He was going to school for his MBA at Stanford in the early '60s, Knight took a class with Frank Shallenberger. He was assigned a semester-long project that was to devise a small business, including a marketing plan. Synthesizing Bowerman's attention to quality running shoes and the burgeoning opinion that high-quality/low cost products could be produced in Japan and shipped to the U.S. for distribution, Knight found his market niche. Shallenberger thought the idea was interesting, but certainly no business jackpot. Nothing more became of Knight's project but that’s where he got the idea for his company from.
He had met Phil Knight at Stanford and soon became an invaluable asset to the new company. Johnson created the first marketing material, print ads and brochures, established a mail order system, opened the first retail store, shot the photos for the first catalog, designed many of the early Nike shoes, and managed all shipping and receiving orders. The “Swoosh” logo was created by Carolyn Davidson, a graphic design student from Portland State University. The “Swoosh” was debuted in 1972 on the footwear designed for the U.S. Track and Field Trials (Nike, n.d.). Target Market Nike was created for athletes originally, particularly for runners.
This paper will also determine the various roles that host governments have played as well as summarize the strategic and operational challenges that face global management for the Nike Corporation. Bill Bowerman, a track and field coach at the University of Oregon, and Phil Knight, a talented middle-distance runner from Portland, “shook hands to form Blue Ribbon Sports, pledged $500 each, and placed their first order of 300 pairs of shoes in January 1964” (Nikebiz, para. 1). In 1965, they hired their first employee, Jeff Johnson, to manage the growing requirements. In 1971, he conjured up the name Nike.
The video introduces us to the Air Jordan 4, 5, and 6. These are the sneakers he scored his most points in. Q-Tip talks about how the Jordan 5 was the first Nike shoes with a clear gel soul. They were design for better grip on the hardwood. The Jordan 6 were the first shoes he wore in his first Olympics, the video then shows clips of Jordan playing in Barcelona with a new color-way of the shoes.
He would start an organization that would provide a pair of shoes for a child in need for every pair of shoes purchased. Finally, a few Los Angeles boutiques agreed to sell the shoes. Mycoskie’s idea was picked up by the Los Angeles Times, which ran an article on his business idea. To his surprise, that weekend garnered him $88,000 in orders. Two years after officially establishing TOMS Shoes, the business had $9.6 million in revenue.
Within the first year of operation, Sundback's zipper-making machinery was producing a few hundred feet of fastener per day. The popular 'zipper' name came from B. F. Goodrich Company president Bertram G. Wrok, when they decided to use Gideon's fastener on his "Mystic Boot", which were rubber boots or galoshes, and called it the Zipper Boot. Boots and tobacco pouches with a zippered closure were the
The company developed and refined innovative soles based on Bill Bowerman’s “waffle sole” idea, which would grip different racing tracks more efficiently, resulting in the company reaching 50% market share in the U.S. athletic shoe market by 1980. Today, the company operates in more than 180 countries all over the world and enjoys worldwide sales of $20.8bn, a net income of approximately
This broke down walls as the first sneaker bearing a player’s name.” (Osei-Dwunmoh) Nowadays athletes get more than just their names on sneakers and fan apparel. Athletes today receive enormous endorsement deals for signing with a company. Tiger Woods signed a five-year deal with Nike for $100 million in 2000. When LeBron James entered the league straight from high school he signed a $90 million sponsorship contract with Nike. In all case the athlete earns more from endorsements than in salary.
Seiko lunched their first T.V. commercial in Japan in 1953 and from there the company grew commercializing quartz clocks for broadcasting Seikos signature piece the Grand Seiko and the first portable quarts, chronometer, the QC – 951. In years to come the Seiko Corporation would take the watch industry by storm. In 1964 they provided the 18th Tokyo Olympic Games with 1,278 stopwatches and served as the official timer. They also provided stopwatches over the years in the winter Olympic Games as well as the IAAF World Championships.
By 1938, the company had manufactured their first running shoes. Since then New Balance has been responsible for many innovations in shoe design and have become one of the top selling athletic shoe brands in the United States. (New Balance.Com) Current chair Jim Davis purchased the company in 1972 and has more than tripled the company’s shoe sales and workforce. He has focused New Balance’s strategy on issues such as, local production, environmental sustainability, and producing high quality athletic shoes and athletic apparel. Under his leadership, New Balance has prospered even in the