"I guess we'll go with the Nike thing for now," he said. "I really don't like any of them, but I guess that's the best of the bunch. "

Carolyn Davidson's asking price was $35. After all, it was her first 'contract,' and she really could not expect much more. Knight, on the other hand, expected more; he wanted much more. The CEO of a budding shoe company, Knight wanted a design that conveyed both support and movement. Davidson, however, was the artist, and she knew that both were hard to reconcile because while support was static, movement was not. Finally Davidson came up with a checkmark-type stripe that satisfied Knight. The Swoosh was trademarked, and the company had a symbol, but it still did not have an identity. Like most great creations, the company name was born by the need to fill a deadline. Jeff Johnson, one of Phil Knight's closest men, sat up in the middle of the night, not nine hours before a name was needed to go on a shoe box, and uttered the word, "Nike."2

Nike, Inc. has long been considered the dominant company in the athletic industry. Created by a powerful advertising campaign and some choice endorsers, Nike was able to skyrocket to success over a period of ten to fifteen years. Nonetheless, as is frequently the case, the ride to the top has not been completely smooth, and recent troubles have brought Nike into the spotlight once again. Save its first shoe, a flop that cracked in sub-zero temperatures, the actual goods produced by Nike have never been a significant problem. Rather, Nike' 5 triumphs and falls have continuously rested on its ability to maintain and project a clean yet cutting-edge image. Early on Nike, Inc. realized that key to success was not what was sold rather how it was sold. The people behind Nike have not so much sold a line of shoes, or a line of clothing, as much as they have sold an image. And, in it's success, Nike has been better able to market this image through the use of key celebrities, superior advertising, and creative spin doctoring.

Nike, Inc. went public in 1981, and by the close of the fiscal year, revenues had reached almost $458 million. Sales had jumped 72 percent and profits had doubled to 80 cents a share. In one two-week span in October, Nike's stock rose from 18 3/4 to 27 1/4; Phil Knight made $70 million (on paper, at least).3 Interestingly enough, Nike did not bring out any new or unusual products that same year, 1981. Instead, they continued to churn out updated versions of already established shoes. However, Nike did create a new tradition that year, a tradition that known as "Nike Nite." It was this tradition, and not new shoes, that lead to Nike's economic growth for 1981. Nike Nites were specifically designed to woo the retailer into selling Nike' 5 products. A private hotel banquet room was reserved, thousands of retailers were flown in, and star athletes paraded Nike goods on stage. "You could feel the energy in the room Nike was powerful. Nike was sport. Nike delivered a magic that no one in the industry could touch. Nike Nites were places to be seen, stages on which to hobnob with athletes and celebrities. No company in the industry matched them"4 The energy Nike presented the retailers helped create a sense of superiority which was exactly what Nike was trying to sell the customer. In a sense, Nike was selling the retailers what it wanted the retailers to sell to the customers.

While 1981 spelled success for Nike in America, Europe was quite another story. The same products were being sold in both countries, but for some reason Europeans did not hold the same affinity for Nike products as did Americans. . "Nike' 5 mainstream American sports were of little help. Basketball, football, and baseball were nonexistent. Most Europeans didn't know Moses Malone from Bugsy Malone."5 Because Nike could not sell an image with which Europeans would be able to identify, their products failed to make a dent in foreign markets. This, in turn, was caused by the relative anonymity from which American basketball and football players suffered with respect to Europeans. After all, if the people selling the shoes were not famous, Nike might as well have pulled any Joe off the street to advertise their shoes. These failures in foreign markets serve to magnify the extent to which Nike, Inc. was selling an image more than they were selling a shoe.

Despite the massive problems in Europe, one product did end up selling rather well. "Tennis, the only true international sport, was something Nike was selling because of (John) McEnroe, not because its product was superior."6 Nike was selling the public John McEuroe, the tennis star, and his outlandish personality. The product was no better than any other competitor's shoe, but the image was. Being an international tennis star, McEnroe proves the extent to which celebrity marketing played a huge role in Nike's success. Even in a country where Nike was unknown, one celebrity accounted for the majority of shoes that were sold.

