Just Blew It

2/23/2019

by David Hagenbuch, founder of Mindful Marketing & author of Honorable Influence

The stage for a college basketball game couldn’t get much bigger: two top-ten teams in a packed arena, one of the best rivalries in all of sports, several projected NBA draft picks in the lineup, two hall of fame coaches on the sidelines, the likely NCAA player of the year on the court, and the 44th president of the United States in the stands. Then a piece of footwear malfunctioned, and the stock price of the world’s most iconic sports brand took a dive.

This past Wednesday, #1 Duke hosted #8 North Carolina for one of the most highly-anticipated men’s college basketball games in recent memory. Tickets were selling at Super Bowl-like prices, not just to see the two storied programs clash, but also to witness what was sure to be a marquee performance by one of the most talented and exciting college athletes ever—Duke’s Zion Williamson.

Just an 18 year old, standing 6’ 7” and weighing 285 lbs., Williamson’s unique combination of extraordinary basketball skill and incredible athleticism had captured the attention of all college basketball fans, international news media, and every NBA team, making him the odds-on favorite to be the first choice in the league’s next draft. Then the unimaginable happened.

Just 33 seconds into the game, Williamson received the ball, took a few dripples, planted his foot near the foul line, and fell awkwardly to the floor, while a look of pain raced across his face. As those watching gasped, the cause of the slip quickly became apparent: Williamson’s foot had burst through his Nike sneaker. Camera footage even caught former President Obama, pointing to the court and saying “His shoe broke.”

The story spread like wildfire over traditional and social media, as sports analysts, basketball fans, and others reacted. Many expressed amazement at the occurrence. Rival sneaker maker Puma tweeted snarkily “wouldn’t have happened in the pumas.”

Nike execs were undoubtedly reeling from what must have felt like their worst nightmare: The best known player in college basketball and a likely NBA superstar had just suffered an injury because of their shoe. Not only did the chances of signing Williamson to a future multi-million-dollar endorsement deal drop precipitously, the endless images of the prodigy wreathing in pain with foot popped through the side of his Nikes, was a picture that athletes and other sneaker buyers would not soon forget.

Nike did wish Williamson well: “We are obviously concerned and want to wish Zion a speedy recovery.” The same company spokesman added, “The quality and performance of our products are of utmost importance. While this is an isolated occurrence, we are working to identify the issue.” Still, the day after the blowout, Nike’s stock fell by 1.05%.

Was Nike simply the sufferer of a very unfortunate accident at one of the worst possible moments? Probably not. It seems that Williamson’s shoe blowout could have been predicted and prevented in light of previous player experiences, as well as others’ product reviews.

In 2016, the foot of Orlando Magic’s Aaron Gordon blew through the side of some Nikes when he landed after a dunk. Two years earlier, in the same NBA season, Golden State’s Andrew Bogut, the Spur’s Manu Ginobili, and the Sixer’s Tony Wroten, all experienced major Nike malfunctions.

Of course, one can argue that Williamson and these professional athletes put more strain on a pair of basketball shoes than the average sneaker wearer does, which is probably true. Many average wearers, however, also have experienced quality issues with their Nikes. Some have been frustrated enough to upload their sneaker stories to YouTube, for instance:

One consumer shows how the soles separated from the rest of his $200 Nikes after limited wear.

Another tells how several different pairs of his Air Jordans have fallen apart after moderate use.

A golfer shows how the soles came off his new-looking Nike golf shoes while playing.

Another user shows how his Nike Shox are falling apart after about six months. He laments, “I spend so much money on a shoe, and this is what it comes down to. I thought better of Nike, but this is what it is, y’all.”

Besides these sad stories, others have posted about similar durability issues with their Nike Air LTD’s, their Nike TN’s, and their Nike SB Diamond Dunks.

Four years ago Nike pulled the Lebron 12 from the market on the day of its scheduled release due to quality concerns. About three years ago KicksOneTwo noted ongoing quality control issues with Nike sneakers.

