was nike once a knockoff leather bag company
Today, let's talk about...
What kind of company is Nike, really?
Let's start with the person who created it.
First, Nike's founder, Phil Knight, is a hopeless running enthusiast who has a habit of jogging every morning. Secondly, born in a small town outside Portland, Knight is relatively introverted. To close a deal, Knight once falsely claimed to be the CEO of a 'Blue Ribbon Company.' To disrupt the market, Knight once 'knocked off' Japanese running shoes and sold them widely in the United States.
All of the above are candidly confessed by Phil Knight in his novel-like autobiography 'Shoe Dog.'
‘Whether you like it or not, life is a competition. Cowards never start, the weak die along the way, only we remain to keep going.’
In Knight's writing, changing the world was not his goal. Starting a business was like running, and this run lasted for more than thirty years. Gradually, he transformed from an unknown small figure into a social celebrity influencing the entire United States and even the world, bearing increasingly heavy responsibilities. During Nike's entrepreneurial marathon, there were many times when they almost suffered heavy blows and couldn't recover. Fortunately, Knight's runner's belief never stopped, and he carved out his own business empire in an era dominated by Puma and Adidas.
‘The 60s were a rebellious era, but I seemed to be the only American who wasn't rebellious.’Phil Knight was already 26 years old when he started his business, yet he was still living in his parents' house, which is rare among Americans.
Perhaps the only thing in the world that Knight was obsessively passionate about was running. His love for running also made him fascinated with Japanese running shoes, Onitsuka Tiger.
This young American began learning shoemaking techniques at Onitsuka Tiger in Japan, aiming to sell Japanese shoes in the United States. So he and his former coach each put in $500 and founded a company called ' Blue Ribbon ' in his parents' garage, which is now known as Nike.
Phil Knight was not satisfied with just selling shoes. His partner, Bowerman, discovered that due to the differences between American and Japanese people, imported Japanese shoes had many issues for Americans. So he made some improvements based on the Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66, adding a cushioned midsole to suit heavier Americans.
After Onitsuka Tiger adopted his design, the shoe was officially released, and it became the famous Onitsuka Tiger Cortez.
Knight certainly wouldn't be satisfied with just selling Onitsuka Tiger shoes, so they started producing almost identical shoes themselves, with a swoosh, which later became the wildly popular‘ Cortez’.
No one could have imagined that forty years later, Knight would fulfill Mr. Onitsuka's dream. Today, his company's market value is close to $100 billion, with annual sales reaching $32 billion, selling about 120 million pairs of shoes a year. On this planet, whether it's a billionaire or a child in a war-torn refugee camp in Africa, they are all wearing Nike sneakers.
Today, we see Nike's success. Their trendy apparel and shoes sell just as well as their sports equipment. In the basketball market, they have pushed Adidas to the edge. Nike's endorsers are all over the NBA: Jordan, Kobe, LeBron, Durant, Irving, Paul George, Chris Paul, Anthony, Griffin, Davis, while Adidas' basketball endorsers only include Harden, Lillard, Rose, and Lin. It's hard to imagine that just a few decades ago, Adidas was the unshakable monopoly in the industry.
‘Life is growth; without growth, there is only death.’Phil Knight's words in the article may be the most important factor hidden in many success stories.
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Interaction Time
Come and tell us, how many pairs of running shoes have you bought?
How many of them are Nike?
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