Nike Inc.
Nike, Inc. (NKE - NYSE) started with sports shoes and now produces equipment for almost every imaginable sport, as well as a range of clothing, school supplies, and other products.
The company took its name from the Greek goddess of victory, Nike. The popular so called Swoosh logo is a graphic design created by Carolyn Davidson in 1971 for $35. The logo represents the wing of the Greek Goddess.
Nike is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon.
History
- 1962 Bill Bowerman, a track coach at University of Oregon, and Phil Knight, an accounting student and middle-distance runner had the dream of bringing low-priced, high-tech athletic shoes from Japan to the U.S. At the time German shoes dominated the industry. That year, after entering business together, shoes from Onitsuka Tiger were sold in the U.S. by Blue Ribbon Sports (BRS).
- 1965 Jeff Johnson, a former rival on the track of Knight's, joined as the company's first full time salesman. He was busy selling shoes out of the back of his van to High Schoolers at track meets. Then in 1966, at 3107 Pico Blvd., in Santa Monica, California, Johnson opened the company's first retail outlet.
Bowerman's desire to improve on Tiger's designs, and Knight's drive to drive to do more landed them with a new direction. Johnson gave this new company the name Nike and Bowerman gave them new designs. Within thirty years time Nike is a leader the sports and fitness industry.
- 1971 the Nike Swoosh design was created by a graphic design student Carolyn Davidson. At the time she was paid the sum of $35. She worked for Nike for a few years until they needed a full ad agency.
- 1978 Nike's Air technology is introduced in the Tailwind running shoe. Gas-filed plastic membranes are inserted into the sole of running shoes to provide cushioning.
- 1983 Carolyn Davidson received a gold Swoosh ring with an embedded diamond at a luncheon in her honor as recognition for her design of the Swoosh logo. She also received a certificate and an undisclosed amount of Nike stock.
- 1984 Nike signs Michael Jordan to an endorsement contract and releases the first model of his signature shoe, the Air Jordan, which was the key successful event of nike today.
- 1987 The Air Max shoe is introduced, which uses a much larger Air cushioning unit, and for the first time is visible at the side of the midsole. This was the first of many generations of Air Max-branded technologies.
- Late 1980s Nike's "Just Do It" slogan and trademark Swoosh achieves unmatched branding thanks to the help of professional athlete endorsements.
- 2001 Introduction of the Shox athletic shoe technology.
Criticism
Nike is criticised for using sweat shops in countries like Indonesia and Mexico. The company has been subject to much critical coverage of the often poor working conditions and the exploitativeness of the cheap overseas labor employed in the free trade zones where their goods are typically manufactured. Sources of this criticism include Naomi Klein's book No Logo and Michael Moore's documentaries.
The company also faced criticism when it claimed immunity from a false advertising lawsuit filed by Marc Kasky in California based on the claim that it enjoyed First Amendment rights, as if the corporation were a human being. The dispute proceeded all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court , but was sent back to California courts without a substantive ruling and subsequently was settled out of court.
