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PHIL KNIGHT: THE RISE OF NIKE
6 lessons on marketing from spending 5+ hours researching Phil Knight and Nike...
Niall Ratcliffe
August 20, 2023
Morning!
It’s Saturday. The family is visiting. I’m behind on everything. It’s controlled chaos. Time is running out to get this done. So let’s get into it.
Today, you’re going to be learning from one of the best marketers in history, Mr. Shoe Dog himself - Phil Knight.
Enjoy the breakdown!
P.S. Make sure to check out my addition of “The Greenhouse” at the end.
REMEMBER: You can listen to the audio version of this breakdown HERE
Breaking Down The Strategy
In 1962, Phil Knight was on a trip around the world when a visit to Kobe, Japan changed his life forever.
While there he realised that the Japanese were making high-quality running/track shoes at much lower prices than in the US.
He saw a gap in the market and knew he had to capitalize on it.
2 years later, in 1964, Knight founded his first-ever company “Blue Ribbon Sports” - a distributor for the Japanese shoe company Onitsuka Tiger.
The BRS shop
At the time Knight wasn’t even making shoes, he was just selling them.
But even crazier looking back, he didn’t believe in marketing.
He didn’t even hire a marketer for Blue Ribbon until 4 years later when he had a university student create some flyers for him.
Fast forward to today and Nike is renowned for some of the best marketing the world has ever seen.
So, how in the world did Knight go from a man who didn’t believe in marketing to one of the best marketers of the last century?
Answer: Because he didn’t think like a marketer.
He got creative
He broke the rules
And he did things that had never been done
I spent the last 5 hours researching Knight & Nike’s journey from start to finish.
Here are 6 key lessons on marketing from one of the best marketers to ever live:
Lesson 1: Be Where Your Audience Is
When getting Blue Ribbon Sports (that eventually became Nike) off the ground Knight didn’t faff around putting ads in newspapers and handing out flyers.
Instead, he got in his car and drove to the exact spot his audience was - the track.
To quote Knight himself:
I drove all over the Pacific Northwest, to various track meets. Between races, I’d chat up the coaches, the runners, the fans and show them my wares. The response was always the same. I couldn’t write orders fast enough.
I’d hate to know how many companies waste money trying to “market”. When 9 times out of 10 the best thing they could do is just put their product right where their audience is.
Takeaway: If you’re going to sell water, sell it at the beach.
Lesson 2: The Brand Is The Wearer
The biggest mistake most clothing brands make: they think they create the brand.
Incorrect.
The brand is whoever wears the clothes.
Knight got this right from the start of his journey with Blue Ribbon (before it was Nike). In fact, his first-ever real marketing tactic was travelling to his old track team at Oregan State University and giving them some of his shoes to wear.
Bill Bowerman with the Oregon State track team
He knew that if he could get the best athletes to wear his shoes, other athletes would see his shoes as the best.
The peak of this strategy came decades later when Nike got Michael Jordan onboard.
Funny to see that this was their approach right from the start though.
Takeaway: Great products aren’t great products if you can’t get great people to wear them.
Lesson 3: Build A Purple Cow
In 1973, Knight’s co-founder Bill Bowerman had a Eureka moment that completely changed Nike’s trajectory.
You’ve probably heard the story, but essentially he put a shoe in a waffle maker and created this waffle-like sole.
The original waffle maker
This “Waffle Trainer” would be Nike’s first-ever hit shoe.
But it wasn’t just a hit in the track space, the shoe was hugely popular with American Football players - as it gave them extra grip on astroturf.
Knight & Bowerman managed to get the whole Oregan State Football Team decked out in their new Waffle Trainers and it quickly became national news.
People started talking about them and it was great publicity for Nike.
The shoe was the prime example of a “Purple Cow”.
(If you haven’t read the book a purple cow is a marketing concept by Seth Godin that states companies should build things worth noticing right into their products.
It’s essentially a product that gets eyes on it without you even marketing it.
The waffle-style shoe was that for Nike.)
Takeaway: Build a product that gets people talking. It will make marketing it much easier.
Lesson 4: Make It Easy
Soon after the waffle trainer’s huge success, Nike decided it was time to break into mainstream American fashion - a feat that no athletic brands had done at the time.
You’ve got to remember that the whole fitness craze hadn’t come about yet. People still thought you only wore trainers if you were an athlete.
But then Knight had the genius idea of making a waffle trainer that was blue to match people’s blue jeans.
The shoe was already a huge success in athletics, so why not make it as easy as possible for people to wear it outside of their sport?
The original blue Nike waffle shoe
It may seem like an insignificant move, but this simple thought completely revolutionised the industry.
Now, we all wear trainers on a daily basis.
Takeaway: Stop trying to sell people. Instead, make it as easy as possible for them to add your product into their lives.
Lesson 5: Work Smart, Not Hard
In around 1980, Phil Knight was pretty much a master at sports marketing.
Similar to today, he knew that if wanted to get more people to buy Nike shoes, he had to get the best athletes in the world wearing Nike.
But there was one problem…
He couldn’t legally sponsor any high school or college athletes - yet he knew that there were so many eyes on those players.
So he came up with a new strategy.
He realised there were no rules against coaches working with brands and becoming “consultants”.
Consultants that could:
Push a brand to their athletes
Encourage them to wear a certain model
Or even make it a team policy
So rather than trying to bend the rules to get athletes in Nike shoes, Knight and his team began recruiting coaches.
Over the next few years, they were able to onboard hundreds of coaches across the country. Which over the years fed thousands of kids to become Nike athletes when they ended up in the NBA.
It’s like growth hacking before growth hacking was a thing.
Just a creative way to get more people in their shoes.
Takeaway: Sometimes the best marketing strategies come when you don’t think like a marketer
Lesson 6: Tell Stories
It would be a sin to talk about Nike without touching on their storytelling.
Because as much as Nike may seem like a sports company, they make 99% of their money because of their stories.
One of the most infamous Nike ads
Just think about it… when was the last time you saw a Nike ad that was actually about Nike?
Never. Because Nike ads are never about Nike.
They’re about the people who wear Nike. They highlight their greatness. Then showcase how Nike played a part in it.
While the other brands talk down to their viewers and try to guilt them into buying - Nike does the opposite.
They showcase a desirable outcome of being this great athlete.
Then sell you their shoes so you can go on the same journey yourself.
They don’t want people to feel bad about themselves, they want you to feel empowered to “Just Do It!”.
Takeaway: Stories sell. Start telling them.
🌱 The Greenhouse
Things I’ve saved this week that are worth checking out:
I purposely avoided talking about classic Nike marketing tactics in this one and instead focused on the early days instead.
You’ve all heard the Michael Jordan story by now, so hopefully this gave you a different look at Nike and Knight’s marketing.
Definitely, lot’s to learn
Until next Sunday.
— Niall
P.S. I hope you liked the new additions to the breakdown!
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