603 - Brief 07 - Nike SB's History

I know began to consider in more depth how brands such as Nike have impacted this transition within the sub-culture, where I found this interesting piece of academic writing:

How Did Nike Get the Swoosh into Skateboarding? A Study of Authenticity and Nike SB
- by Brandon Gomez

The author lays out in 90+ pages the ingenious tactics Nike used to get into our skate-shops.

To start, the author Brandon Gomez breaks down a comprehensive history of Nike within skateboarding, from when skateboarders embraced the shoes in the ’70s and ’80s, to when Nike officially entered the market for the first time in the ’90s and again the ’00s with their specialized Nike SB line. From there he takes us through all the strategies Nike SB implemented in 2002 to finally enter skateboarding successfully. They made product available only within core skateshops, they hired key members within the skateboard industry, and they advertised only in skateboard magazines and sponsored well-respected professional skateboarders.

The only down-side to this is that the study was done in 2012, so a lot of it is outdated with the rise of Instagram, online parts, and the rapid acceleration of the Nike program over the last 6 years.

This study of Nike SB as a brand is valuable because it breaks down how any outside company can weave themselves into the fabric of any other insular subculture, not just skateboarding. Over the last decade we have seen this happen at an accelerated pace, (just look at hiphop and EDM), making this Nike case study an extremely valuable manual on corporate strategies of market penetration.
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A History of Nike in Skateboarding

In order to discuss Nike’s current status in the skateboard community, it is crucial to understand the history of Nike’s entrance into skateboarding. Although Nike officially entered into skateboarding in 2002 with the Nike SB brand, Nike’s history in skateboarding extends well beyond this, dating back to the early 1970s. 

The 1970s and 80s – Skateboarders discover Nike 

The true arrival of Nike into the skateboarding culture can be traced back to 1972. 

This is the year Nike released the Blazer shoe model, which was the first basketball shoe to possess the famous swoosh symbol. Skateboarders during the 1970s were searching for shoes that offered ankle support, protection, and board-feel, which they found in non-skate shoes like the Nike Blazer (Jürgen & Schmid, 2008). 

Throughout the late 1970s the Nike high-top Blazers became the preferred skate shoe for many professional skateboarders. 
(40 years of the Nike Blazer - http://blog.urbanoutfitters.co.uk/?p=10480)

In 1987, a skateboarding video featuring five legendary skateboarders (including Tony Hawk), titled Search for Animal Chin, sparked a Nike resurgence in the skateboarding world (Jürgen & Schmid, 2008). 
Throughout the video, the well-known skateboarders are all seen sporting Nike Jordan I basketball shoes. Along with the release of Animal Chin in the late 1980s, the Jordan 2 began initial releases in US stores as well, leading to massive discounts of the Jordan 1 models. These two factors led to a craze for Nike Jordan 1 models in skateboarding that lasted well into the early 1990s. According to Nike SB shoe 9 designer, James Arizumi, “the Jordan 1 is THE quintessential skate shoe” (Jürgen & Schmid, 2008, p. 107). 

The 1990s – Nike discovers skateboarders 

Throughout the 1990s Nike began to dabble in the skateboarding industry. In 1994 Nike experienced another brief accidental success with their tennis shoe called the GTS, and a year later Nike sponsored the first edition of the 1995 ESPN X-Games (Jürgen & Schmid, 2008). After this unplanned success in skateboarding with the GTS, Nike decided to launch a series of advertisements directed towards skateboarders. The 1997 campaign, called “What if,” featured depictions of mainstream sports participants being treated poorly like skateboarders. The tagline to the ads was, “What if all athletes were treated like skateboarders?”

Unfortunately for Nike, although these clever ads did receive a lot of attention, Nike shoes simply did not meet the criteria for skateboarders. In a review of Nike by Dave Carnie in Big Brother Magazine, he described the soles as too thick and simply concluded that, “their shoes suck” (Jürgen & Schmid, 2008, p. 284). Piney Kahn, of Sole Technology, believes that Nike’s flop in 1998 was due to two factors. First, Nike’s plan was too engineered and it tried to “buy its way into the market and camouflage what it was” (Montgomery, 2002a, p. 3). Secondly, the product was simply not up to par and did not hold up to skateboarder’s standards. The poor shoe design alongside the mass-market ad campaign forced Nike to pull the shoe line after only one year (Robertson, 2004). 

