Quick Intro: Nike Company History

 A quick intro into Nike Company History begins in 1958.  The company was started by a track runner by the name of Phil Knight and his coach, Bill Bowerman. Phil had a desire to make a great running shoe for Americans, while Phil's University of Oregon track coach, Bill Bowerman had a desire to create a lighter shoe for his players. Both men had a true dedication in track and field and wanted athletes to be able to perform at their best competitive level. Phil, along with his coach Bill Bowerman, decided to design a running shoe. Once they had their shoe design, they approached a shoe manufacturer to create it.

Nike Company was originally called Blue Ribbon Sports, but was soon changed to Nike. In 1968, the company was officially named Nike, Inc. The name was chosen because of its meaning of the Greek goddess of victory.  Soon after, in 1971, the now famous "swoosh" type logo, created by Caroline Davidson, was added to become a part of Nike company history. The logo has changed slightly throughout the years, but the swoosh design has remained a staple of the logo. Now, the Nike logo is world known as a symbol for Nike.

In 1972, Phil Knight persuaded four of the best Olympic marathon runners to wear Nike company shoes while competing. Additionally, in 1972, the first waffle shoe was invented.  This shoe provided more traction for playing sports such as football.

Nike company began to branch out into other lines, including clothing.  They reached out to famous sports athletes such as Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and Lance Armstrong to display their famous logo while playing their sport. Nike stuck by Lance Armstrong when he was stricken with testicular cancer. More recently, Nike has stuck by Tiger Woods in the face of his sex scandal. Nike has had aggressive advertising campaign during its existence, including the famous slogan "Just Do It". The company is a public company that is traded on the NYSE under the symbol NKE with a revenue of nearly $7 billion.

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Nike: History