October 29, 2023 Adam Segal

Nike is amongst the most recognizable name brands on the planet. There is hardly a corner of any nation where the Nike swoosh isn’t recognizable to someone. I have chosen to use Nike in this semesters project for a few reasons. The first being the incredibly brand recognition of which I just described. Second the fact that I grew up an athlete, wearing Nike products and their marketing truly worked on me. My final reason being, without realizing it, I’ve completely stopped wearing Nike, in fact doing a brief sweep of my house I couldn’t find a single Nike product which I found quite odd.

The story of Nike is well known to most, it was founded as Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964 by Phil Knight a former University of Oregon runner and Bill Bowerman the former University of Oregon track and field coach. The company changed its name to Nike in 1971 and finally went public in 1980. They were a smaller company making a name for themselves in a market dominated by Adidas and Converse. Nike and the world changed forever in 1984 when Nike signed Michael Jordan. Thanks to continued collaboration with Jordan and some of the most successful marketing campaigns in history Nike has grown from it’s humble origins in Oregon into a corporation with an annual revenue north of 50 billion.

My idea for a Nike product is a shoe entirely manufactured in the U.S. Nike has for years been tarnished by its supply chain and the sweatshop like conditions in which their shoes and products have been manufactured. Imagine a shoe line entirely manufactured in the United States. An incredibly difficult task to pull off no doubt but if executed properly could turn some heads in the largest global market. The idea of products being manufactured and sourced locally is not just a trend that is going to go away. This is something a certain number of consumers truly care about, and it is big business. Not only could it be seen as a much-needed revamp for a company with shady manufacturing processes but it could be another turning point for a company that prides itself on setting trends.

Reference

“Nike, Inc.” Britannica, 29 Oct. 2023, http://www.britannica.com/topic/Nike-Inc. Accessed 29 Oct. 2023.