But, Nike’s annual footwear revenue is over $21 billion, which means it sells hundreds of millions of shoes a year, so aren’t there bound to be some production problems? Yes; however, it’s curious that in so many of the defect videos, the problem is the same even for different kinds of Nikes—the shoes just come apart, similar to the way they did for Williamson and for the NBA players mentioned above.

I’ve also had a similar experience with the brand. It had been several years since I’d gone running, when I decided to put on an old pair of Nike running shoes I owned and take a jog around the neighborhood. It wasn’t long into the run when I started to hear an unusual noise and feel a flapping under my feet. I soon realized the soles were falling off my running shoes. Granted, it was an old pair of sneakers. Still, I’ve owned many different styles and brands of athletic shoes over the years, including ones that I’ve worn much harder, but that’s been the only time anything like that has happened to me.

So, maybe Nike does have quality issues that need to be addressed, but some may be wondering what they have to do with the company’s marketing? Well, effective marketing involves much more than what a company says, or communicates.

Every marketing students learns the four P’s of the traditional marketing mix: product, place, promotion, and price. A primary objective of an entire organization, not just its marketing department, should be to ensure that each “P” meets the target market’s needs, as well as the organization’s goals, ultimately creating a mutually beneficial exchange.

However, if a company’s product is deficient in some way, it may overcompensate with another P, often promotion, which reminds me of a metaphor I've used before—baking a cake. Sometimes a cake comes out of the oven with cracks, which can be hidden with a layer of icing. The deeper the cracks, the thicker the icing needed to cover them.

It seems that Nike shoes on whole have some “cracks,” which the company has adeptly covered over the years through enticing layers of communication, ranging from highly-produced TV commercials, to prominent team sponsorships, to superstar endorsers.

That’s not to say that Nike’s value proposition is just a façade—not by a long shot. The company generally makes good quality products that serve people well, otherwise it wouldn’t be the world’s most valuable sports brand. Still, a significant number of people probably do buy into Nike more because of the icon’s icing than the consistency of its cake.

I still haven’t seen from Nike a true apology to Williamson for the shoe blowout. Saying that it wishes him well and promising to investigate the issue do not constitute a confession. Perhaps for legal reasons, Nike really hasn’t taken ownership of the incident.

No company or product is perfect; accidents happen. However, even for a company as big as Nike, the reoccurrence of such high-profile product malfunctions should give everyone pause, from the guy wanting to jog around his neighborhood to the next NBA superstar looking to ink a multi-million-dollar shoe deal. Nike will recover from the latest incident, but the injury to Williamson and the damage to the company's brand make what led up to the shoe blowout “Mindless Marketing.”

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45 Comments

Amelia Budd

2/28/2019 04:53:53 pm

It's always very interesting to me that our society will pay so much money simply because a product has the Nike logo, or the North Face logo, or the Patagonia logo...etc. Rarely do I personally research the quality of a product if it is a popular logo. However, if I think about it, I have never found Nike products to be the highest quality. It's funny how no one seems to notice this until a major celebrity shed light on it. It makes me wonder how much extra money I've spent on a logo, when a nameless off-brand would have suited me better?

Andrew

3/5/2019 09:30:21 pm

From a young age, I have always seen nike as the "cool" brand to buy. However, over the years I have realzied that the cost of Nike shoes do not always match their quality. When I read this article, I wondered: "how should Nike react to this sitaution?" Yes, they can apologize, but do they need to? How far does a company need to go to "right the wrong?"

Sarah

3/6/2019 10:17:47 pm

I feel like this would be an excellent time for Nike to go back to the drawing board and actually put some more testing into their shoes in a manner that is clear to the public. One isolated failure is bad luck. Many instances of this is something to be concerned about, and i think we as consumers need to hold them accountable for this.

Anne D

3/7/2019 12:09:50 am

I think it is interesting how companies like Nike would rather wish condolences rather than genuinely apologize. They would rather try to cover up the issue and pretend that everything is okay rather than address the issue fix it and make it better. If they fixed the problem and made a better product I think Nike will not only be more respected for their shoes but also gain more customers seeking a superior product.

