Nike doesn’t actually produce the items it sells. And Nike’s product subdivides into six categories: Running, Basketball, Jordan Brand, Soccer, Training, and Sportswear (lifestyle products), being Running, Jordan, and Sportswear are the strongest ones in revenue. The company targets men, women, young athletes, and kids - in order of revenue. Nike also sells sports equipment and accessories, such as balls, eyewear, bags, gloves, digital devices, and more, as well as recreational articles for many physical and outdoor activities. Although its footwear items are designed especially for athletic purposes, with massive investment in innovation and high-quality products, most of them are usually worn on a daily basis, for leisure times. Nike is the largest footwear and apparel seller in the world, and its revenue is generated mainly from these sales. Nowadays, it dominates the global sports market, with an impressive 38% of the market share. Some of its main achievements include Michael Jordan’s signature footwear, the Air Jordan (1984), as well as renowned marketing campaign slogans, such as “There is no finish line” (1977) and “Just do it” (1988). The company was relabeled as Nike, and the worldwide-famous swoosh design was first used in 1971.Īfter that, Nike thoroughly conquered the sneakers market of sports footwear. In the ’70s, the partnership between Blue Ribbon Sports and Onitsuka collapsed, so Knight decided it was time for its own line of footwear.
So, Knight decided to introduce cheap, but high-quality running shoes, and he achieved it through a partnership with Onitsuka Tiger (now known as Asics), a Japanese running shoes company, as its U.S. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, Nike is one of the most well-succeeded sports brands globally, manufacturing shoes and sportswear, but the story behind its foundation is that, before that, Adidas and Puma - both of them German brands - completely dominated the sneakers market, in every single sport.
The company was officially rebranded as Nike in May 1971, which is the Goddess of Victory in Greek mythology. Nike was first founded as “Blue Ribbon Sports” in January 1964 by Phil Knight, a student at the University of Oregon and track athlete, along with his coach Bill Bowerman.