Type Public 

(NYSE: NKE)

Industry Clothing and consumer goodsmanufacture

Founded January 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports

1978 as Nike, Inc.[1]

Founder(s) William J. "Bill" Bowerman

Philip H. Knight

Headquarters Washington County, Oregon,United States

(Near Beaverton, Oregon)

Area served Worldwide

Key people Philip H. Knight

(Chairman)
Mark Parker
(CEO & President)

Products Athletic shoes

Apparel
Sports equipment
Accessories

Revenue  US$19.2 billion (FY 2009)[2]

Operating income  US$1.87 billion (FY 2009)[2]

Net income  US$1.49 billion (FY 2009)[2]

 Total assets  US$13.2 billion (FY 2009)[3]

Total equity  US$8.69 billion (FY 2009)[3]

Employees 30,200 (2008)

Website www.nike.com

Nike, Inc. (pronounced /ˈnaɪkiː/) (NYSE: NKE) is a major publicly traded sportswear and

equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered
near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area. It is the world's leading
supplier ofathletic shoes and apparel[4] and a major manufacturer of sports equipment with
revenue in excess of US$18.6 billion in its fiscal year 2008 (ending May 31, 2008). As of 2008, it
employed more than 30,000 people worldwide. Nike and Precision Castparts are the
only Fortune 500companies headquartered in the state of Oregon, according to The Oregonian.

The company was founded in January 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports by Bill

Bowerman and Philip Knight,[1] and officially became Nike, Inc. in 1978. The company takes its
name from Nike (Greek Νίκη pronounced [níːkɛː]), the Greek goddess of victory. Nike markets
its products under its own brand as well as Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike+, Air Jordan, Nike
Skateboarding and subsidiaries including Cole Haan, Hurley
International, Umbro and Converse. Nike also owned Bauer Hockey (later renamed Nike Bauer)
between 1995 and 2008.[5] In addition to manufacturing sportswear and equipment, the
company operates retail stores under the Niketown name. Nike sponsors many high profile
athletes and sports teams around the world, with the highly recognized trademarks of "Just do
it" and the Swoosh logo.
Origins and history
Nike, originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports, was founded by University of Oregon track
athlete Philip Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman in January 1964. The company initially
operated as a distributor for Japanese shoe maker Onitsuka Tiger (now ASICS), making most
sales at track meets out of Knight's automobile.[6]

The company's profits grew quickly, and in 1966, BRS opened its first retail store, located on
Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica, California. By 1971, the relationship between BRS and
Onitsuka Tiger was nearing an end. BRS prepared to launch its own line of footwear, which
would bear the newly designed Swoosh by Carolyn Davidson.[7] The Swoosh was first used by
Nike in June 1971, and was registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on January
22, 1974.[8]

The first shoe sold to the public to carry this design was a soccer shoe named Nike, which was
released in the summer of 1971. In February 1972, BRS introduced its first line of Nike shoes,
with the name Nike derived from the Greek goddess of victory. In 1978, BRS, Inc. officially
renamed itself to Nike, Inc.. Beginning with Ilie Năstase, the first professional athlete to sign with
BRS/Nike, the sponsorship of athletes became a key marketing tool for the rapidly growing
company.

The company's first self-designed product was based on Bowerman's "waffle" design. After the
University of Oregon resurfaced the track at Hayward Field, Bowerman began experimenting
with different potential outsoles that would grip the new urethane track more effectively. His
efforts were rewarded one Sunday morning when he poured liquid urethane into his wife's
waffle iron. Bowerman developed and refined the so-called 'waffle' sole which would evolve into
the now-iconic Waffle Trainer in 1974.

By 1980, Nike had reached a 50% market share in the U.S. athletic shoe market, and the
company went public in December of that year.[9] Its growth was due largely to 'word-of-foot'
advertising (to quote a Nike print ad from the late 1970s), rather than television ads. Nike's first
national television commercials ran in October 1982 during the broadcast of the New York
Marathon. The ads were created by Portland-based advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy,
which had formed several months earlier in April 1982.