The people who ran Nike had a rather unique business philosophy. Although it was not uncommon for enterprises to build family-type environments, Nike, Inc. took this model to another level. "Nike became the spouse, the lover, the best friend. Employee affairs flowered. Everyone inside was family. Everyone outside was an outsider, including wives, some of whom were sent T-shirts from the home office bearing the headline 'Nike Widow'."7 Such an exclusive attitude served as a another major as to what brought Nike into its first down cycle a couple of years after going public. Following such immediate success, the company made the same mistake with the public that the men had made with their families. In other words, the people of Nike became so involved with themselves that, as they had ignored their families, they started to ignore the public. Losing connection with the outside world caused Nike to produce an image of stagnancy that contributed to a drop in profits between 1982 and 1984. 8

The 1984 Los Angeles' Olympics provided Nike the opportunity to pull itself out of its relatively deep financial hole. Nike signed all the big names of the time: Carl Lewis, Mary Decker, Alberto Salazar, Willie Banks, Joan Benoit, and Henry Marsh to name just a few. Nike also signed the majority of the U.S. track and field team and all of the Chinese track and field team "Nike's Olympic campaign was so strong that a survey showed that 37 percent of Los Angeles residents assumed Nike was the official shoe of the Olympics instead of Converse." 9 Following the Olympics, sales in California increased an astonishing 30 percent.10 It is not a coincidence that around the same number of Californians also happened to believe that Nike was the official shoe of the L.A. Olympics. When Michael Jordan met with Nike in 1984, he was relatively confident with which shoe company he would sign with; and that company wasn't Nike. A self-pro claimed "Adidas nut," Jordan had worn Adidas all through high school and college. In fact, he did not even want to travel to Oregon to bother with Nike' 5 presentation. Nevertheless, flanked by his mother and father, he made the trip to Beaverton for a sales pitch as to why he should become a Nike endorser. When the meeting finally took place, Strasser and Moore could not have done a better job. "We want what is best for you, and we will care and work with you. Trust us with your image. Nobody does it better than us. Isn't our advertising the best? Isn't the Nike name the best?."11 If Jordan was successfully able to create an image of excellence through his basketball talents but, more importantly, his abilities to deal with the public, Nike wanted to be associated with him. Jordan's success, in turn, would translate to booming business for Nike.

In granting Strasser and Moore permission to make such a huge commitment to Jordan ($2.5 million over five years) 12, Knight was buying into a hunch that the superior athlete could produce magical results when given the opportunity. "And the people would come to these heroes and listen to what they had to say, Knight believed, because superior athletic ability speaks to everyone's belief in some primordial capacity for a kind of true greatness that has been obscured over time by expediency and disappointment and the general clutter of contemporary life."13 Coming from a slightly different angle, Knight preferred the more direct approach of elevating an already-superior athlete to the level of an untouchable. In this way, the customer would be persuaded to buy the product that would allow him or her to move one step closer towards penetrating the aura that surrounded Michael Jordan. The idea was conveniently symbolized through the "Air Jordan" campaign. The shoes provided the means for the athlete to fly high, and, perhaps one day, reach that level on which only Michael Jordan played. Thus, Jordan was the middleman who held the key to Nike's success. "Little kids and big ones lined up to get the shoes worn by America's latest hero."14 The public did not line up to buy the shoes made by Nike, but to buy the shoes worn by Michael Jordan. In 1985, alone, Air Jordans sold over 100 million dollars.

One of the greatest characteristics Jordan brought to the table was his loyalty to the Chicago Bulls. As was the case prior to the 'get rich-quick' era of today's sports world, Jordan signed a long-term contract, sacrificing the big money for a guaranteed job. This loyalty created an image of loyalty that Nike wanted the customer to feel towards them. After all, if the customer believed that they were not only buying a product, but also buying into a family, they were much more likely to become repeat customers. Hence, Michael Jordan effectively carried Nike through a prosperous era covering the late 80's and early 90's. Fortunately, for both Jordan and Nike, 'Mike' has been lucky enough not to suffer any career-threatening injuries. Interestingly enough, however, when Jordan broke his foot relatively early in his career, there was a period of two and a half months where Jordan was unable to wow crowds with his fantastic moves. During this time period, Nike' 5 sales for a quarter hit the lowest point they had been since Jordan signed. 15

