I’ll never forget the day I received my first pair of Nike Air Jordan shoes. Growing up in the basketball crazy era of the 1980’s and early 90’s Michael Jordan was my hero. And Nike was my favourite brand. Funny that.
There is no doubting the influence Michael Jordan has had on the Nike brand. It’s a great story of an athlete and a sponsor coming together to create something special. But it nearly didn’t happen. Read this article about the history of Nike Air Jordan.
Nike believed in Michael.
So much so, they were willing to bet the company on him. But it took some convincing at the time.
This story provides us with a few lessons.
1. Athletes are sometimes better off aligning with a sponsor that is passionate about them, and not just the other way around.
2. Sponsors need to communicate and get their athletes involved when it comes to leveraging the name, image and likeness of the athlete.
3. Loyalty is important. Athletes should be prepared to stick with a sponsor that showed belief early in their career. Swapping to another sponsor in the same category can dilute an athlete’s own brand.
4. Get creative when selling sponsorship. Nike knew that had to convince Michael to sign with them and that wasn’t going to happen with boardroom drawl. They created a video to appeal to Jordan’s emotions – very creative for back then.
