FinanceBBC

What's gone wrong at Nike? How the world's sportswear giant lost its mojo

Nike's share price has fallen 75 per cent over five years after a string of strategic missteps, and the brand just lost football star Kylian Mbappé to Swiss rival On.

Several self-inflicted mistakes have cost the biggest sportswear brand on the planet in recent years.

The Long Sip
What happened

Nike is in the middle of a turnaround plan after losing hundreds of billions in market value, and was recently ejected from the S&P 100 index of top US blue-chip companies.

The detail

Analysts point to self-inflicted errors including cutting retail partnerships, making limited-edition shoes too widely available, and diverting research spending away from new products.

What it means

The loss of Kylian Mbappé to fast-growing rival On raises fresh questions about whether Nike can hold its status as the go-to brand for elite athletes and their fans.

Full story at BBC

What readers are saying

PerimenopauseAdvocate_Jen
Shifting R&D funds toward digital operations instead of product innovation is where the strategy fell apart. 📉 When a company tries to turn itself into an online marketplace, it loses the physical edge that kept athletes loyal in the first place.
NannaDaniel
Hard to stay on top when spending research money on online operations instead of new products.
gary_ipswich
Powell reckons they killed innovation by chasing direct sales, but the real problem might be simpler - they just made too many shoes and flogged them everywhere until owning Nikes meant nothing anymore.
PilatesMum_Liv
Losing Mbappé after two decades is telling. 🤔 Athletes want to feel special.
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