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Nike's misbehaving athletes won't deter company from successful strategy [The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.]
[September 26, 2014]

Nike's misbehaving athletes won't deter company from successful strategy [The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.]


(Oregonian (Portland, OR) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 26--Stock analyst Omar Saad asked Nike executives a timely question Thursday unrelated directly to the company's stellar first quarter results.

"The sports marketing assets," Saad said in a question during a conference call, "you had some things happen over the last 90 days or so." Saad mentioned the company relinquishing to Adidas its uniform sponsorship of the Premier League's Manchester United as well as its re-signing of NBA superstar Kevin Durant, beating out a hopeful Under Armour.



But it was clear from the context of Saad's question and the executives' responses that misbehaving current and now former Nike athletes -- Oscar Pistorius, Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and Hope Solo -- also were part of the equation.

In just the past month, Nike has seen several of its current and now-former athletes face the glare of negative publicity in cases involving a fatal shooting, spousal abuse and domestic violence.


Nike Brand president Trevor Edwards was the first to answer Saad's question.

First, I'll just start by saying that obviously we believe very much in the power of sport and athletes to inspire people. So we're obviously very focused behind that. And obviously, some of the things that have been happening, it's been quite a mix in the marketplace. Obviously, some issues are seriously concerning to us. On the other side, you have some great opportunities with some great athletes like Kevin Durant and our ability to resign those athletes.

So from our perspective, we really line up how we connect and sign the right athletes, really based on where we see the biggest growth opportunities. We line those two things up and we make sure that we find the athletes and the teams that can inspire consumers and at the same time make sure that we can use that to then drive our business. And we remain singularly focused on that.

Then it was the turn of chief executive Mark Parker, whose reply made clear that despite whatever has transpired recently, Nike's tried-and-successful marketing partnerships with athletes will continue.

You know, the athletes aren't just a platform to promote the brand and to get brand exposure. They're the source of insight that we get. The relationships we have with the athletes are really what drives the innovation that ultimately drives our business and our growth potential. So that's been there since day one. That will continue to be the case moving forward.

-- Allan Brettman ___ (c)2014 The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) Visit The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.) at www.oregonian.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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