Nike Logo History Review, part 2
Jeff Johnson was a sportsman too, that is why it was he who understood that to sell sports shoes at a profit one needs to take a highly individual approach to every customer. He databased all professional sportsmen and then called them to ask what sports shoes brands they preferred most of all and what were the drawbacks of these sports shoes if there were any.
He also inquired after sportsmen’s preferences in sports shoes and in the majority of cases offered them to try on Blue Ribbon sports shoes. Soon the company succeeded to set up its first store in Santa Monica, a city in California. In the year 1968 Blue Ribbon Sports brand released sneakers with nylon upper and one year later Blue Ribbon Sports company was gaining 1 million dollars’ profit worth the product per annum.
In the early 1970s Onitsuka company’s head informed Blue Ribbon Sports company that he wanted to do a share buyback. Blue Ribbon Sports company was faced with the difficult choice: to agree to the buyback or to find itself in deep water due to the appreciation of Onitsuka sneakers that were used by Bowerman as a material for Blue Ribbon sports shoes.
The entrepreneurs decided to borrow a pretty huge sum of money to set up their own works. To manufacture the sports shoes the future Nike company needed a logo. It was designed by Caroline Davidson for an absurd fee of 35 dollars who was at that time a student at the University of Portland. Nowadays Nike brand’s logo is still the same. It symbolizes the wing of Nika – the Greek goddess that Jeff Johnson dreamed about at the beginning of his career. The logo was named Swoosh.
Phil Knight is said to have given Caroline Davidson a golden ring with an engraved Swoosh logo as a keepsake in return for what she had done. In addition, Caroline Davidson received Nike company’s shares. That is how Nike logo was devised.
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Nike Logo History Review, part 1
Nike brand history is inseparably connected with Phil Knight, a middle-distance runner in the team of the University of Oregon, and his coach Bill Bowerman. In 1940s US made sports shoes cost as little as 5 dollars, but the quality of these shoes was lacking. Bill Bowerman understood that no good sports results could be achieved with an outfit of poor quality on, but shoes of high quality of German made cost six times as much.
It was then that the coach decided to design sneakers and Phil Knight was one of those who at first hand tested the quality of the sports shoes. At that time he was studying at Stanford University to receive his MBA. Once he was assigned a task to work out an effective marketing strategy, as well as to outline a marketing plan. It was then that a new idea of establishing sports shoes manufacturing company occurred to him.
In the year 1963 Phil Knight went to Japan to conclude the contract with Onitsuka factory for the sales of high-quality Tigers sneakers in the USA. Phil Knight is said to come up with the idea to give his company Blue Ribbon Sports name right during the negotiations with the Japanese when he introduced himself as a representative of an American Blue Ribbon Sports sneakers distributor who was interested in marketing Japanese sports shoes in the USA.
Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman managed to buy only 300 pairs of Japanese sneakers. Some of them they simply took to pieces to improve their design. One year later having sold a lot of sneakers, the company Blue Ribbon Sports got 8,000 dollars’ worth of the product and placed an order with Onitsuka factory for a new lot of goods again.
Later on the company took Jeff Johnson as a sales manager on. It was he who came up with the idea to rename the company Nike, having had a dream about Nika, a Greek goddess of victory. Moreover, Jeff Johnson was the first who laid down the foundations of CRM system of the company. To be continued…
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Find deals for Nike shoes on Amazon.com |
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Discover bargains for Nike shoes on eBay.com |
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Compare prices for Nike shoes on Shopping.com |