Clarisse A

3/7/2019 12:52:50 am

One thing for sure is that branding is really a powerful tool. Consider if this situation happens to a smaller, younger company than Nike, without a doubt the company will suffer major losses and might completely loss the costumers' trust. Now with that to say, the multi-billion dollar company has an obligation to maintain quality, especially to make it worth the price. An accident that has happened one too many times is not something to be overlooked and should be taken seriously unless Nike wants their reputation to actually go downhill.

Josh

3/7/2019 09:33:28 am

I think this incident shows how easily the consumer forgets a company's mistakes. I just read an article today that the Nike stock is actually at an all-time high. With a brand as widespread and iconic as Nike, a majority of the public doesn't wear the shoes because of their functionality, but rather wears the shoes simply because of the swoosh. I am sure that the top Nike executives were not happy with this incident, but they had to know that the public would forget quickly.

Alec

3/12/2019 10:45:58 pm

Thanks,

I didn't know that Nike had had this many high-profile fails. Any idea how these numbers compare with those of Puma, Adidas, etc.? Nike rose to fame by celebrity athlete endorsement, so I'd think that seeing a up-and-coming celebrity athlete publicly injured will do a lot more to unseat the brand than other more quiet allegations of inferior quality... Another few incidents like these and we may see a massive shift to other brands.

Karson Dreher

3/14/2019 01:49:22 am

I really enjoyed reading this post. However, I did not enjoy what brutally happened to Zion Williamson. As a college basketball fan, I definitely watched this game and within the first few minutes of the game I was shocked that his shoe "exploded". My first thoughts were similar to this post, that it is very bad for the promotion of Nike. Zion's injury put him our for a few weeks and he missed another key matchup against North Carolina, where not surprisingly, they lost without him. I find it interesting and you mentioned this in your post that Nike has yet to truly apologize for the faulty shoe.

This was terrible for Nike, but even worse for Duke fans, and even worse for Zion, as he had to sit on the bench and watch his team struggle without his dominant presence on the court.

At the end of the day, Nike has taken a brutal hit and I believe it is much deserved. This definitely hurts them from a business standpoint. Lets hope Zion signs with Adidas or Under Armour as he will soon get a contract once he turns pro.

Karson

KPR link

3/15/2019 02:48:35 am

And we saw a lot of embarrassing pictures. Nike will surely lose a lot because of this happening

Edwyn Ramos

3/17/2019 11:32:39 pm

Daniel Perez

3/15/2019 08:45:19 pm

The shoe malfunction is definitely a pattern for Nike’s products. I am curious as to why instead of perfecting their product, they are focusing more on promotion. Of course, Nike is the most successful shoe brand there is, but it seems like with the huge profit they are making, they would try to perfect their product and not just overcompensate on the promotion aspect of the marketing mix.

Kevin Kratz

3/16/2019 06:53:28 pm

This blog did a great job at helping the reader understand the gravity of a situation like the one Nike is in. I also agree that Nike has done a good job over the years at "covering up" some quality issues that they have had in the past.

Joy Blea

3/16/2019 07:59:34 pm

I really appreciate the way this blog told the story in a creative and captivating way. It grabbed my attention and kept my attention throughout the proposal of your points regarding mindless marketing. I agree that Nike should have taken initiative and apologized for the malfunction. It was not fair to Williamson and did not show complete integrity and ownership by the company.

Sophia Karnazes

3/17/2019 06:21:43 pm

I think the Blog was great, however I do think that Nike should have taken a different route for apologizing rather than covering up the issue. Nike has increased their prices for their products which will lose a lot of their customers overtime.

Drew Kujacich

3/17/2019 07:02:59 pm

This was a good blog it really gave me good information on this incident that happened to Williamson. I agree that Nike does have very nice shoes to wear and they are very popular because they sell millions of shoes a year, but they still can have incidents such as this one. I feel really bad that this happened to Williamson, especially in a very big game against their rivalry team and also because it happened right when the game started, so he missed pretty much the whole game because of these shoes. I really hope Nike understands exactly what happened and can fix the problem with these shoes, so that way they will not get a bad reputation for putting shoes on the market that end up falling apart because these are supposed to be high quality shoes that are good for sports.

