Positioning in a market strategy is all about the company, competitors and consumers. An effective marketing strategy creates a distinct and desirable position by meeting consumers’ needs and offering consumers a product that differentiates from the competition. Nike Football’s marketing strategy focuses on creating competitive advantage through product differentiation. The company creates value by meeting consumers’ need for products that ensure performance excellence. Characterized by innovative and high performance traits, Nike’s products, offer performance improvements and individuality allowing customers to choose the right shoe according to their game style. Marketing activities such as creating the “Swoosh” logo and the “Just Do It” campaign have also helped the company defined its brand and create brand equity. Faced with the launch of a new boot, the Mercurial Vapor Superfly II Elite, Nike must find the right fit between the company, competitors and consumers in order to obtain a competitive positioning advantage and successfully launch the new boot.

Nike is the market leader in product differentiation when it comes to football shoes. With its most recent innovation, the Mercurial Vapor Superfly II Elite, Nike offers football players the latest in performance technology. To understand the product’s sources of competitive advantage it is important to identify the value created at the following different product levels: the core product, the actual product and the augmented product. Starting at the core level, the product’s benefit is that it allows football players to improve performance by providing superior stability, traction and support. Additional product differentiation is established at the core level through the development process, which is unique to the company. The process consists of developing the boot from input provided by star football