Since Mike was founded in 1964, their brand has extended from just manufacturing shoes to sweatpants; the highly popular Dir-fit t-shirts, icepacks, and the new Fuel bands which I will explain their purpose later. Mike seems to keep evolving with the ever-changing market in order to keep up with the competition such as under Armor and Ideas. There are many people who simply will not wear a certain item if it is not a popular brand name.
The Evolution of Mike Since the day Mike was founded in 1964 in Beaverton, Oregon by Bill Borrower and Phil Knight by using rubber and a waffle iron to make the sole of the first shoe, Mike has exploded onto the scene as one of the most popular brands on the market. Mike has gone from a few employees working in a garage to thousands of employees across the globe. “Mike directly employs more than 30,000 people across the globe, from designers and marketers to compliance monitors and accountants, to retail employees.
In addition, Mike contracts with manufacturers that employ more than 800,000 workers” (MIKE, Inc. , 2015). Nine’s Brand Extension Mike has extended their brand name from running shoes to just about every piece of clothing known to man as well as golf balls, basketballs, sunglasses and now the most technologically advanced product, the Mike Fuel band which tracks the distance of a walk or run, calories burned, time tracking, and new online programs for the Fuel band to show different running styles.
Mike know how to keep up with the ever-changing market competition such as Under Armor who is normally known for their sports performance enhancing undershirts and compression shorts recently came out with their first line of running shoes. Mike and under Armor seem to go back and for the exchanging punches to see who can produce the next hot item. In 201 3, Under Armor filed a lawsuit against Mike for trademark infringement. “Under Armor filed a complaint against Mike, alleging trademark infringement.
The trademark in question is Under Armor’s advertising phrase, “l Will,” which is part of a brand nevus marketing campaign. It is the first time that Under Armor has ever sued Mike” (Burke, 2013). Despite the competition from other up and coming brand names such as Under Armor and Ideas, Mike is still at the top of the apparel industry at an estimated worth of $22 billion. Potential Brand Extensions As stated earlier, Mike is known for their shoes and the famous Dir-fit apparel that every consumer enjoys.
Mike Dir-FlT is a high-performance, microfiche, polyester fabric that moves sweat away from the body and to the fabric surface, where it evaporates. As a result, Dir-FlT keeps athletes dry and comfortable” (Mike, 2015). So why not give that sense of comfort to the consumer on a nightly basis by producing a new product such as bedding? The Dir-fit material that is used in socks, shorts, underwear and t-shirts produced by Mike is revolutionary to the sporting industry so why not allow the consumer to be able to use this material to stay comfortable and dry urine the hot summer nights when the windows are open.
Another potential brand extension for Mike could potentially be Dir-fit covers for the consumer’s car seats. After playing a sport or being active, when player’s sweat, wouldn’t it be nice for the consumer to be able to sit on a comfortable seat cover that can gather the sweat and evaporate it instead of the consumer sitting in their sweat the whole way home and soaking into the seats. Overall, I believe the Dir-fit bedding would be a better seller than the seat covers due to the fact hat consumers can use the bedding on a daily basis.
Conclusion Mike has come quite a long ways since their founding in 1 964 when they were originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports. Mike encountered some issues along the way during their success story due to a lawsuit filed by Under Armor for copyright infringement. Despite the issues with Under Armor, Mike went on to have a record year in 2013 with $25 billion in sales. Over the years, Mike has evolved from just manufacturing shoes to extending their brand to t-shirts, polo shirts, golf clubs, watches, the Fuel band, plus much ore.