Idalia Rodriguez

3/17/2019 11:34:59 pm

I really enjoyed reading this post. It was very informative and I liked the use of marketing terms such as the four Ps in marketing. I was surprise to read that Nike has had so many fails with their product. They do a very good job at hiding this issues. I think Nike is a great brand and I personally love their shoes. However, if there is a handful of cases that are experiencing issues with their shoes, maybe it is time for the company to do something about it.

Edwyn Ramos

3/17/2019 11:42:32 pm

This was a great blog that incorporates how a Brands product can affect its market. I know from the incident that it was under Paul George's design of the shoe to which he was concerned about how something like this would happen. Especially happening on such a big occasion, it was unfortunate that this would happen. If there is something common in the cause where the shoe breaks, i feel Nike should ethically fix the problem by creating a shoe that will not defect like the case for Zion. Especially athletes of high caliber, Brands such as Nike should check for the products they give to athletes that are sponsored so it would not look bad on them in front of millions that could be watching. I hope Nike creates products that does not defect.

Yasmin Flores

3/18/2019 12:14:34 am

I love how well written this blog post is. It does a great job in captivating the attention of its audience. I like the addition of the Mindful Marketing Meter that places the situation in a category of how mindful the company was about marketing their products. It is shocking how a big company like Nike allowed itself to have a huge gap between what they market and the actual quality of their shoes. It is sad to see that the well trusted brand is destroying its own reputation because of the issues in the quality of their products that do not meet their product brand expectations.

Yasmin Flores

3/18/2019 01:29:54 am

I would also like to add that as a result of this event, customers ma begin to think that Nike is being deceptive in the way they are their products. They make their products seem like they can be well trusted for their quality simply because top athletes use them. After this event, the way loyal customers have viewed Nike products may begin change. Customers may begin to question Nike and their company values because it seems that Nike has focused more on marketing their products instead of supporting those advertisements with product quality.

Kenneth Arrick II

3/18/2019 12:55:46 am

As you correctly pointed out, Nike endorses many of the most successful collegiate athletic programs in the country. It also sponsors hundreds, if not thousands, of professional athletes. There are going to be production problems in a small amount of shoes because that's just how the world works. We must also take into account that two individuals have the the same gait. People move differently and the stress put on one pair of shoes by someone is different to the stress put on the exact same pair of shoes by another. Nike is the leader in apparel sales across the world and the exercise terrific corporate social responsibility while maximizing shareholder's wealth. They are simply unmatched and are "Mindful Marketers", in my opinion.

Brayden

3/18/2019 01:34:49 am

I think this unfortunate event just showcased one of Nike's biggest and longest problems. The fact that the company has not fixed an ongoing incident is concerning. The baking the cake metaphor is spot on because I would have never known nike had these issues because the icing on their cake is so thick. Hopefully Nike will fix this problem soon and allow for their products to sell without any concern.

Connor

3/18/2019 01:10:21 pm

Zion Williamson is quite a freak, and while his incredible strength and speed could have been what broke the shoe, it is still a really bad look for nike. Nike has been delivering icing for years, they are the best at promotion and sponsorships which give them the top dog spot in the sports ware world. Now, they simply need to focus on their products, specifically the durability and reliability of there shoes. I hope he has a speedy recovery and I hope that Nike mindfully markets their products in the future.

Makaila

3/18/2019 02:19:05 pm

The article was interesting in the way it talked about how Nike is not a mindful company. When it comes to social standards and what people believe Nike should do there are a lot of opinions and eyes watching. What happened with the shoe blowout is unfortunate to the company but it is also important to remember that NBA players are not average people and with that it is hard to design a shoe at low cost for the elite player and the everyday player. It is evident that quality control needs to be regulated in the manufacturers and materials that they are using to produce their shoes.