2002 – Nike SB is born 

In 2002 Nike saw another opportunity in skateboarding and decided to take a serious step into skateboarding and released their Nike SB (skateboarding) line of shoes. In a 2005 interview Sandy Bodecker, Nike SB Vice President at the time, believed that those working on the 1998 campaign simply did not get the necessary support they needed and that the 2002 launch was the “first real effort… to get into it in a serious way and not just dabble”. Bodecker felt that Nike’s initial success relied on three crucial factors: Nike had to commit to the project for at least 5 years, involve skateboarders in the design processes, and reissue the Nike Dunk shoe model (Robertson, 2004). 

After listening to skateboarder needs and employing skateboard insiders for the design team, Nike released the Nike Dunk SB with the 2002 line, a rebirth of the original 1985 Nike Dunk basketball shoe (Crockett, 2005). In order to help successfully springboard the new Dunk SB line, Nike collaborated with other major skate companies, such as Zoo York, and well-known professional skateboarders. Nike also released limited edition lines, like the “City Series,” and sold the shoes only in specialty skateboard shops (Crockett, 2005; Bobbyhundreds). 

Nike’s strategy of selling only to specialty skate shops became a major factor to their success in skateboarding (Montgomery, 2002b). Nike stressed that the SB shoe line should not be available in the malls and other large retail stores. Along with reaching out to core skate shops, Nike also hired well- 11 regarded people in the skateboard community to work on the Nike SB shoe line, including skateboarder Kevin Imamura. Imamura, global marketing manager for Nike SB, believes that hiring people from within the skateboard industry was one of Nike’s most important moves (Gumz, 2006). The bottom line was that Nike needed to earn the respect of the core skateboard community. In order to get this “street cred,” Nike SB developed a simple overall strategy: sell only to core skate shops, advertise only in skateboard magazines, and sponsor well respected professional skateboarders (Robertson, 2004; Jürgen & Schmid, 2008). 

2004 & 2005 – A turning point 

After only two years, Nike SB had already seen tremendous success in the skateboarding market with the Nike Dunk SB and other shoe models. Many, however, consider 2004 the most important turning point for Nike SB (Berg, 2005; Jürgen & Schmid, 2008). 2004 was significant because during this year Nike SB added skateboarder Paul Rodriguez Jr. to its already outstanding roster of professional skateboarders. Paul Rodriguez signed a multi-million dollar contract with Nike and became the first skateboarder to receive a signature shoe from the company a year later in 2005, called the Nike SB P-Rod. Upon receiving this honour, P-Rod also became the first Mexican-American athlete to have his own signature shoe with Nike (Jürgen & Schmid, 2008). According to Mr. Imamura, “We don’t give out signature shoes to many people. We were looking for someone with a 12 stature like Paul, in terms of his ability, reputation, and track record. He’s someone who can really carry a signature shoe” (Berg, 2005, p. 1). 

2004 and 2005 were also important years because during this time Nike was able to sign other renowned professional skaters to their roster including: Chet Childress, Wieger Van Wageningen, Omar Salazar, Stefan Janoski, Brian Anderson (Jürgen & Schmid, 2008). In 2005, Nike team rider and skateboarding legend Lance Mountain, also announced the release of the Nike Blazer SB. The Blazer SB would be a transformed version of the original 1972 Blazer that could handle the demands of skateboarders while still appealing to its nostalgic skateboarding roots. 

2007 to present – Nike SB continues to grow 

Riding the waves of success created by the Nike SB P-Rod shoe model and continued demand for the Dunk SB and other shoe models, Nike continued to make positive headway into skateboarding. Nike did not stray from the formula that had proved successful up to this point. Nike SB continued to sign well-known professional skateboarders like skateboarding icon Eric Koston, as well up-and-coming skateboarding prodigies for its amateur team. Nike SB also made it a point to sponsor skateboarding events on both the local and national levels (Higgins, 2007; Hoye, 2007). 

Another tactic Nike SB began to use was the release of full-length skate videos. These 30 to 60 minute videos act as both promotional tools for skateboard companies and entertainment for skateboarders. The distribution of these videos is basically a necessity for any company that wants to appear 13 authentic to the core skateboarder market (Yochim, 2010). Nike SB did not ignore this detail and produced a variety of skateboarding videos including: On Tap (2004), Nothing but the Truth (2007), Debacle (2009), Don’t Fear the Sweeper (2010), and even a collaboration with skaters from Gift, a Chinese skateboard company, titled It’s a Wrap (2009). 

