THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT NIKE

NIKE is a well-known footwear and apparel company founded by Philip Knight and Bill Bowerman.

Philip Knight, a native of Oregon, was inspired to start his own business during his college days when he came up with the concept of creating a market for Japanese shoes in US. He worked as a distributor for Onitsuka Tiger Japanese shoes in 1963. Philip Knight began by selling a few pairs of Onitsuka shoes in the United States, and later formed Blue Ribbon Sports with Bill Bowerman, an American coach and later co-founder of Nike. Before the Nike name was chosen, Blue Ribbon Sports was almost called Dimension Six. Blue Ribbon sports officially renamed as NIKE on 30 May 1971. Despite the fact that the majority of the Western population owns at least one Nike product, there are a number of fascinating details about the company that are  unknown.

UNKNOWN NIKE FACTS

1.  1. Nike name derived from the Greek goddess of Victory and pronounced as Ny’kee. Nike (Greek goddess of victory) who is frequently depicted with wings. Her presence portrayed victory. The Athena Nike temple is situated at the Acropolis in Athens & is the smallest temple.

2. Nike famous slogan ‘Just Do It’ launched in 1988 which was inspired by a serial killer named Gary Gilmore. Gary Mark Gilmore was born in Texas, on December 4, 1940, and later moved to Oregon. After absorbing his father's disdain for the law and becoming profoundly scarred by his violent outbursts, Gilmore embarked on a criminal career, committing a series of petty crimes that grew in severity over time. He spent more time in jail than he did on the outside. Gilmore was executed by firing squad in Utah, making him the first person to be executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. His final words were 'Let's do it,' which inspired and ‘Just Do It’ became Nike logo.

3. The world's biggest Nike store is 42,000 square feet and is located on Oxford Street in London. The first Nike store was opened at California and the first employee of the company Johnson was handling the California store.

4. A waffle iron was used to make grooves in the soles of the first pair of shoes by Bill Bowerman. When athletes wear them, it helped athletes grip the surface of running tracks.

5. Carolyn Davidson, a student at Portland State University, created the Nike logo. She was paid $35 for her design. She now holds Nike shares worth over $64,000.

6. Ilie Nastase, a Roman tennis player, was the first athlete to promote Nike back in 1972. Currently, Cristiano Ronaldo endorses Nike.

7. Nike was the first company to use an actual Beatles song in its advertising. It was the first time any of The Beatles' actual recordings were used in a commercial. The song they used in the advertisement was Revolution No.9. Nike even won two times Emmy Awards for their commercials.

8.  A shoe that can be electronically connected to a smartphone is one of Nike's most recent inventions. The footwear contains an embedded computing system that can be linked to the smartphone of the person wearing the shoes.

10. Nike logo changed 4 times. Firstly, it was Blue Ribbon Sports name with letters BRS later changed in 1964, 1971 & 1978 respectively and the final logo is  

These are some facts about the Nike brand that you may not be aware of. Apart from that, there are numerous lessons to be learned from the Nike story, beginning with Mr. Phil Knight's struggles when he dreamed of owning a shoe company. It took a lot of work to rise from Onitsuka Tigers distributor to the world's 26th richest person. He was having a habit of reading books and to observe the leaders across to follow the right things. He also ensured that his thoughts, not only to reach every sales people from the company but also everyone should be on the same page and his belief on “Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results” made company to grow positively.