Caleb

3/18/2019 02:44:42 pm

Zion Williams is a monster of a human being as well as the other NBA stars that have had Nike shoe problems. With the size and stature of NBA players, problems like this are expected to happen. However, Nike should know this and be actively trying to prevent it. I have also had similar experiences with Nikes myself. While I put my shoes through the ringer, the mistakes are often in high stress areas and Nike should be able to prevent that. While Nike is no doubt working to fix these issues, they need to work fast in order to keep the stature they have worked so hard to keep.

Alex Wright

3/18/2019 03:33:41 pm

This was a really weird occurrence that happened. As a competitive basketball player myself, I have had several shoes break on me, even on the court. Usually, these shoes are made by lesser brands that are not advertising quality, but price. However, this year in the middle of a college games, my Adidas shoes that I only wore twice a week for 3 months, broke on me and it put me in a really bad position being that I had not foreseen this and had not prepared. I do not think this is necessarily a Nike thing, but shoes are bound to break. I am a huge Nike supporter and this doesn't change my mind.

Ranita Tang

3/18/2019 06:38:11 pm

If it was just the famous sports player who broke their shoe, it would not have been such as big deal since everything breaks occasionally. However, many other customers have reported the same thing happening to their purchases. Since Nike have not done anything to solve the issue until a high-profile case caused it inflate. I hope that the basketball player will have a speedy recovery.

Nicholas

3/18/2019 09:47:53 pm

I believe that it became a big thing and Nike stock dropped down by 1.05% just because it's a famous college basketball player. Zion Williamson is the face of college basketball, and everyone makes it such a big deal especially on social media because of his rising name. There are a lot of complains about Nike although they have good shoes sometimes shoes are just bound to break.

Wilson Sebastian

3/18/2019 09:50:24 pm

This strange occurrence gave people a good view of the quality that Nike has on their product. It's a wake-up call for Nike to step up their game because if it happens again on television, the people might start to wonder if they should buy a pair of Nike. Nike must make sure that they have a quality standard to meet because when things like this happen, it does hurt not only Nike but also the athletes. I hope that this is something that Nike can learn from in the future because if they want to maintain a good reputation on their brand, they have to be able to show their worth.

Kimberly Abundis

3/18/2019 10:28:14 pm

I remember seeing the topic trending on twitter, it was very surprising that it had happened. I was surprised because I would assume that the shoes that are specifically made for people who play sports professionally would be made with better quality than their regular shoes. I have personally seen this happen when the sole of the shoe becomes separated from the shoe. I think the reasoning behind that is because they glue the two pieces together. I think that regardless of the problem Nike should have apologized to the player because the injury could have possibly put his career in danger.

Josh

3/18/2019 10:45:58 pm

I am a huge basketball fan so reading this blog was very interesting because I remember seeing the videos of Zion Williamson's shoe burst. I didn't really think about the marketing side and the effect that this would have on Nike, but some people might be very concerned because of this event that occurred. I wear Nike shoes when I play basketball so what if the same thing happens to me? It very well could, but Nike for sure should apologize because this could have been a major injury, Williamson got lucky that it was a minor injury.

Alex Adamopoulos II

3/18/2019 10:48:00 pm

Ever since I became involved in intensive exercise, those more experienced than I told me to avoid Nike. I've heard stories of the shoes wearing out quickly, breaking, and causing orthopedic problems. It has been a long time since I have heard anything negative about Nike's products. If anything, I've heard nothing but positive comments lately. So much that I deserted Adidas and switched to Nike. However, this article has made me more wary of my recent purchases. It is a pretty big deal for Nike's shoes to break on the court of one of the biggest college basketball games of the year. Nike's response to the accident demonstrates that there may be more than meets the eye behind closed doors. I'm sure Nike is aware of the other incidents relating to the failure of their shoes. As the author of this post mentioned, it seems that Nike is overcompensating for product failure with intensive promotion.

