Phil Knight, co-founder of Nike, is the 24th richest person in the world with $25 billion, according to Forbes. While he is the target of great criticism as a representative of the capitalist order, Knight is also highly respected for the brand he created and the donations he makes. Today, he is 78 years old.
His book “Shoe Dog”, which he wrote with the words “I will write my life instead of someone else”, was published this year. I would like to start with the words he used to start his life story, which is at least as interesting as the journey of the Nike brand; “In the mind of a novice, there are many possibilities, in the mind of an expert, there are few.” Shunryu Suzuki
Knight, who borrowed $50 from his father, traveled to Asia, Europe and Africa with a backpack at the age of 24 to discover how he could shape and implement the idea he wrote in his master’s program at Stanford. Knight says that he does not understand how young people today have very clear decisions about their future. “I had a dream, instead of working for a big company, I wanted to create something new, dynamic and different. I did not set out knowing what it was, I believed in discovering what it was and finding it in the flow of life,” he says.
His focus on shoes was thanks to his university track coach, Bill Bowerman. In fact, Knight insists that Nike would not exist without Bowerman. Bowerman coached the University of Oregon track team. He was obsessed with finding the lightest and most effective running shoes. He cut pieces from goatskin, sewed them by hand, glued the pieces together and tried on shoes that had been torn apart, but he was always searching for something. Because he realized that shoes seriously affected the athlete’s performance. Knight’s idea was to turn to Japan, which dominated the camera industry with the most advanced technology and affordable products at the time, and create the same advantage in shoes.
In 1963, Blue Ribbon Sports, which he and Bowerman founded with $500 each, made $8,000 in sales from Tiger shoes made in Japan in their small shop. This was the birth of Nike, which today has an annual turnover of $30 billion.
There are problems in bringing shoes from Japan. When he finds the money to order them, the orders do not arrive on time, his sales increase but he cannot find cash, and the banks reject his ever-increasing loan requests. In the end, he gets rejected by two banks and is unable to repay his debts. On the other hand, there is a problem with the exclusivity agreement of the company in Japan, and the agreement is terminated. Knight, with his 45 employees, decides to find a new factory to produce the shoes and to establish a new company. Everyone comes up with an idea for a name, and when Jeff Johnson comes up with the name “Nike”, Knight, who does not like the name very much, agrees to end the endless discussions. Nike is the goddess of victory in Greek mythology. He is not very hopeful about the logo they had a student make for 35 dollars, representing movement and speed, and compares it to a fat check mark.
Knight says that he does not believe in classical marketing techniques and current advertisements. As an alternative, being with athletes strengthens the idea of working together. The brand’s transformation to a completely different dimension is the sponsorship period strengthened by Michael Jordan. “Being a professional athlete was always my biggest wish, yes I couldn’t be, but my sport and my dream came together. I am very lucky,” says Knight.
This article was published in Retail Türkiye Magazine, September 2016 – 91st issue.