Together, Nike and Wieden+Kennedy have created many print and television advertisements
and the agency continues to be Nike's primary today. It was agency co-founder Dan
Wiedenwho coined the now-famous slogan "Just Do It" for a 1988 Nike ad campaign, which was
chosen by Advertising Age as one of the top five ad slogans of the 20th century, and the
campaign has been enshrined in the Smithsonian Institution.[9] San Franciscan Walt Stack was
featured in Nike's first "Just Do It" advertisement that debuted on July 1, 1988.[10] Wieden credits
the inspiration for the slogan to "Let’s do it", the last words spoken by Gary Gilmore before he
was executed.[11]

Throughout the 1980s, Nike expanded its product line to include many other sports and regions
throughout the world.[12]

Acquisitions
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 As of November 2008, Nike, Inc. owns four key subsidiaries: Cole Haan, Hurley

International, Converse Inc. and Umbro.
 Nike's first acquisition was the upscale footwear company Cole Haan in 1988.
 In February 2002, Nike bought surf apparel company Hurley International from founder
Bob Hurley.[13]
 In July 2003, Nike paid US$305 million to acquire Converse Inc., makers of the iconic
Chuck Taylor All Stars.[14]
 On March 3, 2008, Nike acquired sports apparel supplier Umbro, known as the
manufacturers of the England national football team's kits, in a deal said to be
worth £285 million(about US$600 million).[15]
 Other subsidiaries previously owned and subsequently sold by Nike include Bauer
Hockey and Starter.[16]
Products

A Nike brand athletic shoe

A pair of Nike Air Jordan I basketball shoes

Nike produces a wide range of sports equipment. Their first products were track running shoes.
They currently also make shoes, jerseys, shorts, baselayers etc. for a wide range of sports
including track and field, baseball, ice hockey, tennis, association
football (soccer), lacrosse,basketball and cricket. Nike Air Max is a line of shoes first released
by Nike, Inc. in 1987. 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'.[17] In 2008, Nike
introduced the Air Jordan XX3, a high-performance basketball shoe designed with the
environment in mind.

Nike sells an assortment of products, including shoes and apparel for sports activities

like association football,[18] basketball, running, combat sports, tennis, American
football, athletics, golf and cross training for men, women, and children. Nike also sells shoes
for outdoor activities such as tennis, golf, skateboarding, association
football, baseball, American football, cycling, volleyball, wrestling, cheerleading, aquatic
activities, auto racing and other athletic and recreational uses. Nike is well known and popular
in youth culture, chav culture and hip hop cultureas they supply urban fashion clothing. Nike
recently teamed up with Apple Inc. to produce the Nike+ product which monitors a runner's
performance via a radio device in the shoe which links to the iPod nano. While the product
generates useful statistics, it has been criticized by researchers who were able to identify
users' RFID devices from 60 feet (18 m) away using small, concealable intelligence motes in
a wireless sensor network.[19][20]

In 2004, they launched the SPARQ Training Program/Division.[citation needed]

Some of Nike's newest shoes contain Flywire and Lunarlite Foam. These are materials used to
reduce the weight of many types of shoes.[21]
The 2010 Nike Pro Combat jersey collection will be worn by Miami, Alabama, Boise State,
Florida, Ohio State, Oregon State, TCU, Virginia Tech, West Virginia and Pittsburgh. Teams will
wear these jerseys in key match ups as well as any time the athletic department deems
necessary.[22]

Headquarters
Nike's world headquarters are surrounded by the city of Beaverton, but are
within unincorporated Washington County. The city attempted to forcibly annex Nike's
headquarters, which led to a lawsuit by Nike, and lobbying by the company that ultimately
ended in Oregon Senate Bill 887 of 2005. Under that bill's terms, Beaverton is specifically
barred from forcibly annexing the land that Nike and Columbia Sportswear occupy in
unincorporated Washington County for 35 years, while Electro Scientific
Industries and Tektronix get that same protection for 30 years.[23]

Manufacturing
Nike has contracted with more than 700 shops around the world and has offices located in 45
countries outside the United States.[24] Most of the factories are located in Asia, including
Indonesia, China, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Philippines, and Malaysia.[25] Nike
is hesitant to disclose information about the contract companies it works with. However, due to
harsh criticism from some organizations like CorpWatch, Nike has disclosed information about
its contract factories in its Corporate Governance Report.

Human rights concerns

Nike has been criticized for contracting with factories in countries such as
China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Mexico. Vietnam Labour Watch, an activist group, has
documented that factories contracted by Nike have violated minimum wage and overtime laws
in Vietnam as late as 1996, although Nike claims that this practice has been halted.[26] The
company has been subject to much critical coverage of the often poor working conditions
and exploitation of 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.

Nike has been criticized about ads which referred to empowering women in the U.S. while
engaging in practices in East Asian factories which some[who?] felt disempowered women.[27]

During the 1990s, Nike faced criticism for use of child labor in Cambodia and Pakistan in
factories it contracted to manufacture soccer balls. Although Nike took action to curb or at least
reduce the practice of child labor, they continue to contract their production to companies that
operate in areas where inadequate regulation and monitoring make it hard to ensure that child
labor is not being used.[28]

In 2001 a BBC documentary uncovered occurrences of child labor and poor working conditions
in a Cambodian factory used by Nike.[29] In the documentary, six girls were focused on, all of
whom worked seven days a week, often 16 hours a day.

