Caso Nike

NIKE: BUILDING A GLOBAL BRAND

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INTRODUCTION
Nike, which began as a two-person enterprise in Oregon, leveraged its technological prowess and marketing sawy to become the largest footwear and apparel company in the world. Along the way it surpassed the incumbent Adidas and withstood challenges from upstart Reebok in the 1980s. The company successfully expanded to Europe and otherinternational markets in the 1990s by tailoring its marketing to blend locally-relevant products and advertising with broadly appealing global campaigns. Additionally, Nike weathered an image crisis involving its labor practices in developing countries by creating a corporate responsibility división, among other moves to address the problems. Despite its successes in the 1990s, challenges for Nike remained.The company had not fully embraced some major sporting trends, including the "actionsports" trend, typified by ESPN's X-Games, which generated billions in footwear and apparel sales to teens across the globe. Additionally, global revenue growth was stagnant in 1999, with only the European división rising shghtly. Nike needed to connect with new consumer segments at home, spur revenue growth inexisting markets, and tap emerging markets such as China. The company's ability to achieve these objectives would determine whether it success in the global footwear and apparel market.

N I K E ' S D O M E S T I C HISTORY—The Early Years
The Nike story begins with its founder, sports enthusiast Phil Knight. Knight grew up in Oregon, a haven for the running micro-culture, with a deep passion forithletics and running, in particular. I n 1962, Knight started Blue Ribbon Sports, the Drecursor company to Nike. A t the time, the athletic shoe industry was dominated bv two G e r m á n companies, Adidas and Puma. Knight recognized a neglected segment o f serious athletes that had specialized needs that were not being addressed r r the major players. The concept was simple: Provide high qualityrunning shoes ¿esigned especially for athletes by athletes. Knight believed that "high-tech" shoes : : r runners could be manufacmred at competitive prices i f imported from abroad. ier completing his degree in 1962, Knight embarked on a world tour that ncluded a visit to Japan. During his visit, Knight contacted Onitsuka Tiger, an iz^etic shoe manufacturer with a reputation for high-qualityproducts, to convince r a o f his visión for the athletic shoe market. When asked who he represented, K n g h t made up a ñ a m e — a n d Blue Ribbon Sports was born. I n December 1963, Knight received his first shipment o f 200 Tiger shoes, « ¿ s e n he promptly stored in the Blue Ribbon warehouse—his family's basement. I n me '.960s, Oregon was filled with impassioned runners who possessed ahard-wired - r i : ; ~ o n to their sport. Without much cash for advertising, Knight crafted his roots" philosophy o f selling athletic shoes. He spoke to athletes on their
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level, shared their true passion for running, and listened to their feedback about his products and the sport. Each weekend, Knight traveled from track meet to track meet talking with and selling Tiger shoes from the trunk o fhis green Plymouth Valiant. I n 1964, Knight asked Bill Bowerman, his track coach at the University o f Oregon, to join h i m at Blue Ribbon Sports. Bowerman had a knack for designing running shoes for the track team and constandy experimented with new products. Knight approached Bowerman with the concept for his business plan, and that year the Blue Ribbon Sports partnership was formed, withKnight and Bowerman each contributing $500. I n the first year o f their partnership, Blue Ribbon Sports sold 1,300 Tiger running shoes totaling $8,000 in revenues. I n 1965, sales rose to $20,000 and profits rose to $3,240. Needless to say, Knight kept his Job as an accountant and Bowerman kept his job as a track coach. I n 1967, Bowerman developed the M a r a t h ó n , the first running shoe made...