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The History of Nike

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The History of Nike
Marketing 301
Marketing Audit
Prof Sriram
December 4, 2012
Tyeisha Bydume
Jonae Mayfield
Jamillah Quinn

The ambition for a perfect running shoe turned into a billion dollar company. Nike was founded in 1970 is today’s top shoe company. Nike serves people of all ages regardless of gender; they can service all your needs. From shoes, to clothes, to accessories, Nike has been an innovator in the global shoes business. This is why it is the leading brand in the shoe business over Adidas and Reebok.
Bill Bowerman, a University of Oregon field coach, and Phil Knight, a middle-distance runner from Portland who attended Oregon in 1955, were the visionaries behind Nike. Bowerman and Knight both had, what they thought, great ideas for running shoes. After failed attempts to bring Bowermans ideas to footwear manufacturers, Bowerman partnered up with Knight to form Blue Ribbon Sports in January of 1964.
Phil Knight persuaded the manufacturer of Tiger shoes to make Knight a distributor of Tiger running shoes. Knight sold the shoes out of the trunk of his green Plymouth Valiant, while Bowerman began ripping apart Tiger shoes to see how he could make them lighter and better, and enlisted his University of Oregon runners to wear-test his creations. In essence, the foundation for what would become Nike had been established (Nike).
Bowerman and Knight both had full time jobs and needed someone to manage Blue Ribbon Sports. Jeff Johnson, who was a runner himself, became the first full time employee of the sports store and the utility man for the start-up company. He created the first product brochures, print ads and marketing materials, and even shot the photographs for the company’s catalogues. Johnson established a mail-order system, opened the first BRS retail store (located in Santa Monica, Calif.) and managed shipping/receiving. He also designed several early Nike shoes, and even conjured up the name Nike in 1971 (Nike). The name Nike was chosen in reference to



Cited: MARKETING AUDIT: Due December 4, 2012 in class The purpose of this project is to critically evaluate the marketing strategy of a specific company/product Grewal, Dhruv and Michael Levy. "Marketing." Grewal, Dhruv and Michael Levy. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2011. 382.

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