Before there was the Swoosh, there were two visionary-men who pioneered a revolution in the athletic-footwear industry.
When it comes to brands, nobody does it better than Nike. Its emblem has become one of the best-known corporate symbols. The Nike-Swoosh is a design created in 1971 by Carolyn Davidson, a graphic-design student.
Bill-Bowerman was a nationally respected track and field coach at the University of Oregon, who was constantly seeking ways to give his athletes a competitive advantage. Phil-Knight was a talented middle-distance runner from Portland.
Upon graduating from Oregon, Knight earned his MBA in finance from Stanford University, where he wrote a paper that proposed quality running shoes could be manufactured in Japan that would compete with more established brands.
He made a cold-call on the Onitsuka Co. in Kobe, Japan, and persuaded the manufacturer of Tiger shoes to make Knight a distributor of Tiger running shoes.
When the first set of sample shoes arrived, Knight sent several pairs to Bowerman, hoping to make a sale. Instead, Bowerman stunned Knight by offering to become his partner, and to provide his footwear design ideas to Tiger.
Via Nikebiz
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