Campaigns have been taken up by many colleges and universities, especially anti-

globalisation groups as well as several anti-sweatshop groups such as the United Students
Against Sweatshops.[30] Despite these campaigns, however, Nike's annual revenues have
increased from US$6.4 billion in 1996 to nearly US$17 billion in 2007, according to the
company's annual reports.

A July 2008 investigation by Australian Channel 7 News found a large number of cases
involving forced labour in one of the biggest Nike apparel factories. The factory located in
Malaysia was filmed by an undercover crew who found instances of squalid living conditions
and forced labour. Nike have since stated that they will take corrective action to ensure the
continued abuse does not occur.[31]

Nike also caused controversy during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, when their sponsored
Chinese athlete, Liu Xiang, withdrew from the Olympic 110 metre hurdles, leaving the track after
a false start by another competitor. Lui claimed that he withdrew due an ankle injury.
[32]
 However, an anonymous message was posted on the internet, purportedly from a source
close to Nike, claiming that the corporation had forced Liu to withdraw as he was unlikely to win,
thereby tarnishing their image. Nike responded by announcing that "we have immediately asked
relevant [Chinese] government departments to investigate those that started the rumour".[33]

Environmental record
The consistently growing textile industry often negatively impacts the environment. Because
Nike is a large participant in this manufacturing, many of their processes negatively contribute to
the environment. One way the expanding textile industry affects the environment is by
increasing its water deficit, climate change, pollution, and fossil fuel and raw material
consumption. In addition to this, today's electronic textile plants spend significant amounts of
energy, while also producing a throw-away mindset due to trends founded upon fast fashion and
cheap clothing.[34]

Although these combined effects can negatively alter the environment, Nike tries to counteract
their influence with different projects. According to a New England-based environmental
organisation Clean Air-Cool Planet, Nike ranks among the top 3 companies (out of 56) on a
survey conducted about climate-friendly companies.[35] Nike has also been praised for itsNike
Grind program (which closes the product lifecycle) by groups like Climate Counts.[36] In addition
to this, one campaign that Nike began for Earth Day 2008 was a commercial that featured Steve
Nash wearing Nike's Trash Talk Shoe, a shoe that had been constructed in February 2008 from
pieces of leather and synthetic leather waste that derived from the factory floor. The Trash Talk
Shoe also featured a sole composed of ground-up rubber from a shoe recycling program. Nike
claims this is the first performance basketball shoe that has been created from manufacturing
waste, but it only produced 5,000 pairs for sale.[37]

Another project Nike has begun is called Nike's Reuse-A-Shoe program. This program, started
in 1993, is Nike's longest-running program that benefits both the environment and the
community by collecting old athletic shoes of any type in order to process and recycle them. The
material that is created from the recycled shoes is then used to help create sports surfaces,
such as basketball courts, running tracks, and playgrounds.[38]

A project through UNC found worker exposure to toxic isocyanates and other chemicals in

footwear factories in Thailand. In addition to inhalation, dermal exposure was the biggest
problem found. This could result in allergic reactions including asthmatic reactions.[39][40]

Marketing strategy
This section needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may
be challenged and removed. (July 2007)

Nike's marketing strategy is an important component of the company's success. Nike is

positioned as a premium-brand, selling well-designed and expensive products. Nike lures
customers with a marketing strategy centering around a brand image which is attained by
distinctive logo and the advertising slogan: "Just do it".[41] Nike promotes its products
bysponsorship agreements with celebrity athletes, professional teams and college athletic
teams. However, Nike's marketing mix contains many elements besides promotion. These are
summarised below.

Advertising
In 1982, Nike aired its first national television ads, created by newly formed ad
agency Wieden+Kennedy, during the New York Marathon. This was the beginning of a
successful partnership between Nike and W+K that remains intact today. The Cannes
Advertising Festival has named Nike its Advertiser of the Year on two separate occasions, the
first and only company to receive that honor twice (1994, 2003).[42]
Nike also has earned the Emmy Award for best commercial twice since the award was first
created in the 1990s. The first was for "The Morning After," a satirical look at what a runner
might face on the morning of January 1, 2000 if every dire prediction about Y2K came to fruition.
[43]
 The second Emmy for advertising earned by Nike was for a 2002 spot called "Move," which
featured a series of famous and everyday athletes in a stream of athletic pursuits.[44]

In addition to garnering awards, Nike advertising has generated its fair share of controversy:
Beatles song
Nike was the focus of criticism for its use of the Beatles song "Revolution" in a
1987 commercial, against the wishes of Apple Records, the Beatles' recording company. Nike
paid US$250,000 to Capitol Records Inc., which held the North American licensing rights to the
Beatles' recordings, for the right to use the Beatles' rendition for a year.

