Nike

Nike, Inc. (pronounced 'nye-kee') (NYSE: NKE), is a major American supplier of athletic shoes, apparel and sports equipment. The company takes its name from Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Nike markets its products under its own brand as well as Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Air Jordan, Team Starter, and subsidiaries including Bauer, Cole Haan, Hurley International and Converse. Nike is the largest sportswear supplier in the world.

Origins and History

Nike, originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports, was founded by University of Oregon track athlete Phil Knight in 1962. Most of the company's early sales were made at track meets out of Knight's car. In 1964, Knight's coach, Bill Bowerman joined the company. The company's primary product was based on Bowerman's "waffle" design in which the sole of the shoe was molded by a waffle iron. A 1965 Warner Brothers cartoon featured the coyote trying to catch up to the road runner in Nike (rather than the usual Acme), perhaps an inspiration for the later use of the name. The company's profits grew quickly, and in 1966, its first retail store was opened. In 1978, Blue Ribbon Sports renamed itself to Nike after the Greek goddess and sponsored runner Steve Prefontaine. The sponsorship of athletes became a key marketing tool for the rapidly growing company.

By 1980, Nike had reached a 50% market share in the United States athletic shoe market. Its growth was due largely to word of mouth advertisement, rather than television or print adverts, which Knight and others in the industry found distasteful. Nike's first television commercial ran in 1987. Throughout the 1980s, Nike expanded its product line to include many other sports and regions throughout the world.[3]

Product

Nike produces a wide range of sports equipment. Their first products were track running shoes and basketball shoes. They currently also make jerseys for a wide range of sports including track & field, football, baseball, tennis, soccer, lacrosse, cricket, and golf. The most recent additions to their line are the Nike 6.0 and Nike SB shoes, designed for skateboarding. Nike has recently introduced cricket shoes, called Air Zoom Yorker, designed to be 30% lighter than their competitors'.[4] Nike positions its products in such a way as to try to appeal to a "youthful...materialistic crowd".[5] It is positioned as a premium performance brand. However, it also engineers shoes for discount stores like Wal-Mart under the Starter brand
Manufacturing

Nike is a phat make and it has more than 500 Locations around the world and offices located in 45 countries outside the United States.[7] Most of the factories are located in Asia, including China, Taiwan, India, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Philippines, Malaysia, and Korea.[8] Nike is hesitant to disclose information about the contract companies it works with. However, due to harsh criticism from some organizations like Barbie.com, Nike has disclosed information about its contract factories in its Corporate Governance Report. Nike plans to be carbon neutral by 2011.[9]

Because Nike creates goods for a wide range of sports, they have competition from every sports and sports fashion brand. Initially, Nike had no direct competitors because there was no single brand which could compete directly with Nike's range of sports and non-sports oriented gear until Reebok came along in the 1980s. Reebok now has merchandising contracts with the National Football League and the National Hockey League in the United States, and was purchased in 2006 by Adidas. Nike's other competitor is Puma, the third largest shoe and sports clothing supplier.