Word: nike
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...once in a long time, Fireman can afford to gloat--and even hint that Reebok might again have a shot at unseating Nike, the champion of footwear. The roster of top athletic talent and deals with the NFL and the NBA have turned Reebok from an also-ran into a contender for domination of the athletic-apparel market. Sure, Nike owns 36% of the U.S. sneaker business right now, compared with Reebok's 11%. But the league deals represent a long-term threat to the Swoosh. For one thing, it means that if Michael Jordan returns to the game...
...supplier of uniforms and sideline apparel. But the real victory came this month when Fireman and NBA commissioner David Stern announced a 10-year arrangement that makes Reebok the official outfitter and marketer of game uniforms and warm-up gear for the entire NBA. "It was amazingly foolish for Nike to lose the NFL," says Fireman. "But to lose the NBA--that's heresy...
...cast of professional managers; there were five presidents in a decade. In an effort to broaden its customer base, Reebok in 1992 ventured out from its core recreational-fitness customers to make sneakers in more competitive sports categories like baseball, basketball and soccer, where such rivals as Nike, Adidas and New Balance were already slugging it out. "Women started feeling like we had lost track of them," says David Perdue, who was brought in by Fireman this year to run Reebok's main lines of business, sneakers and apparel. "And kids too found us not to be relevant." As declining...
...course, Fireman knows that gizmos won't bring down Nike-- unless Reebok has a lot of well-marketed attitude to go with them. He calls this "the Cool Factor"--the mysterious marketing mojo that powers the $11 billion athletic-footwear market. That's where Iverson comes in, with his tattoos, corn-rowed hair and 'hood bravado. Allen is indispensably cool, which is why, a few months ago, when Reebok was the object of shrill protests over the obviously homophobic, misogynist lyrics in the basketball star's debut rap song, Fireman stood by his man. "I didn't agree with...
...attitude won't be enough to down Nike. Fireman's longtime rival Phil Knight still sits atop a company that commands a market share more than triple Reebok's. And his troops declare that they turned down deals with the NFL and NBA because the licensing business has never been--and never will be--profitable. Instead, Nike's path to the future has shifted from building brand awareness (it hardly needs that now) to gaining a stronger foothold in growth markets like soccer and golf. Adam Helfant, Nike's global sports marketing director, estimates that $50 million in annual revenues...