Duke University’s Zion Williamson, an NBA draft-pick favorite, injured his right knee in a game Wednesday after his foot burst out of his Nike sneaker. “His shoe broke,” former President Barack Obama was heard saying courtside. While Williamson is expected to recover, marketing experts wonder how Nike will weather the fallout. The iconic sports-apparel brand’s shares slipped on Thursday. Nike says it’s working to identify the cause of the mishap.
Nike's brand as a quality shoe maker came into question last night during a college basketball game. What should the company do next? ? Zion Williamson, a Duke small forward projected to be the #1 recruit in the NBA draft, fell on the court and his left Nike sneaker completely fell apart on impact. The incident didn't just happen during any game, it happened during one of the most closely watched rivalry games in college sports: Duke/UNC. To make things even worse for Nike, Barack Obama was in the stands to witness the incident. The former president shared on Twitter to his 105 million followers that he hopes Williamson has a "speedy recovery." ?If you were in charge or PR, marketing or brand for Nike, what would you do next? Is there anything positive that could come from an incident that gets this much exposure? I look forward to seeing your thoughts in the comments below.
Nike builds its reputation around creating premier shoes and clothes for athletes, but that image took a hit with Zion Williamson's sneaker snafu. https://lnkd.in/ecBWJFs
Nike's brand as a quality shoe maker came into question last night during a college basketball game. What should the company do next? ? Zion Williamson, a Duke small forward projected to be the #1 recruit in the NBA draft, fell on the court and his left Nike sneaker completely fell apart on impact. The incident didn't just happen during any game, it happened during one of the most closely watched rivalry games in college sports: Duke/UNC. To make things even worse for Nike, Barack Obama was in the stands to witness the incident. The former president shared on Twitter to his 105 million followers that he hopes Williamson has a "speedy recovery." ?If you were in charge or PR, marketing or brand for Nike, what would you do next? Is there anything positive that could come from an incident that gets this much exposure? I look forward to seeing your thoughts in the comments below.
Or if you are a competitor like Adidas, what would you do next too?!
Nike's brand as a quality shoe maker came into question last night during a college basketball game. What should the company do next? ? Zion Williamson, a Duke small forward projected to be the #1 recruit in the NBA draft, fell on the court and his left Nike sneaker completely fell apart on impact. The incident didn't just happen during any game, it happened during one of the most closely watched rivalry games in college sports: Duke/UNC. To make things even worse for Nike, Barack Obama was in the stands to witness the incident. The former president shared on Twitter to his 105 million followers that he hopes Williamson has a "speedy recovery." ?If you were in charge or PR, marketing or brand for Nike, what would you do next? Is there anything positive that could come from an incident that gets this much exposure? I look forward to seeing your thoughts in the comments below.
As a Duke alum it was hard to watch....and I hope Zion recovers quickly. As someone who advises companies on risk management, there are immediate steps that Nike should take as every company should in these situations: a) acknowledge and take responsibility/promise a thorough investigation (Nike has already done this), b) inform the public of steps that will be taken to pro-actively address the malfunction. From an employment point of view or contractual point of view I wonder about theories of liability.
Nike's brand as a quality shoe maker came into question last night during a college basketball game. What should the company do next? ? Zion Williamson, a Duke small forward projected to be the #1 recruit in the NBA draft, fell on the court and his left Nike sneaker completely fell apart on impact. The incident didn't just happen during any game, it happened during one of the most closely watched rivalry games in college sports: Duke/UNC. To make things even worse for Nike, Barack Obama was in the stands to witness the incident. The former president shared on Twitter to his 105 million followers that he hopes Williamson has a "speedy recovery." ?If you were in charge or PR, marketing or brand for Nike, what would you do next? Is there anything positive that could come from an incident that gets this much exposure? I look forward to seeing your thoughts in the comments below.
Nike's shares are falling today after last night's brand nightmare at one of college basketball's biggest games of the year. #Duke sensation Zion Williamson (some consider him Jordan, Lebron caliber...) fell and sprained his knee just 30 seconds into the much-hyped battle against #UNC when his Nike PG 2.5 PE shoe completely fell apart. Williamson will recover, of course, and Nike's immediate fallout will probably just be a (rather large) dose of embarrassment. Longer term, though, it could provide an opening for a rival brands like #adidas or #Puma (which is pushing back into basketball) to make a big play for signing Williamson when he turns pro. How much of a lasting effect do you think this will have on Nike, which currently dominates the basketball market? Remember to follow #Bloomberg on LinkedIn
Veterans Specialist Officer | Over 15 Years of Advocacy & Strategic Planning | Championing Veterans' Access to Benefits, Education, and Healthcare
Most people are viewing this situation as a nightmare for #Nike but it's not. Most #consumers who purchase and wear Nike don't wear them to play sports, they wear the #brand for style. Nike will continue to exceed #sales expectations for this reason. It's a sad situation for Zion and we wish him the best.
I would argue that many people don't wear the brand for style, but rather for the prestige that the brand carries. This blowout could hurt Nike's prestige by giving the impression that they produce low quality products. Furthermore, use and promotion of Nike's products by athletes contributes greatly to the brand's prestige. If athletes stop wearing and promoting the brand out of injury fears, that further serves to harm the brand's prestige.?
I lost it watching Zion Williamson's Nike shoe explode during the Duke-UNC game yesterday. And, I wasn't the only one. After getting extremely distracted on Twitter during the game, here's the roundup about people freaking out about Nike for Business Insider
Director of Strategy and Growth at SIRIS USA focused on design and construction business development and growing our team across the U.S.
Nike should apologize and communicate quickly on this incident. Also hopefully they can get Zion to speak on their behalf accepting apology and showing his support of Nike in some way. Maybe he’s had many other pairs of Nike shoes that have performed well and only this pair malfunctioned??