Hello! This week, Nike and Tiger Woods announced they'd be ending one of the most iconic (and lucrative) brand deals in sports history after some 27 years. To mark the end of the Big Cat/Shoe Dog partnership, we're diving into how huge collabs with some of the biggest names and teams in sports — and much more besides — have helped Nike change the sportswear game.

Out of the Woods‍

‍Nike's long-running partnership with Woods exemplified the boldness of the company's marketing model: go all out to ensure that the biggest present and future stars are wearing the famous logo — the golfer hadn't even hit a ball as a professional when he signed with Nike in 1996 — no matter the bill… which, in Tiger’s case, came to at least$500 million through the years, propelling Woods to become 1 of only 4 billionaire athletes.

‍Running with the stars

‍In 1964, Phil Knight and his track coach Bill Bowerman started Blue Ribbon Sports; 7 years later, that company rebranded to become the Nike that we know today, making a fresh start with what might be the best $35 ever spent on designing anything, anywhere — paid to graphic design student Carolyn Davidson for creating the famous swoosh.

That logo didn't carry much weight until it became associated with the performances of the very best athletes in the world. But, by the time Nike signed Tiger Woods in 1996, the company was well accustomed to dealing with the biggest names in sports. In fact, Nike’s first dance with star power came 24 years earlier when it signed Ilie Năstase in 1972, the first of many major tennis players to join the brand (later signing John McEnroe, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, and Rafael Nadal, to name but a few).

Not many like Mike

‍The fledgling retailer may have dipped its toe in the star-brand partnership via tennis and athletics, but it was the historic partnership with the Chicago Bulls’ third pick in the 1984 NBA draft, Michael Jordan, that truly elevated Nike to new heights. This deal flipped the script (and later became a script in the 2023 drama Air) on what a partnership could look like, leading to the creation of the multi-billion dollar Air Jordan brand — a line that, to this day, continues to bring in small-country-GDP levels of sales (coming in at more than $6 billion last year).

With a blueprint for success, Nike wasted little time in securing the biggest names in the biggest sports to wear the swoosh into competition, eventually extending beyond individual athletes. As of today, Nike holds the prestigious position of being the NBA's uniform sponsor, and top-tier soccer teams such as FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, and the US national sides all proudly don swoosh-laden kits, banking the millions, and sometimes billions, that come with a Nike sponsorship deal.

Strategic split

Why Tiger and Nike decided to part ways is somewhat unclear, although the fact that Woods is recovering from injuries after a life-threatening car crash, as well as the company shutting its golf equipment division in 2016, go some way in explaining the decision. Whatever the exact reason, the split comes at a more-difficult-than-usual time for the company, with Nike at something of a strategic crossroads.

Indeed, Nike has been struggling in recent times, with the company’s stock falling in consecutive years for the first time in history — a shock to the system for investors who’ve become used to impressive annual returns year after year. Just 3 weeks ago, the company announced it expected annual sales to grow a sluggish 1%, sending Nike stock tumbling. Execs pointed to the strong US dollar and weaker consumer demand over the holiday season to explain the latest quarter, as well as “macro” headwinds, digital traffic “softness”, marketplace promotions, and “life cycle management of key product franchises”.

In reality, this list of corporate jargon somewhat glosses over the truth of Nike’s current predicament: that there’s new, very serious, and well-backed competition on the starting block. Brands like Hoka, On Running, and a host of domestic competitors in China, are starting to slow the company’s growth. As Nike pursues $2 billion in cost cuts — while continuing to grow its lifestyle and fashion lines and execute a decades-long direct-to-consumer strategy — it runs the risk of jeopardizing or diluting its dominant position in sports. That’s a delicate balancing act, even for the master marketers at Nike.

However, even if the short-term feels a little more difficult, Nike execs can rest easy that the next generation of major consumers already love the brand — which, in long-term returns, might just do it.

Z-force

‍Among the many plaudits won by Nike marketers over the years, establishing the brand first as an aspirational athletic retailer and then an icon of streetwear is arguably the most impressive. In fact, that it has remained relevant at all is a feat in itself: not many brands that got their start in the 1960s are still popular, and even fewer remain at the forefront of fashion and culture.

But, somehow, Nike has managed it, resonating even with the youngest consumer cohorts. Indeed, Nike has consistently been US teenagers’ favorite brand over the past 12 years, per a biannual Piper Sandler survey.

In the footwear category specifically, Nike still comes up trumps year-over-year; the most recent poll, conducted for fall 2023, saw 61% of Gen Z respondents favoring Nike as their top pick for shoes, furthering the Shoe Dog’s impressive lead. The second most favored brand? Converse, which is owned by… Nike, having seen its revenue soar since being acquired in 2003 for $305 million.

Ticking boxes

‍But how has the some 60-year-old sneaker brand managed to maintain its ‘cool factor’— particularly within a demographic with a notoriously short attention span for trends?In unifying a spectrum of different divisions under one swoosh-embellished umbrella, Nike manages to at once appeal to Gen Z’s loyalty towards trusted brands and their championing of individualism and personalization (often nicely tying into Nike’s sporty ethos). Coupled with publicizing its sustainability targets and aligning the brand with social activism — exemplified by its 2018 ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick — Nike has made a name for itself with shoppers who weren’t even alive to see the brand’s 20th-century boom.

The company’s marketing strategy is also unique in its consumer-oriented approach. Although Nike preserves its nostalgic, instantly recognizable look on social media, the brand spans over 300 pages across more than 7 channels, including Instagram, which lists accounts such as @nike (306m followers), @nikesportswear (7.9m), @nikewomen (7m), and @nikerunning (5.7m).

Nike’s tailored social media reflects the cornerstone of its longevity: intentionally building a brand to be as popular in 60 years as it is today by appealing to an incredibly broad customer base. Backed up by decade upon decade of scoring points with consumers, it still rings true that, for Nike, there is no finish line.

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