Winning isn't for everyone (here). Sure, the copy was nice, the editing a far cry from its epic "You can't stop sport" (here). The ad above, which you need to read 6 times before getting it appeared yesterday. Compare this to the earth-shattering ads Nike did during the 1986 Atlanta Olympics (here). It tells you a lot that the two most hyped products Nike sent recently were the Bode Astro Grabber (here) and the LD-1000 it collaborated with Stussy on (here). That both the Astro Grabber and the LD-1000 were two of the oldest models ever launched by Nike says volumes.
Adidas struck gold with its terrace sneakers despite the small misstep of the SL72 (was it was misstep? Here). Sure no hype lasts forever, but Adidas so far is playing its hand very smartly with its Samba, Gazelle and SL 72 models. Instead of launching a billion variations of the Dunk and Air Force 1 as Nike did, it is rationing its output.
But the proof is in the pudding as they say. The other day I was in a certain place and on the counter four people were dressed in On sneakers. Four, in a row. This does tell you that everyone is eating up from the Nike share in the market. Of course, it is still a behemoth. But that it self-inflicted its problems is also a known fact - cutting ties with major distributors to fortify is direct to consumer channel, lack of development of new innovative products, and the list continues.
Sure, as I said, they are still a giant. But remember when the mobile phone market was locked between Nokia and Blackberry? Or when in the 70s and 80s Pony was literally the biggest sports brand in the world (google it I am not kidding). Just to be clear, I am not forecasting the demise of Nike, but man they should tighten their screws because as is, something is rotten in the kingdom of Beaverton, Oregon.