive gains of almost two billion dollars a year. A main environmental aspect The Netherlands flourishes on is ‘going green. Nevertheless, providing healthy air and helping the environment with an eco-friendly building is also what the architects did. The Headquarters in Europe is said to be the most prominent example of green design and the green revolution is spreading to historic landmarks around the Northern European area now (Preservations). The building had success in doing the practice that they foresaw in the future. This architecture philosophy strives to minimize buildings resource and energy needs by using recycled or renewable building materials, solar power, and water efficiency (Preservations).

The community was in awe when the building was finalized because they realized the new building in Hilversum was environmental friendly and did zero harm to society with saving energy. The Nike Headquarters in Hilversum opened up in 1999 – customers and employees immediately accepted the inside of the building because of the art placed throughout the structure. The art that is most accepted in Northern Europe is Flemish and Dutch due to religious backgrounds of most. Nike felt it would be more accepted if they place these types of art throughout the building, in another way of a warm welcome to everybody that enters.

The changes that Nike in Europe did from Nike in the United States put on inside is immense and the McDonough partners did a phenomenal job with it. In general, most businesses lose money when they outsource and go overseas. When Nike built in Hilversum, the attractiveness the building brought to the area encouraged everyone to visit, buy their apparel, and have fun outside the Headquarters. The main expense Nike had to worry about was advertising the new Headquarters and clothing that was being produced.

But after Nike took a hit in the United States from low sales, Nike in Europe did more than making up the shortage and produced up to one point four eight billion dollars in the previous year (Forbes). The sales did not taper off, as they were seen to do, and Nike continues to be extremely popular in places other than just the United States. Nike building a Headquarters overseas was one of the best ideas they could have implemented as a worldwide company. When they saw the sales weren’t increasing in the states and the dollar was down in Europe, they took the smart move and produced in Hilversum.

Right away, the company universally flourished and provided a means of athletic gear to the European nation. The glocalization that Nike did made them even more of a world renowned entity to buy sportswear and to have attractive clothing that was bought at a great price. The takeaway for businesses expanding overseas is about competition and providing quicker access to items others don’t have near them. For instance, the competition that was brought to Europe when Nike moved allowed for those people to check out Nike rather than home-named brands that were in the area.

Also, even though Nike was still heard of, they had to order it from the United States, which involved days of travel and excess money of shipping than if Nike was within range of their homes. Before writing this paper, I didn’t realize that glocalization was a big part of how businesses excel overseas. After seeing the positives it brings, I believe more American businesses should expand overseas with a Headquarters (just not a sweatshop). I thought it was very unique in that Nike provided a place that made adapting simple to the new building; it created limited confusion and great attitudes throughout their new workplace.

If I were a president of a company and wanted to receive more capital than I was getting, I would reach an identical plan to what Nike did and surpass any opinion or prediction that people would make on what the overseas business would do for the company worldwide. Works Cited McDonough, William. "Nike European Headquarters. " William McDonough Partners. William McDonough, 2012. Web. 06 Apr. 2012. <http://www. mcdonoughpartners. com/projects/view/nike_european_headquarters>. Farrell, Andrew. "Nike Swooshes Up Overseas. " Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 21 Sept. 2007. Web. 6 Apr. 2012. <http://www. forbes. com/2007/09/21/nike-europe-update-markets equity-cx_af_0921markets22. html>. "Nike, Inc. " Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 Mar. 2012. Web. 06 Apr. 2012. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Nike,_Inc. "Companies: Shared Services Centers. " Company Profiles. Oct. 2008. Web. 06 Apr. 2012. <http://www. nfia. com/companies. html? groep_id=6>. Hawes, Alex. "Going Green. " Preservationnation. org. 27 Nov. 2001. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. <http://www. preservationnation. org/magazine/story-of-the-week/2001/Going Green. html>.

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