What a week...

I have been quietly enjoying some time off during my non-compete enforcement until this week, when – BAM - the athletic industry saw the equivalent of a tornado, an earthquake and a hurricane strike within a 36-hour window. Let’s review the damage:

1.     the unexpected resignation of Eric Liedtke at Adidas, 

2.     Kevin Plank out as CEO at Under Armour

3.     Mark Parker’s sudden resignation as Nike CEO

A friend of mine mused that the chances of winning the lottery would have been better than the chances of this happening within two days.  It’s all likely just a coincidence, just odd timing to see these heavy-hitters moving at three big brands, almost in unison.   Nevertheless, this was a breathtaking, historic couple of days for those of us in the industry.  

As I’ve talked to many of my colleagues, there was a common analogy; it was a bit like a jab to the nose – a unexpected and unpleasant experience leaving me stunned. 

Usually when you’re feeling a certain way, others around you are feeling it too, even if they aren’t saying it.

I think what’s NOT being said right now is how the industry lost some real fire this week.  

You can think whatever you like about these three industry leaders, but what cannot be denied is these have been highly influential personalities throughout their careers.  These are creative, gifted leaders who are now either out of the game or marginalized.   Here's what I see that sets each apart:

Mark Parker is a former All-American-runner-turned-product guy who came up through the ranks at the Swoosh to become CEO.  He’s built his legacy on the power of design AND he knows just how inspiring athletics and athletes can be.  There may be no single paragon, but he’s as close as I’ve seen.

Eric Liedtke understands his industry and how to both disrupt and engage its market.  He is obviously not afraid to try new ideas, and he knows how to execute them.  He delivered some impressive surprises for the three stripes which helped make the brand relevant again, while simultaneously re-writing the borders for what performance brands can do collaborating with other creatives.  

Kevin Plank built a 5-billion-dollar company in 20-ish years virtually on his singular passion.  He did so in a crowded market with a stretchy T-shirt, utilizing his gift for selling.  In doing so, he changed how teamsport athletes dressed forever, and seemingly overnight became competitors to adi and Nike.  Did I mention he became a billionaire in the process?

So, love or hate these guys, they’ve had real and important contributions to our industry.  With this week’s moves, there is a shocking amount of oxygen being sucked from the athletic industry’s atmosphere.  I’m still stunned.

Yet while many of us insiders see a seismic shift coming, many folks at Nike are echoing the party line – “the Brand is bigger than one man, it was planned, things will continue as they were” – but the truth is:   

Things. Will. Be. Different. 

Of course, Nike isn’t at risk, I’m not crazy enough to suggest that.  Even Mark states in his departure letter that he’s not going anywhere.  However, he will not be CEO, and this will leave a measurable gap for certain people and orgs within Nike, particularly the footwear and innovation teams. 

Given I haven’t worked at adi and I don’t know Eric Liedtke, I have less direct insight on the reaction inside adi to his departure.  I have worked in the industry more than 20 years and did spend time in Herzo at another brand, and my hunch is that Liedtke’s vision will be very difficult to replace, and that people there are quickly realizing what an important talent they’ve lost.  

Kevin Plank, for all his recent missteps, has always had an incomparable ability to inspire and motivate his audience in person. That ability to galvanize and lift the company is now likely gone.  Like Parker at Nike, Plank will remain at UA and will surely remain the Brand’s spiritual godfather, but his ability to motivate his Brand, and therefore the industry, will now be very limited.

And just for color, I’ll add here that I’m highly skeptical of Parker’s successor.  He’s clearly a smart guy with a very successful track record, and frankly I’m in no position to say anything about him given I’ve never been a CEO of anything.  But based on my professional experience, and what Nike history tells us, an outsider coming into Nike at that level has very little chance of success.   

If you are a student of this industry, you will remember the last time Nike tried this, it didn’t last long and didn’t end well.  I’m expecting the same here.  Maybe we even see Parker come back?  

The comments I’ve seen positioning Nike’s new CEO as bringing a digital slant to the role is just spin.  Sure, there are many aspects of Nike’s business which will depend on a digital advantage, and a visionary leader is needed.  But I find it impossibly hard to ignore the significance of swapping a design-driven shoe dog for a digital service commodity guy.  

Donahoe a highly qualified CEO on paper, but if we think of the culture at Nike as biology, it is very likely to reject this foreign body.  I also don’t see a long record of protecting and supporting creatives in his past, either.  Perhaps I’m being unfair to the new guy, but the culture at Nike is a very active, highly-effective system that has snacked on many an outsider, so let’s see if this is any different.  

Unquestionably, it will be a very new day inside the berm come January 2020, whether the black-badge folks care to admit it or not. Not everyone at Nike may notice these significant changes, but in certain corners of the kitchen or pantry, tears are being shed right now over the loss of Parker, and the unknown of Donahoe. Designers, I offer you my shoulder.

Liedtke was once rumored to be the next CEO of adidas, but apparently somewhere along the road, the Board must’ve changed their collective mind.  Or perhaps Eric changed his?  

Even though I don’t know Eric and never worked with him, it is a loss for all of us in the industry when someone like him leaves. I viewed him as a leader with a visionary marketing instinct as creative as the product and, by all accounts, he had a deep commitment to sustainability and the environment. This all stands as another important loss, and one I can’t help but speculate on, as to whether these beliefs and commitments somehow factored into his departure? Regardless, while not a CEO change at Adi, the industry has certainly lost a major influencer.

Plank isn’t the lead headline this week, as some have said his stepping aside should have happened several years ago.  Truth is, Plank’s role had already evolved in order to give Patrik Frisk, then COO, the space he needed to do his job.  This is still a significant announcement nevertheless. 

What I find most unique about Plank leaving the CEO role at UA is that he’s the only CEO the company has ever had.  I have worked at 3 brands – Nike, Puma and UA – I will say definitively that working at a founder-lead company is different.  For me, hearing directly from the founder about the early days of the brand and feeling his genuine passion, understanding the vision he has for the Brand was infectious and highly motivating.

The Street may like UA without Plank as CEO, and maybe it will eventually be a better company.  But it’s another big ball of fire that got pulled from the industry, and people at UA will feel this change, too.

To wrap this up, the sky isn’t falling, nor are we facing the apocalypse.  I’m no pundit trying to predict good or bad outcomes based on these moves, either.  I simply felt compelled to write this piece - and publicly share something for the first time - in order to memorialize such a significant week for the athletic industry.  Whatever your personal feelings for Mark, Eric and Kevin, we lost some major players this week.  I am sure we haven’t heard the last from them, but Nike, adidas and UA – indeed the industry - are different now.  Time may even reveal this week’s moves to be more significant than we realize.

The big question to me on the replacements is whether there is even a fraction of the product sense, passion and fire within them.  Personally, I am hoping for all of them to be successful, because a strong industry with great leadership makes us all better.