Ever heard of Nike? Who has not?
You may be surprised to know that one of the world’s dominant footwear, sports equipment and apparel brands was aptly named after the Greek goddess of victory–and that the inspiration for the name struck during a dream.
It began in 1964 with an informal agreement and a handshake between the University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, a middle distance runner. Pair formation of Blue Ribbon Sports and began importing Japanese brand Onitsuka Tiger spikes, today known as ASICS, for sale in the United States
1967, Knight and Bowerman made handshake addressed formal and built-in BRS Inc. Jeff Johnson signed the 1965 in the company’s first full-time sellers and the following year opened Blue Ribbon sports, the first point of sale. 1971, Johnson contributed incalculable company: one night, he dreamed of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, and proposed the name to their managers. The company uses the moniker for his first footwear product use mark “Swoosh”–Football Cleat is called Nike, whose name hitting Knights proposal that they call it the dimension of 6.
Swoosh brand was created by a graphic design student from Portland University named Carolyn Davidson. She received $ 35 for their creation.
Looking to expand the line began to experiment with the concept of Bowerman athletic shoes with rubber spikes. By streams into a liquid rubber compound with his wife, Waffle makers, Bowerman created an innovative running shoe sole. The company unveiled the Nike “Moon shoes” with waffle heavy for athletes competing in U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, ore., 1972. A result of shoes, many waffle outsole, followed. Some of the most famous is the waffle Racer, Air Force One, Air Max 97.
When tee with a grammatical “nike” script logo of Davidson hit stores this year, people unfamiliar with the name asked, “who is Mike?” when they spotted on shirts.
A growing number of elite athletes competed in the Nike shoes. Runner Mark Covert was the first athlete to wear Nike shoes over the finish line. Nike shoes got their first endorsement of a professional athlete in Romanian tennis personality Ilie Nastase signed on wear Nike Court.
1977 Ran earlier flight and engineer Frank Rudy together with Nike to create the first Air-Sole unit–durable bags filled with pressurised gas compressed impact, then back. The result was Nike Air cushioning, which hit stores in 1979.
Nike Went public in 1980.
1984 saw the signing of basketball megastar Michael Jordan to an endorsement contracts, followed by 1985 the release of his signature shoe, the Air Jordan. NBA banned initially, this new shoe because it does not match the League dress code, but the ban only served to give the design a higher profile and extensive publicity.
Nike revenues topped $ 1 billion for the first time in 1986. The rest, as they say, history.
Nike followed up their footwear fame by dressing athletes from head to toe, introduce apparel collections for tennis and basketball, which was popular and of super stars John McEnroe and Michael Jordan. Nike “Just Do It” slogan was introduced in 1988, and it is still one of the most recognizable and successful commercial filming locations. in 1990, the first NikeTown store opened in Portland, ore., the company signed golfande phenom Tiger Woods in 1996.
1999 Dog Bill Bowerman, Nike co-founder, at age 88. The company bought the bankrupt rival Converse of 305 million dollars in 2003. in 2004, Phil Knight, who resigned as CEO and Chairman of Nike, but he continues as Chairman. Headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, ore., Nike remains one of the largest and most successful companies operating today.
If you want to know more visit Nike Nike corporate website.
