hferic
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new balance 420 ,But it's more than that. Nike courts controversy. For instance, Nike donated $25, 000 to Tonya Harding's defense fund in 1994, in part to tweak Reebok, the sponsors of Nancy Kerrigan. Nike's analog isn't the conservative team owner, but the cocky superstar who sets the agenda and is so wildly popular he knows he can get away with just about anything. "Nike is at times feisty, or counterestablishment, deliberately, " says Spence, the business school dean. "That's partly Phil and partly the athletic culture Nike is modeled after. "
new balance 420 womens ,As Nike ran away with the athletic-shoe market in the '80s, these criticisms were merely annoying pebbles wedged in its shoes. But then the company made a fatal mistake, one of great hubris. It forgot about the women. When the aerobic fad hit in the mid-'80s, Nike ignored it. But fledgling Boston-based Reebok high-stepped right in, creating a somewhat flimsy, but attractive shoe that women bought like tickets to a Meryl Streep movie. Reebok's sales surpassed Nike's in 1987. That struck a nerve, as it flouted, even mocked, Knight's bedrock belief that, above all, authenticity and function sell shoes. To this day, Knight scorns Reebok and its chairman, Paul Fireman, for its emphasis on fashion. "We're not in the fashion business, as the Wall Street Journal wrote the other day, " says Knight, clearly still peeved. "We're in the sports business, and there's a big difference. "
new balance 574 ,Realigned, Nike replaced Reebok at the top of the charts in 1989 and has remained there ever since. Nike outdistanced its competitors by moving beyond basketball, tennis and track to control the women's and outdoor markets. (Nike also owns Cole-Haan, the dress-shoe manufacturer, and Canstar Sports Inc., the world's largest hockey equipment company. )#) Nike still takes risks and challenges the sports establishment, but much of the criticism leveled against the company has quieted. Nike has become a major player in promoting women's sports as well as funneling money into inner-city sports programs.
new balance 410 ,How do you market a pair of $300-plus sneakers? If you're Nike, you just do it quietly. And by acting like you're not marketing them at all. Nike found itself embroiled in the middle of another controversy this week when news surfaced that it's planning its most-expensive sneaker ever: the LeBron X. A high-end version of LeBron James' signature shoe embedded with Nike + technology will cost $315, The Wall Street Journal reported.
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