Nike has stepped on the gas in the Olympic Games to recapture its lost magic

Nike has stepped on the gas at the Olympics, which is betting everything on the advertising that will ensure the huge visibility it gains through the global event that monopolizes interest, in order to gain lost ground.

For years it has been the great dominant and leading sportswear chain in the world, but lately, several things have overshadowed its reputation, with noticeably reduced sales, which it is trying in every way to revive.

Huge investments in the Paris Olympics

"It seems that winning has lost its reputation these days. It's time to change that," Nike co-founder Phil Knight said publicly, referring to the company's major marketing campaign at the Paris Olympics.

Indeed, Nike shares plummeted as much as 20%, effectively losing about $28 billion in monetary value. Meanwhile, in June, management told investors that revenue was expected to decline this fiscal year.

Nike is in the midst of a $2 billion cost-cutting plan, including layoffs involving 2% of its workforce. "Cutting back" from there, it is investing it all in marketing, with the Olympics, which draws the world's attention to them, with a global audience watching them every day. And along with them the big brands that dress the athletes. However, Nike management has found other ways of promotion. For example, at the popular Pompidou Centre, a Paris landmark that is home to the Museum of Modern Art, Nike is holding an art exhibition on the history of Air Max sneakers.

At the same time, Nike has the largest number of athlete sponsorships among its competitors, according to Citi Research, and a significant roster of athletes.

Adidas vs. Nike

With a course perhaps opposite to Nike's, the winner's podium seems to be threatened by its big competitor, none other than Adidas. Unlike Nike, Adidas' revenues have seen an increase, according to financial results released these days, due to growth in both wholesale and its own retail sales - excluding sales of the Yeezy range. In fact, Adidas is aiming for revenues to grow at a rate of between 8% and 10% per year on average from 2021-2025.

Nike again, in addition to what we mentioned above, but having moved away from long-time wholesale partners, competing brands such as Hoka, On and New Balance, has lost market share which has gone to chains such as Foot Locker.

In general, the American Nike, created in the 1960s, dethroned the German Adidas, which dominated the sport, with a history that goes back to 1924. Nike gained timeless glamour and emerged as the dominant player, but Adidas made steady strides to the point of threatening it.

What is happening in Greece

In Greece, despite the fact that the sportswear market has been affected by geopolitical, macroeconomic challenges and consequently, supply chain dysfunctions, Adidas is progressing quite steadily and upwards.

According to the published financial results, the turnover of the company, which operates 11 retail stores, in fiscal year 2022 amounted to 173,726,225 euros, compared to 156,217,578 euros in the previous fiscal year, an increase of 11.21%. Owner-occupied fixed assets amounted to 4,026,053 euros, up from 2,668,744 euros in the previous year, an increase of 51% mainly due to renovations in existing stores.

Before the pandemic, but also the scandal of Folli Follie, which had the right to develop stores of the multinational, Nike had 22 stores in the country. Based on the global initiative, the company began to significantly reduce its footprint in Greece. Therefore, since then the scene has changed.

In fact, in November 2022, NIKE Hellas Unipersonal Ltd. of Advertising and Marketing of Footwear - Clothing and Sports Equipment and NIKE Hellas Unipersonal Ltd. of Retail Trade of Clothing, Footwear and Sports Equipment were deleted from the General Commercial Register (GEMI). And this was another heavy blow.

After the Folli Follie scandal, Nike passed into the hands of the Percassi group, which has already taken over the franchise in Spain and Italy. Antonio Percassi is known as the Italian retail and real estate tycoon who has even earned a spot on Forbes' list of the world's richest people. The Percassi group has even been associated with clothing and accessories of well-known brands around the world such as Benetton, Sisley, Zara, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull & Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, Swatch, Calvin Clein, Guess, Gucci, Ferrari, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger.