Nike Inc Background
A. Brief Company Background:
Brief History: Nike, Inc. was incorporated in 1968 when The University of Oregon’s track and field coach, Bill Bowerman, and his star runner, Phil Knight, thought they could better design and sell shoes to runners than what was available at the time. It is headquartered in Washington County, Oregon. Nike is many things – a product designer, a consumer goods manufacturer, a brand communicator, a leader in corporate responsibility, and a portfolio of authentic footwear, apparel, and equipment brands. In each business Nike focuses on one thing – innovation.
Nike’s principal business activity is the design, development, and worldwide marketing of high quality footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessory products. Nike is the largest seller of athletic footwear and athletic apparel in the world. The Company sells its products to retail accounts, including stores and internet sales, and through a mix of independent contractors. Virtually all footwear and apparel products are manufactured outside the United States, while equipment products are produced both in the United States and abroad.
By 1980, Nike had attained a 50% market share in the U.S. athletic shoe market, and the company went public in December of that year. Its growth was due largely to "word-of-foot" advertising (to quote a Nike print ad from the late 1970s), rather than television ads. Nike's first national television commercials ran in October 1982, during the broadcast of the New York Marathon. The ads were created by Portland-based advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy, which had formed several months earlier in April. (Nike Inc, March).
Together, Nike and Wieden+Kennedy have created many print and television advertisements, and Wieden+Kennedy remains Nike's primary ad agency. It was agency co-founder Dan Wieden who coined the now-famous slogan "Just Do It" for a 1988 Nike ad campaign, which was chosen by Advertising Age as one of the top five ad slogans of the 20th
Brief History: Nike, Inc. was incorporated in 1968 when The University of Oregon’s track and field coach, Bill Bowerman, and his star runner, Phil Knight, thought they could better design and sell shoes to runners than what was available at the time. It is headquartered in Washington County, Oregon. Nike is many things – a product designer, a consumer goods manufacturer, a brand communicator, a leader in corporate responsibility, and a portfolio of authentic footwear, apparel, and equipment brands. In each business Nike focuses on one thing – innovation.
Nike’s principal business activity is the design, development, and worldwide marketing of high quality footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessory products. Nike is the largest seller of athletic footwear and athletic apparel in the world. The Company sells its products to retail accounts, including stores and internet sales, and through a mix of independent contractors. Virtually all footwear and apparel products are manufactured outside the United States, while equipment products are produced both in the United States and abroad.
By 1980, Nike had attained a 50% market share in the U.S. athletic shoe market, and the company went public in December of that year. Its growth was due largely to "word-of-foot" advertising (to quote a Nike print ad from the late 1970s), rather than television ads. Nike's first national television commercials ran in October 1982, during the broadcast of the New York Marathon. The ads were created by Portland-based advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy, which had formed several months earlier in April. (Nike Inc, March).
Together, Nike and Wieden+Kennedy have created many print and television advertisements, and Wieden+Kennedy remains Nike's primary ad agency. It was agency co-founder Dan Wieden who coined the now-famous slogan "Just Do It" for a 1988 Nike ad campaign, which was chosen by Advertising Age as one of the top five ad slogans of the 20th