I used to work as a full-time designer for Nike, and I recently read a headline about why Nike is failing. Here's my take.
Nike is a little woke, but their messaging is mostly clichéd now. "Girls are told they can't play sports" doesn't feel woke to me. It feels antiquated — like a slogan from the '50s. I have an athlete daughter and she's only been encouraged to play sports.
Here's what I think is actually happening:
1. Nike has lost "the culture." Top-down marketing around premier athletes no longer delivers the same return. There are no captive audiences around a single sport or athlete anymore. Your nephews care more about IShowSpeed than Kyrie or Luka.
2. Hypebeast culture is dead. Or at least dispersed. Your nephews' favorite apparel brands aren't the big sports companies — they're smaller brands with ~100K followers.
3. Office politics. Internal politics have reshaped leadership. There have been three reorganizations in five years. It's hard to focus on product when everyone's worried about getting let go.
4. Manufacturing and saturation. Many interesting sports and equipment brands have emerged as manufacturing and marketing have become more accessible. With shorter lead times and less red tape, smaller brands are more nimble. Nike's design-to-market cycle can take 1.5 years.
5. DTC is very hard. Their CEO moved away from key wholesale partners like Foot Locker to pursue direct-to-consumer. E-commerce has major costs, and margins aren't what people think. I run a DTC brand. Trust me, bro.
6. I no longer work there. Kidding — but Nike can't easily retain top talent when great designers can build their own audiences and products.
I doubt we'll see many multi-billion-dollar brands sustain dominance in this market. These same pressures are affecting everyone.