Nike Also released two more professional shoe models. In 2009, professional skateboarder Stefan Janoski became the second ever to receive his own pro model for Nike, called the Zoom Stefan Janoski SB. The next year, Nike announced the March 20th, 2010 release of the latest pro model shoe. The Zoom Omar Salazar SB, named after pro skater Omar Salazar, is the third and final pro model shoe Nike SB has released to this date. 

In 2010, Nike announced its first quarter profits had climbed 9%. Nike stated that this progress was driven by growth in each of the Nike Brand categories, including Action Sports (Lewis, 2010). On May 5th, 2010 Nike announced its global growth strategy for 2015. NIKE Brand President, Charlie Denson, offered an overview of Nike’s strategy for growth until the end of the 2015 fiscal year. Denson described Nike’s Action Sports category, which consists of Nike 6.0 and Nike SB, as the fastest growing category within the Nike Brand (Nikebiz, 2010). He also estimated that Nike’s Action Sports category currently generates $390 million in business, and that Nike hopes to double this figure by the end of 2015 (Nikebiz, 2010).

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An interesting section of the academic source goes into further detail of how brand personality and brand identity have played such a huge role in the development of any brand - more specifically Nike within the skateboarding industry.

Brand Theory: Brand Personality 

In his 1996 book, Building Stong Brands, David Aaker lays out four perspectives that a brand can utilise in developing a ‘brand identity.’ One of these perspectives relates most specifically to this research and the case of Nike’s successful entry into skateboarding as an authentic brand: Brand personality, or the brand as a person. In order for Nike to relate to 21 skateboarders, they needed to portray a personality that was representative of the skateboarding culture as a whole. Aaker (1996) defines brand personality as “the set of human characteristics associated with a given brand.” Brand personalities are also extremely important when a company is trying to distinguish themselves from other brands, and “carve out a niche in the consumer’s mind” (Upshaw, 1995). 

The creation of brand personality relies on attributes that are both directly related and non-related to the product. Characteristics that are directly related to a product include price, packaging, and category of product (in this case shoes). It is the non-related product characteristics that will be more important in this specific case. Some important non-related characteristics include: sponsorships, celebrity endorsements, ad style, and user imagery. 

Sponsorships, in this case, refer to the actual events that the brand or company sponsors and the effect that these sponsorships have on the perceived personality of a brand. Does Nike SB sponsor large events like the X-Games or smaller, localised events like skateboard demos at local shops? A celebrity endorsement, in this case, refers to the professional and amateur skateboarders that Nike SB sponsors. The personalities and prowess of each of these skateboarders, and the Nike SB team as a whole, certainly has an effect on the perceived brand personality of Nike within skateboarding. Upshaw (1995) argues that by utilizing a brand spokesperson, the personality traits of that person will transfer into the brand itself. 

User imagery refers to the way that the users, in this case the skateboarders within Nike’s ads and videos, are seen using the product. If the users are seen having expressing some traditional values of the skateboarding culture in these ads and videos, such as skateboarding for pure enjoyment and de-emphasising competition (Yochim, 2010), then Nike’s brand personality will become associated with these values as well. After learning from its initial mistakes in the late 90s, Nike launched a variety of new advertisement campaigns that were much more successful. Unlike the “What If” ad campaign, which addressed a mainstream audience and referenced team sports, the 2002 “My First Sponsor” campaign focused on the personality of skateboarders. The concept of the ads was to let Nike’s team riders choose someone from their background who had a positive influence on them on their way to becoming a professional skateboarder, who would also be featured in the ad with them. The personalities of the individual skateboarders on the Nike team were the focus of these advertisements, not the product or even the activity of skateboarding (Jürgen & Schmid, 2008). The riders and their family and friends were shown prominently in the ads, while a barely visible, miniature Nike swoosh logo was hidden on an object in the background (Jürgen & Schmid, 2008). This subtle concept helped start Nike’s rebound in the skateboard community. Through featuring these ads strictly in skateboard magazines, they were able to utilize the personalities of the professional skateboarders to successfully springboard the new Nike SB brand. 

As Vaid (2003) describes, brand personality “does not refer to the personality of the consumers. Rather, it’s designed to be a personality that attracts the right people.” In this case, the right people are skateboarders, and in order to attract skateboarders to a product, a brand needs to be very careful in the type of personality it wants to portray