History
The iconic brand of Nike started with two determined entrepreneurs, Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight who met eachother in 1957. Before the famous ‘swoosh’ logo went global, Bowerman and Knight were local distributers in the US for the Onitsuka Tiger footwear brand that is now owned by Asics. Bill Bowerman was a nationally respected track and field coach at the University of Oregon, he was always trying to provide his athletes with a competitive advantage like innovations in running shoes. Phil Knight was a talented middle distance runner from Portland who competed for Bowerman’s track program.
Together Knight and Bowerman formed ‘Blue Ribbon Sports’, they pledged $500 each and ordered 300 pairs of shoes in January 1964. Knight sold shoes out of the trunk of his car and Bowerman began altering Tiger shoes to see how he could make them lighter and better. However, both men had other full time jobs and as a result they hired the first ever full time employee of Blue Ribbon Sports, Jeff Johnson who Knight had met when studying finance at Stanford.
Johnson managed the growing requirements of Blue Ribbon Sports like print ads, marketing materials and shooting catalogues. He established a mail order system and opened the first ever BRS store in Santa Monica, in addition he also designed several Nike shoes and even came up with the name ‘Nike’ in 1971. With a new name, logo and designs all Nike needed was an athlete to endorse the new line, they chose Steve Prefontaine an outstanding athlete from a small coastal town of Coos Bay, Ore. Knight has often said that Steve is the ‘soul of Nike’, he died at a young age of 25 in 1975, at the time of his death he held American records in seven distances from 2 000 to 10 000m.
The 1980’s was an eventful decade for Nike, the brand became a publicly traded company, as a result several of Nike’s early pioneers decided to move on to other aspirations. In the mid 1980’s Nike had slipped from its position as the industry leader but fortunately the new signature shoe for Michael Jordan in 1895 helped the business. In 1987 Nike decided to regain the industry league by forming their competitive advantage which was the Air Max, the first Nike footwear that has air bags that were visible. Nike had a campaign whose soundtrack was the original Beatles recording of ‘Revolution’. The brand launched the series a ads with the slogan ‘Just do it’ and a young athlete, Bo Jackson. With the new competitive advantage, new campaigns, slogans, TV ads and the ‘Bo Knows’ ad campaigns, Nike had regained its position as the leader of the industry by the end of the decade and they have never fallen from this position since.
Nike entered the 1990’s with a series of successful product launches and marketing campaigns. In 1995 Nike signed the whole World Cup winning Brazilian National team and designed the team’s uniform, Nike also signed the US mens and women’s national soccer teams plus many other national teams around the globe including Tiger Woods.
Today Nike still remains as the leader in the industry and they still continue to seek new and innovative ways to develop the best athletic products. They have expanded worldwide and are now one of the most successful brands in the world. President and CEO Mark Parker said, “At Nike, Inc. we run a compete offense, and it’s based on a core commitment to innovation. That’s how we stay opportunistic, serve the athlete, reward our shareholders, and continue to lead our industry.”
The iconic brand of Nike started with two determined entrepreneurs, Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight who met eachother in 1957. Before the famous ‘swoosh’ logo went global, Bowerman and Knight were local distributers in the US for the Onitsuka Tiger footwear brand that is now owned by Asics. Bill Bowerman was a nationally respected track and field coach at the University of Oregon, he was always trying to provide his athletes with a competitive advantage like innovations in running shoes. Phil Knight was a talented middle distance runner from Portland who competed for Bowerman’s track program.
Together Knight and Bowerman formed ‘Blue Ribbon Sports’, they pledged $500 each and ordered 300 pairs of shoes in January 1964. Knight sold shoes out of the trunk of his car and Bowerman began altering Tiger shoes to see how he could make them lighter and better. However, both men had other full time jobs and as a result they hired the first ever full time employee of Blue Ribbon Sports, Jeff Johnson who Knight had met when studying finance at Stanford.
Johnson managed the growing requirements of Blue Ribbon Sports like print ads, marketing materials and shooting catalogues. He established a mail order system and opened the first ever BRS store in Santa Monica, in addition he also designed several Nike shoes and even came up with the name ‘Nike’ in 1971. With a new name, logo and designs all Nike needed was an athlete to endorse the new line, they chose Steve Prefontaine an outstanding athlete from a small coastal town of Coos Bay, Ore. Knight has often said that Steve is the ‘soul of Nike’, he died at a young age of 25 in 1975, at the time of his death he held American records in seven distances from 2 000 to 10 000m.
The 1980’s was an eventful decade for Nike, the brand became a publicly traded company, as a result several of Nike’s early pioneers decided to move on to other aspirations. In the mid 1980’s Nike had slipped from its position as the industry leader but fortunately the new signature shoe for Michael Jordan in 1895 helped the business. In 1987 Nike decided to regain the industry league by forming their competitive advantage which was the Air Max, the first Nike footwear that has air bags that were visible. Nike had a campaign whose soundtrack was the original Beatles recording of ‘Revolution’. The brand launched the series a ads with the slogan ‘Just do it’ and a young athlete, Bo Jackson. With the new competitive advantage, new campaigns, slogans, TV ads and the ‘Bo Knows’ ad campaigns, Nike had regained its position as the leader of the industry by the end of the decade and they have never fallen from this position since.
Nike entered the 1990’s with a series of successful product launches and marketing campaigns. In 1995 Nike signed the whole World Cup winning Brazilian National team and designed the team’s uniform, Nike also signed the US mens and women’s national soccer teams plus many other national teams around the globe including Tiger Woods.
Today Nike still remains as the leader in the industry and they still continue to seek new and innovative ways to develop the best athletic products. They have expanded worldwide and are now one of the most successful brands in the world. President and CEO Mark Parker said, “At Nike, Inc. we run a compete offense, and it’s based on a core commitment to innovation. That’s how we stay opportunistic, serve the athlete, reward our shareholders, and continue to lead our industry.”