Andy Van Antwerp

3/18/2019 11:10:35 pm

I am very intrigued by this post. When I watched this incident of Zion Williamson bursting through his shoe for the first time, I thought that had to be a unique accident. Zion happened to be the one in a millionth person to own a Nike basketball shoe and burst through the sole of it. I thought about how much force a 6'7" 285 lbs man puts on a pair of shoes thought it is more possible with him. However, this article really opened my eyes to see the malfunction in Nike shoes. All of the different examples and personal experiences with Nikes has made me believe that there is a malfunction with the sneaker and there needs to be a change. Nike must begin to put more emphasis on the durability of their shoes to avoid loss of more business.

Jonathan

3/18/2019 11:43:43 pm

I think it is important to see that Nike does not have many issues like this. In general, their shoe is very reliable and performs well. For example, Nike sponsors shoes for a lot of popular NBA players, and for all of them they have not had any problems as big as this. In my opinion, this was just unlucky, and Nike does not deserve and stick for this. However, Nike should take full responsibility for this, and figure out how to make their product better so this doesn't happen again. Overall, I like how this article dove into more technical details, and gave good context for the incident.

Coleman

3/19/2019 12:06:16 am

Nike being such a large company, there will obviously be flaws, so one can't expect perfection from them. However, this situation just simply seems like negligence of the very "bullseye" on their marketing target, the consumer. It is obvious that this incident with Zion Williamson is no freak accident. Obviously being such a large athlete and putting significant strain on the shoe plays a factor, but when a recreational runner also has the same issue, there's an obvious problem. Where I think Nike fails significantly in this situation is that this problem was not a difficult problem to find. It's not like task managers with the duty of finding flaws in Nike were stumped and couldn't find any evidence of Nike underperforming anywhere. Nike's customers clearly were open about their purchases failing and had no issue sharing them with the public. So, what Nike didn't do, is gauge it's target audience and tap into the goldmine of consumer feedback that is present on the internet. The entire goal of marketing is to figure out how to best meet the needs of one's target audience, so how is Nike going to be able to meet their audience's needs if they aren't listening to see where they aren't. I would agree that Nike as of late has fallen into practicing "Mindless Marketing".

Jeffrey Oh

3/19/2019 12:39:17 am

This is a very interesting topic because of how many relevant subjects there are. I remember watching this on an instagram feed and was pretty surprised. Zion is an extremely athletic big player that must be of some sort of consideration when it comes to this shoe malfunction. I do not think that Nike prepares for circumstances like this because of Zion being a freak of nature. With all this being said, I believe that Nike did a poor job managing their products. They are an elite company providing footwear for numerous amounts of high paid athletes. This should not be happening, but I also understand that there are expectations to all things. This should not conclude Nike being a poor brand or poor footwear company, but they do need to make up for this disaster.

Eman

3/19/2019 01:11:33 am

• This article was not as captivating to read as the “How a Blind Marketing Student Sees a Smart Cane” post. This post was more dry to read and does not offer a solution to the issue at hand. However, this post does a great job at analyzing what when wrong with the product and why what Nike did in response was not the best way to handle the situation. I do like that you added what happened to Nike’s stock and reviews after this incident that they called “isolated.” Holistically, this post was interesting but a dry read and still a worthwhile read.

Davis

3/19/2019 01:14:38 am

This is a great check for Nike. As big as they are, they can still fall really hard. They are the most popular athletic wear company in the world for a reason. They have higher standards to reach and is expected of them.

Ruth

3/19/2019 01:32:41 am

I think these types of accidents are very misfortunate for the parties involved. The fact that Nike has been responsible for shoes falling apart on multiple occasions says a lot about their company. It makes me think why they keep allowing it to happen. It doesn't happen often but I would think that they would have fixed it after the first time it was broadcasted for the whole world to see. It is harming Nike's potential deals and name when they fail to address a big issue such as this.

Joanna Javellana

3/19/2019 01:56:35 am

This blog post was interesting because even it points out that even a huge company such as Nike has cracks and flaws. It is unfortunate that the most famous current college basketball player's shoe broke and the world heard about it. Many shoe companies will jump at the chance to capitalize on finding Nike's flaws. They could have addressed the incident better but it makes sense that they would not fully accept the blame and just consider it an accident. The fact that even their stock went down shows the effects of the incident.

