The autumn household cleaning is best topped off by pouring new potpourri in a basket to provide a scent of freshness as fall brings on the holiday season. Nike is focused on their own fall, but instead of waiting until spring for a bloom flower of resurgence, the Swoosh is adjusting and diversifying their marketing and products.
The last four years saw Nike doubling down on Panda Dunks and Air Jordan 1s. The company still has a ton of those styles in the pipeline, but they feel more like Chuck Taylors than anything the company is attempting to elevate.
This isn’t a slight to Nike’s subsidiary stalwart, but a nod to the reality of what the Dunk and Jordan 1 are. Those models are finally settled in as staple options to be purchased as a de facto statement vs an individual fashion or style presentation. Folks don’t buy them to be cool anymore. There isn’t an emotional attachment and for Nike this was bad because the brand didn’t seem to have anything else working.
Pictured above is the Zoom Fly 6 striding down a city street on a morning run. The last four years saw Nike somewhat abandon the morning run. In the last month or so Nike found that the smell in their house was stale. The last four years was a team spraying air freshener, but no one had dusted or vacuumed. The windows weren’t opened, and the air circulation was compressed air-conditioned flows through vents. Nike was sitting inside of its house and not going for that jog, so they didn’t realize how the house smelled. Nike was noseblind.
Products are in the pipeline a year out. Nike has an abundance of styles in their catalog. Even as Panda Dunks and Jordan 1s dominated, hidden in the cleaning closet were various scents of potpourri, but they weren’t highlighting it.
Then a month ago Nike postponed its Investor’s Day. Elliot Hill was welcomed back and the energy felt different. There was Joy… literally. The video above saw Nike put on their running shoes. They opened the door and walked out into a blinding sun. Nike took the painful first steps on the run and when they got back to the house, they could smell how stale it was.
Fall Cleaning
In the lead of this post is a picture of new releases from the Swoosh. On the homepage of the Nike site, they lead with the new LeBron 22, a sneaker that for the first time in 8 years they reduced the price on:
Nike Moves in the Right Direction with LeBron XXII but Not Far Enough
Items below the fold/scroll are Pegasus Gore-tex running, Vomero and a new sneaker offering an alternative to the Tom Sachs designed trainer (although they didn’t part ways with the designer), the C1TY, but buried in the site are a bevy of interesting silos waiting for a breakout moment. Nike can pivot and move in almost any direction. What’s interesting now is they appear to be revisiting another foundational sport.
Nike has always been rooted in running, but they also dominated in tennis. A year ago, Nike tried to recapture tennis magic with a flawed John McEnroe and Travis Scott campaign geared towards sneaker culture. The Nike Attack retro sneaker fell flat and is now at Clearance and Factory Stores for a fraction of the price.
Nike has returned to tennis, they aren’t marketing it just yet, but that return to tennis feels tied directly into the momentum around Pickleball. Nike has more expensive court trainers, but they also have an Andre Agassi inspired Court Lite (above) and Court Vapor Lite, both ringing up under $100 bucks. Both sneakers are waiting for a McEnroe vs Serena inspired pickleball ad.
Nike is at its best when they aren’t sitting inside of their castle relying on the retro moat. The moat is supposed to allow the brand time to recover after an attack to better prepare their strategy. People are discussing Hill’s move into the CEO spot, but they aren’t paying attention to the product mix. Brands fall short when they attempt to be everything to everyone, but not Nike. Nike can play their position in every arena.
It appears the Swoosh is out of hibernation. It takes a while to get the windows open and for the stale scent to exit, but I think they know this and the brand doesn’t seem to mind poking fun at itself:
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