SPORTS EQUIPMENT

Nike produces a wide range of sports equipment. Their first products were track running shoes.

They currently also make shoes, jerseys, shorts, cleats,[45] baselayers, etc. for a wide range of

sports, including track and field, baseball, ice hockey, tennis, association football (soccer), la-

crosse, basketball, and cricket. Nike Air Max is a line of shoes first released by Nike, Inc. in 1987.

Additional product lines were introduced later, such as Air Huarache, which debuted in 1992.

The most recent additions to their line are the Nike 6.0, Nike NYX, and Nike SB shoes, designed

for skateboarding. Nike has recently introduced cricket shoes called Air Zoom Yorker, designed

to be 30% lighter than their competitors’.[46] In 2008, Nike introduced the Air Jordan XX3, a

high-performance basketball shoe designed with the environment in mind.

As of 2020, Nike’s net worth is valued at about $34.8 billion. Its 2020 global brand value

is a $2 billion increase from its worth in 2019.

The ubiquitous sports company recorded its most profit from footwear sales in 2020.

Footwear sales accounted for $24 billion of its 2020 revenue. Non-US sales accounted for

about 59% of Nike’s sales as of 2019, a 1% increase from sales in 2018, despite the heavy

focus on the US market.

Nike spent $3.75 billion in marketing and advertising in 2019 alone to improve visibility

and reach.

Nike Inc. is making running shoes that will provide users with instant information on time, distance, speed and calorific burn rates. To achieve this, Apple computers Inc. is providing a tiny i Pod, and there will be a new wireless system named Nike + i Pod that gets data from a sensor in the insole of the shoes.

This major innovation leapfrogs the ‘Smart Shoes’ concept of Nike’s rival Adidas-Salamon AG, which has developed a product containing a chip-based device that adjusts foot cushioning to a person’s needs – cushion response shoes. Indeed, at the launch of the Nike/Apple product in May 2006 (with Steve Jobs also present), Nike CEO Mike Parker went as far as to say that “We realized making a smart shoe wasn’t really smart enough” Also launched at the same time was a range of performance clothing that holds i Pods, keeping wires out of sight.

Behind every good co-branding activity is a healthy dose of consumer insight. Nike’s VP of global brand management Trevor Edwards said, “we share the same types of consumers……….and know that these two brands work really well together”.

Both Nike and Apple retail outlets will sell the new shoe product technology, but Nike will also sell i Pod nano products and Apple will offer a Nike Sport music section on its i Tunes music store, featuring lists of songs chosen by well-known athletes.

All in all, it looks a brilliant idea and a win-win situation for both companies and this is the value

of strong, well-thought through co-branded partnerships.