Recently, I was speaking with some keen observers, and one stated something that sent chills down my spine: “NIKE is becoming like Pepsi.”
I considered it for a moment and thought, maybe he is right, so I put this column together. I purchased my first pair of Nikes, the Waffle Racer, in the fall of 1975, while a senior at Bellarmine. I raced from the 880 to the 10,000m, and then, an hour run championships (not a good experience) in NIKE Pre-Montreal. I raced in the NIKE Mariah from 2 miles to the marathon, running personal bests at all distances in that shoe. But NIKE has changed, and some things for the better; many have been lost in the NIKE archives, so, as a public service, here we go:
- Phil Knight hated advertising, at first. Mr. Knight told Mr. Weiden that he believed he hated advertising, yet with the empowerment he gave his ad team, #ThereIsNoFinishLine, #BoKnows, and #JustDoIt all became part of the vernacular. Nike does not seem to enjoy advertising anymore, especially in running. Advertising is not Instagram posts. Instagram can be a vehicle, but so can Facebook, Twitter, print, podcasts, and events. I have never met Mr. Knight, someone I always wanted to feature in an interview.
- Mark Parker, while he was CEO, would tell me, at least once a year, ” Running is our DNA.” There was a time during his tenure when NIKE had forgotten its lessons from its small-brand days, and Parker had to fight to get them back. I recall a conversation, conducted entirely via text, while Mr. Parker was flying, in which I was asked to tell him what, in my eyes, was wrong with NIKE. I let him have it. I also grew to respect Mark Parker. A CEO who asks about the shit really happening doesn’t seem to exist anymore. It is only through learning from mistakes that one can grow.
- I flew with one of Phil Knight’s lawyers on a commercial flight across the country. I was working on some of my print titles (1998 or so), and NIKE was on the back covers of all 33 of our titles. The gentleman asked me whether I worked with NIKE. I noted that they were my biggest advertiser. Then, he said, ” Well, I’m Buck Knight’s lawyer.” And then, over several cocktails, told me some of the greatest stories about the NIKE vs. Runner’s World depositions from back around 1980! The lawyer also told me how tough it was for Mr. Knight to start his business and how little money they had at the time. When brands forget their beginnings, they forget great lessons.
- NIKE learned about sports marketing from adidas’ Horst Dassler. Dassler invented sports marketing, and NIKE chewed it up and spit it back out in their own aggressive likeness. Sometimes they were right; sometimes they were not. In 1995, NIKE ran a media center in Gothenburg, Sweden, when Reebok was the global sponsor, and it was the best media center NIKE has ever run. Kudos to Keith Peters, Marc Bloom, and the late Steve Miller. As a media member, you had to be at the NIKE media center. I interviewed Venuste Nyngambo there, as well as several other iconic athletes. For whatever reason, NIKE forgot those lessons and never did a media center that came near that for media relations. Now, NIKE seems to think media are the enemy. It is not just NIKE; all brands do that now. The sad thing is sports journalists are not content creators, nor are they influencers. They influence because the consumer/fan sees legitimacy in the stories they tell.
- Running footwear must evolve. You have to make alot of crap to get great shoes. A story that is true, but protecting the innocent. Bill Bowerman was a, well, “person of some complexity” . There is a story, I have confirmed, about a young NIKE designer meeting Mr. Bowerman for the very first time. Bowerman took the shoes and threw them against the wall, and then left the room. The designer was, well, distraught. A few days later, Bowerman came to his cubicle and told him what he liked and did not like about the shoes. Seemed he had shared the story with his lovely wife, who used her skills to remonstrate Mr. Bowerman and let him see the error of his ways. The designer came back with a better shoe, and Mr. Bowerman was pleased. NIKE has been making some absolutely crap shoes because they forget who they are making shoes for: the kid who dreams of breaking a five-minute mile, the marathoner who dreams of qualifying for Boston, the Mother pushing her twins in a Baby Jogger, as they sleep, enjoying the twenty-two minutes of silence.
- Truth is, NIKE has some great shoes right now: Vomero Plus and Structure PLUS. I like the Pegasus 42. They make killer racing shoes and track spikes, but they are losing sales on training shoes because not everyone loves a carbon plate (if you are under 21, please do not train in carbon-plated shoes daily). NIKE seems to have forgotten how to tell those stories and to reach the people who are their past, present, and future. Runners. If NIKE gets runners, everyone else will follow. Non-runners look to runners for affirmation.
- Time to really focus on the runners, the DNA of NIKE.