Zihao Wang

3/19/2019 02:19:53 am

Zion Williamson is the new face of college basketball. When his shoe broke that is the thing in basketball world. Many basketball programs on TV talks about 24/7. There is a lot of coverage around this topic. Nike's stock has suffered because of this incident. Therefore, it is very important for Nike to recover from this PR crisis.

Ruth A.

3/19/2019 02:54:09 am

Having an instrument or item they use for their career or passion get broken while they are using it must be difficult to bear especially when it comes to sports. I am a huge Nike fan and I have a lot of their sneakers, but seeing how one of their professional basketball shoes break while the player is using it does not leave Nike with a good impression especially when they have not given a formal apology. They are known for their durability and it is sad to see how Nike is becoming less of the brand they used to be.

Dillan

3/19/2019 02:55:21 am

I personally have always found Nike's to be overpriced for the product that is being received. I have a pair, and I am not very concerned with them falling apart as they seem reasonably well made, but I also do not wear them very often. I have a cheaper pair of shoes that feel far more comfortable, and I have worn them daily for three years with minor wear. I have only had my Nike's for around 9 months and they already look about as bad as the pair I have worn for years, if not worse. I think that Nike needs to look at the quality of their products and find ways to put their customers ahead of their products. I agree that this is Mindless Marketing, as their advertising campaign does nothing to fix existing issues. If athletes like Zion break their shoes, which are the best that Nike has to offer, then how the brand be trusted in the quality of their production-based products.

Jacob Newport

3/19/2019 02:26:44 pm

I never knew Nike’s were so unreliable. For nike to be able to come out of this there will need to say sorry to Williamson’s and put more money into making their products more put together then they are. This will be a lot of money upfront but overtime this will make people trust that nike is doing all that they can for the customer and their safety. Nike may be thinking that it's not worth the down payment because so many people are still buying there shoes. This may be true but maybe they can make a new shoe that has this protection guarantee.

Isaac link

11/6/2019 12:41:53 am

This article had some very valid points but also a couple reaches While it is true that Nike’s share price dropped by 1% the day after this event, it is not true that this is a substantial fluctuation. Undoubtedly the blow out affected share price, but it also showed the people were willing to buy up whatever shares others were selling. Many stocks can drop more than a percentage point just due to price action. So, while this is a PR problem for Nike, I don’t think it was at the time as big of a deal as some news people made it out to be. This is proved by Nike’s current share price being up over 10% higher since the date in the article. However, that is not to say that I don’t agree with other points made in the article, it sounds very reasonable that Nike overcompensates with the P of promotion to cover up some of their product failures. Luckily for Nike, they are the best promoters in the shoe game, with incredible uses of very mindful ads and a literal all-star cast of spokes persons. Nike (regardless of my own political opinions) has been a leader and supporter of many social movements (in their ads), with some brands this is not the best option, but given that the NBA has the most liberal fans of any sport it has been at least an overall success. I think this would have been a much larger issue had Zion chosen to sign with a different brand, but since the injured party showed his support for their product and signed a contract, at least optically Nike comes through (while not unscathed) alright.

Jasmine M

11/7/2019 04:50:47 am

This article was very intriguing for me, as this is not the first controversial incident Nike has been a part of (or likely the last). Recently, it seems as if Nike has been in pretty hot water in regard to its products and ads. Beside Nike’s inconsistent shoe quality, Nike has also been under fire for their controversial Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick, the 49ers quarterback who rose to fame for kneeling during the national anthem, was placed front and center of this Nike ad that states, “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” Many people, upset with this ad, began to boycott Nike. However, despite all of these product and ad controversies, Nike does not ever seem to take more than a permanent hit. In fact, Nike’s stock market is doing remarkably well right now. This makes me wonder, how is it possible to Nike to get away with nearly everything? Is their image considered too “precious” that people are okay letting Nike off the hook without them ever apologizing for their actions? I agree with another responder who says this article shows how easily the consumer forgets a company’s mistakes.

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