Nike has forged an impeccable partnership with Michael Jordan. Giving him his line of shoes made him the face of the company. Jordan initially wished to be signed with Adidas or Converse. These corporations piqued his interest, given they had signed some of the other more prominent basketball names. However, with the combined efforts of Sonny Vaccaro, Phil Knight, and Howard White, MJ was finally convinced to sign the deal with Nike. And all of them had one basic idea, to portray MJ as a sort of “CEO”.
Advertisement
Nike offered MJ his own line of shoes, which athletes rarely saw back then. Jordan’s prolific ability to dominate the court and his dynamic off-court presence help the “Air Jordan” shoe line garner over $126 million in profits within a year. This was way more than Nike had expected. It was far beyond their initial projection of $3 million for 3 years.
In an interview with Nick Depaula, Howard White revealed the clever marketing strategy for Air Jordan’s success. The Nike executives’ initial faith in Jordan’s potential and greatness helped the corporation to sign the rookie from North Carolina.
“People needed to believe Michael Jordan was the CEO”: Howard White and Nike used ingenious marketing tricks
Creating a lifetime worth of value with the new Air Jordans was paramount for Nike executives. Although Sonny Vaccaro, Phil Knight, and Howard White had some initial concerns, they were sure that Michael would be the face of the company. And so he was. Howard White explains this with a simple analogy given to him by Phil Knight. White recalls Phil saying, “I think Mr. Mercedes has been dead a long time, and it’s amazing to me that the Mercedes-Benz could be riding down the street after that man’s been dead. So really, this [Air Jordans] can live on ad infinitum.”
Another aim of the new brand’s marketing strategy was to feed in the idea of ‘belief’ over fans. The fans could relate to Michael’s story and want to be like Mike- a CEO and a star basketball player. Elaborating further, White explains with several analogies,
“People needed to believe that. They needed to believe, ‘Michael Jordan, CEO. Wow, he’s the CEO of his brand. Oh my goodness, you can be anything in life.’ And those are the building blocks that started it. You know, I’ve been in airports and with mothers that would say, ‘Those are some expensive shoes. But I told my little Johnny if he got good grades, I would get him some.’ And nine times out of 10, little Johnny got good grades. Mothers that told their children, ‘If you work hard enough, you could be like the man that can fly.’ I mean, so those things aren’t about basketball. They’re about the indomitable will to be more and to overcome, and I thought that’s what Michael Jordan was.”
It was true that Michael Jordan had a strong mindset and the ability to bear through anything. Howard White was impressed by young Jordan’s mindset and ethics, which he used as a marketing tactic for Air Jordans.
The idea is to become like Jordan by getting something as precious as Jordan’s value in the sport. That’s what Air Jordans sought to become at that time, which they surely achieved by millions of miles.
Howard White once played ping-pong with Michael Jordan and felt his competitive drive
Michael Jordan was competitive through and through. Whether in golf, ping pong, basketball, or business, he always wanted to stand out as the best. Jordan and White had forged a close bond following the Air Jordan deal. The duo often spent time together and played ping pong at White’s house. Howard would usually beat Michael in this game.
When Michael returned to Chicago, he bought a ping pong table and set it up in his basement. He would ensure everyone coming to his place played ping pong with him. He would practice playing the game daily with the Bulls team or the media.
In a short time, Michael Jordan had become both a great basketball player and a good ping-pong player. As Howard White notes, this is a resilient example of his competitive drive and spirit.