Apple sued Nike Inc., Capitol Records Inc., EMI Records Inc. and Wieden+Kennedy advertising

agency for $15 million.[45] Capitol-EMI countered by saying the lawsuit was 'groundless' because
Capitol had licensed the use of "Revolution" with the "active support and encouragement
of Yoko Ono Lennon, a shareholder and director of Apple."

According to a November 9, 1989 article in the Los Angeles Daily News, "a tangle of lawsuits
between the Beatles and their American and British record companies has been settled." One
condition of the out-of-court settlement was that terms of the agreement would be kept secret.
The settlement was reached among the three parties involved: George Harrison, Paul
McCartney, Ringo Starr; Yoko Ono; and Apple, EMI and Capitol Records. A spokesman for
Yoko Ono noted, "It's such a confusing myriad of issues that even people who have been close
to the principals have a difficult time grasping it. Attorneys on both sides of the Atlantic have
probably put their children through college on this."

Nike discontinued airing ads featuring "Revolution" in March 1988. Yoko Ono later gave
permission to Nike to use John Lennon's "Instant Karma" in another advertisement.
Minor Threat advertisement
In late June 2005, Nike received criticism from Ian MacKaye, owner of Dischord Records,
guitarist/vocalist for Fugazi & The Evens, and front-man of defunct punk band Minor Threat, for
appropriating imagery and text from Minor Threat's 1981 self-titled album's cover art in a flyer
promoting Nike Skateboarding's 2005 East Coast demo tour.
On June 27, Nike Skateboarding's website issued an apology to Dischord, Minor Threat, and
fans of both and announced that they tried to remove and dispose of all flyers. They state that
the people who designed it were skateboarders and Minor Threat fans themselves who created
the advertisement out of respect and appreciation for the band.[46] The dispute was eventually
settled out of court between Nike & Minor Threat. The exact details of the settlement have never
been disclosed.
Chinese-themed advertisement
In 2004, an ad about LeBron James beating cartoon martial arts masters and slaying a Chinese
dragon in martial arts offended Chinese authorities, who called the ad blasphemous and
insulting to national dignity and the dragon. The advertisement was later banned in China. In
early 2007 the ad was reinstated in China for unknown reasons.[47]

Sponsorship

Niketown at Oxford Street, London

Main article: Nike sponsorships

Nike pays top athletes in many different sports to use their products and promote/advertise their
technology and design.

Nike's first professional athlete endorser was Romanian tennis player Ilie Năstase, and the
company's first track endorser was distance running legend Steve Prefontaine. Prefontaine was
the prized pupil of the company's co-founder Bill Bowerman while he coached at the University
of Oregon. Today, the Steve Prefontaine Building is named in his honor at Nike's corporate
headquarters.

Besides Prefontaine, Nike has sponsored many other successful track & field athletes over the
years such as Carl Lewis, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Sebastian Coe. However, it was the
signing of basketball player Michael Jordan in 1984, with his subsequent promotion of Nike over
the course of his storied career with Spike Lee as Mars Blackmon, that proved to be one of the
biggest boosts to Nike's publicity and sales.

During the past 20 years especially, Nike has been one of the major clothing/footwear sponsors
for leading tennis players. Some of the more successful tennis players currently or formerly
sponsored by Nike include: James Blake, Jim Courier, Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewitt, Juan
Martín del Potro, Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal,Pete Sampras, Marion Bartoli, Lindsay
Davenport, Daniela Hantuchová, Mary Pierce, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams.

Rafael Nadal is currently sponsored by Nike, Inc. (Note the swoosh under the player's head)

Nike is also the official kit sponsor for the Indian cricket team for 5 years, from 2006 till end of
2010. Nike beat Adidas and Puma by bidding highest (US$43 Million total).

Nike also sponsors some of the leading clubs in world football, such as the Brazil National
Team, Portugal National Team, Netherlands National Team, US National Team, Malaysia
National Team, Manchester United, Arsenal, FC Barcelona, Inter
Milan, Juventus, Shakhtar, Dnipro, Porto, Steaua, Red Star,Boca Juniors, Corinthians, Club
América, Aston Villa, Celtic, Águila and PSV Eindhoven. Nike will also sponsor Dundee
United from summer 2009.

Nike sponsors several of the world's top golf players, including Tiger Woods, Trevor

Immelman and Paul Casey.

Nike also sponsors various minor events including Hoop It Up (high school basketball) and The
Golden West Invitational (high school track and field). Nike uses web sites as a promotional tool
to cover these events. Nike also has several websites for individual sports, including
nikebasketball.com, nikefootball.com, and nikerunning.com.