It starts with Kobe Bryant being accused of rape in 2003. Bryant's face was all over the news, and the nation wanted to see him gone from nearly every product that he might possibly endorse. The case never went to trial and the civil suit was settled quietly. McDonald's dropped Bryant, but Nike did not.
Fast forward to Tiger Woods and his recent sex scandal. Accenture felt that Woods was not a good person to endorse their products. AT&T soon left his side also. But Nike? No way -- they stayed right there to the end, with Nike chairman Phil Knight saying that in the long-run, this whole situation would be nothing but a blip on the radar screen in the otherwise brilliant career of Tiger Woods.
Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers has been accused of rape not once, but twice. We don't know exactly what Ben actually did, but we know that he was never sent to jail for it. We also know that Ben was on television apologizing to the country for something, which probably says that he did something he wasn't supposed to be doing in the first place. Did Nike get rid of Ben? Nope.
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Nike has a model of corporation decision-making that is unlike most other companies across America. When an athlete misbehaves, even in a very public way, Nike is one of the few companies to stand strong against the backlash and not drop the athlete from their list of sponsors. This strategy has worked for the company for 40 years, and it seems to be working to this day.
"Nike, perhaps better than just about any other company, understands what motivates its customers to buy -- or even what may prevent them from buying," David Carter, executive director of the University of Southern California Sports Business Institute, told USA Today. "The outrage is not only relative, but consistently wanes over time. Where were all the protesters that were anticipated upon Michael Vick's return? How quickly did Kobe Bryant rehabilitate his reputation after some championships and an 81-point game?" Carter also noted that, "The behavior of the athletes Nike has under contract has far less impact on their sales because they are an endemic brand, and fans separate performance-related attributes from the police blotter."
What Professor Carter is trying to say is that Nike doesn't need its athletes to be good people, they only need them to be champions and winners. Some companies need athletes to behave in a manner that is acceptable to society, since companies choose them to endorse their products due to the respect the world has for them. Success on the playing field can translate into positive character portrayals in mass media. But with Nike, athletes only need to win on the court or the field, and even if they are bad people, Nike's customers will continue to buy the company's products. This makes good business sense.
Most can't argue that the Nike formula for success hasn't worked. The company started with almost nothing in 1964 and is now worth $30 billion dollars. For all the questions people might have of their business strategy, you have to believe they're doing something right.
Lawrence Watkins is the CEO of the Great Black Speakers Bureau. For more information, please visit LawrenceWatkins.com.
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Comments: (14)
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By: meanvee on 5/11/2010 2:51PM
Nike sticks with the bottom line: The Money, the sales don't dropoff and theres no backlash against the company.
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By: Evelyn on 5/14/2010 11:16AM
How can you format this article with such an empty question, without asking us why we kept a scandaLUST President in Clinton (the oval office player) please stop hating on these atheletes shortcomings their calling is not as high as the white house and at least they repented and ceased their wrongs can we say that about our much celebrated former president. hmmmmmmm irvfornsite
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By: Mary on 5/12/2010 1:08PM
Do not ask why!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Its MONEY!!!!!!!!
Stop crying about it. Because you parents keep buyng Nike shoes for your children. Stop buying Nike and see what happens
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By: johnny on 5/12/2010 1:56PM
Would many corporations stand behind wives who cheat on their husbands or have babies by men other than their husbands? The answer is yes. So move on.
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By: michelle on 5/12/2010 5:10PM
this article sucks, tiger woods was never charged w/ a crime. there wasn't and still isnt a reason to drop him, unlike kobe....the average man up the block does not loose his job or bonus because he cheated on his wife.....let it go already
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By: Lawrence Watkins on 5/12/2010 5:19PM
It looks like certain people are having an large emotional reaction to my article. The point of it was to provide some insight on why Nike supports athletes who have gotten into trouble instead of dropping them from their roster like other companies do. I find it to be an interesting policy primarily because it has been so successful.
Other companies like McDonald's and Accenture cater to different audiences where excellence is important to the brand, but other things like integrity/family are also important. So, financially, Nike is making a good decision because their brand never promised or was centered around anything other than excellence in sports.
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By: Neo on 5/12/2010 6:42PM
Ever consider that maybe Nike sticks with these players because irregardless of their shortcomings they still are some of the best at what they do? It`s as simple as that. Why even make an article asking such a redundant question and making a statement we all are already aware of?
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By: Lawrence Watkins on 5/12/2010 9:36PM
Neo, that is exactly what I was considering. It is not a redundant question as other companies like Accenture are dropping athletes with a bad reputation and their brand is predicated on "performance" too. I've been asked by many people why Nike is sticking with Tiger Woods, so not everyone understands this. I'm glad that you do though.
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By: 12bigman on 5/12/2010 6:57PM
I know these are diffrent situation Roethlisberger,Kobe,just to name a few are accused of sexual assault all except nike don't want them endorsing any of their products yet with the mention of Mike Vick's name comes up he went jail paid his debt to society and still to this day can't catch a break maybe he play for another team or not; i don't know if Kobe,Roethlisberger,Tiger,and you can add Adam"Pacman"Jones to the list after all the stuff he's done, he got signed with the Cincinatti Bengals, Vick should get sign with another team as well i'm not condoning what he did either.
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By: Robert A on 5/12/2010 7:11PM
Nike functions exactly like writers/media types who place inflamatory headlines to gain the audiences attention. As a famous rap song would say "Must Be The Money". When Kobe Tiger or anyone else truly costs them money they will be gone. They don't and therefore they are on the payroll
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