Word: nike
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Shoe designers finely tune each category of shoe to its particular activity by studying human motion and physiology. Reebok's baseball shoes, for example, have a specially designed cleat pattern called SpeedSlot for fast starts and stops. Crafty Nike marketeers have also invented in-between products, most notably the cross-trainer shoe, designed for an all-around athlete. Cross- trainers offer enough lateral support for the sideways motions of aerobics and basketball but are light and flexible enough for jogging...
...cutting edge of shoe science, Nike and Reebok are engaged in a battle that is based on thin air. The Air Nike line of basketball shoes, which contain pockets of compressed gas in the soles to provide cushioning, became an instant hit two years ago when transparent plastic windows were added to show off the air cells. The most popular model is the Air Jordan (price: $110), named for Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan, who receives an undisclosed royalty for each pair of shoes sold. This year Reebok is fighting back with its Energy Return System, found...
...rate was healthy by any measure, it was down from 29% the previous year. As they pour money into R. and D., the shoemakers hope to come up with new products that weekend athletes can't resist. One new customer of note: Batman, whose movie shoes were based on Nike's cross-trainer...
...shoemaker's fortunes rely heavily on advertising. Nike's theme, "Just Do It," which urges would-be customers to get off their couches and onto their exercise bicycles, has been widely praised. But Reebok's recent "Let U.B.U." ad campaign, which starred eccentric characters in surrealistic situations, was considered a bust. All the major manufacturers have hired celebrity pitchmen. Nike pays multitalented pro athlete Bo Jackson to sell its cross- trainer shoe, and Joan Benoit Samuelson to advertise its running line. L.A. Gear keeps retired Los Angeles Lakers star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on its payroll; his former coach Pat Riley...
Having paid heavily to pump up their images, footwear-makers capitalize on their cachet by emblazoning their emblems on clothing. Nike, whose apparel sales reached $208 million in fiscal 1989, sells hundreds of garments ranging from lemon-colored cotton jerseys to hot-pink bicycle shorts. Next spring Nike will launch an Aqua Gear line for wind surfers and other hardy types...