Word: nike
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...typically outrageous statement. To do that, Nike will have to kick aside heritage brands such Umbro, Diadora, Puma and Adidas, the market leader and three times Nike's size in this category. Yet this June, when 32 nations battle for planetary soccer supremacy at the World Cup in France (Adidas is a title sponsor), six teams will wear Nike gear, which is six more than in the last Cup, four years...
...Nike do it? Cash. In measures that were seen as both arrogant and amazing, the company got out its checkbook and started writing. World champion Brazil: $200 million, which included the right to promote five exhibition games. The U.S. soccer team: at least $130 million. Nike even tried to steal Bayern Munich, the New York Yankees of Germany, from Adidas. The effort failed, but it forced the German company to triple the price of the previous contract. Nike's appearance, as well as more sophisticated management by the teams, has had a similar effect on the price of sponsorships...
...Nike had to use cash because it had little else to offer. Its first soccer shoes were terrible, forcing Knight to buy a shoemaking operation in Italy. The company poured money into R. and D. and designed a new soccer shoe around Ronaldo, a Brazilian, voted best player in the world last year. The new model, called the Mercurial, uses a synthetic material instead of kangaroo leather, and is 50% lighter than current models. "It's going to rock the shoe world," says Mike Moyle, CEO of Eurosport, a leading mail-order catalog. Despite its investment of hundreds of millions...
...Nike is also undergoing a holistic reorganization as it struggles with the very size of the company and what it stands for. Says Knight: "What we are doing today might be O.K. for a $3 billion company. It's not O.K. at 9." In reviewing its corporate image, executives reached an interesting conclusion: too many swooshes. "There has been a little bit of an internal backlash about just the number of swooshes that are out there," says Parker, who is the keeper of the brand image. When Tiger Woods made his debut in Nike gear, there were so many logos...
...Nike will also try to be more accessible to consumers by continuing to develop subbrands. The first of those is brand Jordan, whose Jumpman logo has replaced the swoosh on those famous sneakers. Nike expects to sell $300 million in Jordan merchandise in fiscal 1998 and considers the brand to have billion-dollar potential. And Nike is creating a golf division around its $40 million swinger, Woods. He has his own brand, aimed at younger, more athletic golfers, and his togs carry his own logo, a swirling yin-yang emblem designed to reflect his Buddhist beliefs as well...