Through its peak of success in the late 80's to middle 90's, Nike pushed an advertising campaign like no other company in history. Jordan and the other big Nike endorser, Bo Jackson, were plastered everywhere. One could not watch television for more than 15 minutes without seeing an ad featuring either superstar. "The Nike commercial - Jordan Flight" - was replayed often in 1985 as Michael Jordan became ever more famous as Air Jordan. Almost immediately there ensued a nationwide Air Jordan basketball shoe shopping spree replete with long lines, hoarding, sales far above the retail price, secondary street markets, traumatic disappointments over the limited supply, and the general aura of buying panics inspired by impending national disasters or war.,,16 The direct correlation to Jordan's commercials and Nike's increase in sales speaks to the importance of advertising. Nike, Inc. knew that a winter basketball season was not enough to hit the volume of sales they were shooting. Jordan had to be on the consumer's mind every second of every day of every year. Thus, although the image was the main component of Nike's success, the process of pushing that image also played a significant role.

Bo Jackson was the second main figure Nike signed during its rush to dominance. While Jordan symbolized supreme excellence in one sport, Jackson was extremely good at two. In fact when Jackson was first signed by Nike, the people who signed him expected him to play professional football. However, to their dismay, Jackson signed with the Kansas City Royals, a baseball team, and Nike's endorsement money had just gone to a minor league ball player. Nevertheless, in the long run, Jackson's supreme athletic talent took over. He went on to have an excellent career in both football and baseball, and Nike was never far behind. The company manipulated Jackson's athletic talents in the form of one of the more catchy phrases of the 20~ phrase in, "Bo Knows Jackson's commercials centered around his uncanny ability to do many things, but, more importantly, do them well. Thus, while Jordan projected the image of being the best, or the ultimate at what he did, Jackson was an identifier for those who wanted to excel at more than one activity. Furthermore, between Jackson and Jordan, Nike covered the whole year, for football, basketball, and baseball run through the fall, winter, and spring/summer seasons. Thus, Nike was never far from the public's eye.

In recent years, Nike has received some unwanted publicity. From the very beginning of his entrepreneurial success (even prior to Nike), Phil Knight has always used cheap labor found in the Far East. While other shoe manufacturers were paying decent wages for American workers, Knight realized that if he could cut costs with cheap labor he would be able to undersell his competitors.18 However, for most of Nike' 5 strong run, the public was never too concerned with how the shoes were made because they never saw past Nike' 5 gigantic image. But after having pushed the same image, the same celebrities, and the same slogan for over 15 years, the public is no longer as enthralled with Nike as it once was. Also, over the last few years, society has apparently been on a push to correct all that is wrong with the world. For obvious reasons, this does not benefit Nike. "For years, the Nike name conjured up heroic images of Jordan, Agassi and Tiger. The Swoosh made many people feel as if they were winners. That Nike cachet has been clouded by a new image -- of Asian workers in hot, noisy factories, stitching together shoes for as little as 80 cents a day. Suddenly, Nike doesn't seem so cool anymore. The biggest swoosh now is the sound of falling profits."19 Thus, Nike's falling profits are equated with an image of Nike's sweatshops. In the past, when Nike symbolized legacies and heroes, business boomed and all was doing well. Coupling these two ideas together allows further proof of the fact that Nike has been selling an image rather than a product. For most of its existence the company has been able to maintain and control the form they wanted, but even when they lost control, it did not matter, an image was still being sold. But this time, that image lead to a decline in profits because the image held negative connotations.

In the years to come Nike's fate will lie in its ability to once again dig itself out of a hole that its people created. The process of spin doctoring has never been exceedingly difficult for Phil Knight, always confident in his abilities to sway the masses. Some new endorsers, ones that retain the same loyalty showed by Jordan and Jackson early in Nike's business legacy, a change in ad campaigns, and a new image will have Nike seeing green once again. Of the original five founders of Nike, only Knight remains; perhaps the way it should be. The shoe will not be revolutionized over the next few years, but the image will be, if Nike is to once again reach its peak. It is very doubtful Knight will ever make a conscious effort to change labor conditions in the Far East. He will, however, convince the public of Nike' 5 vows to move away from sweatshops. Whether reality and image coincide is to be determined by the future.