It all started with a young man who had just graduated from business school and was looking for a job that merged his two loves of sport and business. He was called Philip Knight and though he was not an engineer he did have great business knowledge and this would be proved in the many years and decades to come.
It all started when Phillip was on one of his many trips to Japan. It was while sightseeing that he noticed the many innovations in the Japanese sports shoes compared to the brands he was used to seeing from Germany. He decided he could sell these shoes back in America and ordered a batch of 200, this was the companys first order.
This young graduate made money by selling his new Japanese Sneakers at athletics events. The shoes sold well but he still had to store them in his parents basement. However he still wasnt actually making any sneakers until his old track coach William Bowerman joined the company in 1964. Bowerman was a keen engineer and not just a runner and these skills would revolutionise the sportswear market.
It was William who came up with the name Nike for the company, saying that it had come to him in a dream late one night. It was also Bowerman who designed the companys first shoe. He did this with the slightly unusual method of pouring liquid rubber into the family waffle iron! He was proud of the way the sneakers had been developed, later deciding to call his first pair the Waffle sole.
It wasnt until the 1972 Olympics that Nike really started to get some recognition as many athletes at the games choose to wear the new Waffle sole that Bowerman had created. Many remarked that the sole fit the sole of their foot much better than existing shoes in the market.
The logo of the Nike brand could actually be considered more famous than the company itself. Even though it is recognised all over the world and has become a global symbol it was only designed for 20 dollars by a design student from the University of Portland who was on placement. It has been used on every Nike product since its creation.
One of the biggest leaps forward in the design of Sneakers was when Nike first introduced the Air sole. It was designed by a former NASA engineer and used pressurised gas to give the soles a never before seen spring. This air cushioning is still seen in the Nike Shox of today and is as popular as ever.
Nike have also proved adept at marketing in recruiting Michael Johnson in the late 80s to help promote the Sneakers. To further the marketing campaign they decided to make a pair of shoes just for him called the Air Jordans. They proved to be a real hit with kids and adults alike both on and off the court. They were also the number one Christmas present for kids in 1988.
Even though Michael was punished by the NBA every time the strategy actually worked in Nikes favour. Since it was a frequent topic of the many matches Jordan played with people counting how much Jordan was paying to wear the sneakers across the season. This led to the Air Jordan becoming the No1 Christmas present of 1988. Even though they were not cheap kids everywhere wanted to get their hands on them.
As you can see it wasnt a simple road to success for Nike or even a conventional one. It was also a team effort between a young business entrepreneur and a sports fanatic, but you could say it all started with a bored engineer who looked at his waffle iron and decided to just do it.
It all started when Phillip was on one of his many trips to Japan. It was while sightseeing that he noticed the many innovations in the Japanese sports shoes compared to the brands he was used to seeing from Germany. He decided he could sell these shoes back in America and ordered a batch of 200, this was the companys first order.
This young graduate made money by selling his new Japanese Sneakers at athletics events. The shoes sold well but he still had to store them in his parents basement. However he still wasnt actually making any sneakers until his old track coach William Bowerman joined the company in 1964. Bowerman was a keen engineer and not just a runner and these skills would revolutionise the sportswear market.
It was William who came up with the name Nike for the company, saying that it had come to him in a dream late one night. It was also Bowerman who designed the companys first shoe. He did this with the slightly unusual method of pouring liquid rubber into the family waffle iron! He was proud of the way the sneakers had been developed, later deciding to call his first pair the Waffle sole.
It wasnt until the 1972 Olympics that Nike really started to get some recognition as many athletes at the games choose to wear the new Waffle sole that Bowerman had created. Many remarked that the sole fit the sole of their foot much better than existing shoes in the market.
The logo of the Nike brand could actually be considered more famous than the company itself. Even though it is recognised all over the world and has become a global symbol it was only designed for 20 dollars by a design student from the University of Portland who was on placement. It has been used on every Nike product since its creation.
One of the biggest leaps forward in the design of Sneakers was when Nike first introduced the Air sole. It was designed by a former NASA engineer and used pressurised gas to give the soles a never before seen spring. This air cushioning is still seen in the Nike Shox of today and is as popular as ever.
Nike have also proved adept at marketing in recruiting Michael Johnson in the late 80s to help promote the Sneakers. To further the marketing campaign they decided to make a pair of shoes just for him called the Air Jordans. They proved to be a real hit with kids and adults alike both on and off the court. They were also the number one Christmas present for kids in 1988.
Even though Michael was punished by the NBA every time the strategy actually worked in Nikes favour. Since it was a frequent topic of the many matches Jordan played with people counting how much Jordan was paying to wear the sneakers across the season. This led to the Air Jordan becoming the No1 Christmas present of 1988. Even though they were not cheap kids everywhere wanted to get their hands on them.
As you can see it wasnt a simple road to success for Nike or even a conventional one. It was also a team effort between a young business entrepreneur and a sports fanatic, but you could say it all started with a bored engineer who looked at his waffle iron and decided to just do it.
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About me : Kicksgear is a great new site providing advice on Cheap nike shox and the latest bulletins on the Cheap Air Jordans that are also coming on to the market
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