Word: nike
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...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...
Will the new Nike work? The strength of the brand and willpower of the organization are still formidable. And rival Adidas is walking proof that great brands can rebound. Knight has written this year off. By 1999 he expects to have new product, a new management structure and better press. Knight envisions a totally global company, one in which communication of the brand flows effortlessly through language and cultural barriers. He knows the past six months have made a sizable dent in that progress. "When we started kind of really emphasizing [globalism]," he says, "I thought, well, Nike could...