Nike was built on backing winners. Today, it's backing reissues.
I'm Mustafa Akindele, a brand partnerships consultant in London with 20+ years across music, luxury, hospitality and sport. This is Case Study 03: what I'd do if I were Nike's chief marketing officer.
Prefer to watch? The 5-minute video is on YouTube.
The bet
In 1984 Nike signed a rookie who hadn't played a single NBA game. It hoped his shoe would sell $3 million in four years. Air Jordan sold $126 million in its first year.
That's the Nike playbook: find the winner before everyone else does, and back them fully.
Forty years later, the numbers are going the other way. Nike's revenue fell from $51.4 billion in fiscal 2024 to $46.3 billion in fiscal 2025, and the company expects revenue to decline by high single digits again in fiscal 2027.
So what would I do as CMO? Bet on winners again. Starting in Hollywood.
The Hollywood effect
Some of Nike's most valuable marketing was never an advert. It was a scene.
Do the Right Thing (1989). In Spike Lee's Brooklyn, Buggin' Out, played by Giancarlo Esposito, has his brand-new white Air Jordan 4s scuffed by a passing cyclist. The camera closes in on the mark and he scrubs it with a toothbrush. It's a comic beat with serious undertones about race and gentrification, and it told a generation exactly what mattered on your feet. Years later, Jordan Brand released a replica pack, toothbrush included.
Back to the Future Part II (1989). Marty McFly lands in 2015 and his Nikes lace themselves. On the exact day in the film, 21 October 2015, Nike made them real.
Forrest Gump (1994). Jenny gives Forrest a pair of Cortez, and he runs across America in them.
In each case, culture did the selling. And the people making that culture were winners at the top of their game.
The attention war
The screen that made those moments has changed. Film now competes with social media, gaming and streaming. The studios are consolidating: Paramount Skydance completed its roughly $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery in October 2026.
Attention is shrinking too. Professor Gloria Mark's research found the average time we stay on one screen fell from about 150 seconds in the early 2000s to just 47.
An unboxing gets scrolled. A scene gets remembered.
How Nike slipped
Under former chief executive John Donahoe, Nike pulled back from retailers to sell direct through its own app and stores. When shelves at Foot Locker and Dick's emptied, On, Hoka and New Balance filled them.
Innovation slowed and the classics were milked: endless Dunk, Air Force 1 and Jordan colourways. Elliott Hill took over in October 2024 and has since cut classic footwear franchises by more than $2 billion.
The scoreboard
The good news: sport is working. Nike says its "Sport Offense" is driving measurable progress across performance, with running, football and basketball growing.
The weak spots are Sportswear and Jordan streetwear, and Converse fell 28% last quarter.
Jordan isn't finished. But Gen Z and Gen Alpha never watched him play. Nike can't keep reissuing 1989. It needs the next icon, and the moment that introduces them.
The plan: three steps
1. Back Hollywood's proven winners.
Nike didn't sign hopefuls. It signed Jordan. Do the same with directors.
Ryan Coogler made Black Panther, then Sinners, an original film that proved his name alone fills cinemas. Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer took close to a billion dollars and won him Best Director. Add Greta Gerwig, whose Barbie was the biggest film of 2023, and Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman to win the Oscar for Best Director.
Give them a skeleton brief and full creative control, and tie every film to a campaign that drives sales.
Then put Nike where attention lives. Last year's biggest original streaming series were Stranger Things, Squid Game, Wednesday, Landman and Reacher.
2. Design women's product from women's research.
Build from research on the female body, not shrunk-down men's kit, and build a campaign around that ethos.
3. Premium with proof.
Fewer, better, scarcer, priced higher only where the quality earns it.
The moment is sometimes hiding in the stats
Of Erling Haaland's first 100 Premier League goals, 71 came off his left foot. Only 17 were headers.
So don't sell the header. Sell the left boot.
The payoff
Nike didn't become Nike by advertising trainers. It became Nike by backing winners, on the court and on the screen.
Find the next ones, and the culture will follow.
Lessons for marketing leaders
Back proven talent, then let them work. The best partnerships buy a creator's judgement, not just their name.
Earn the scene, don't buy the logo. Product placement is forgotten. A moment that matters to the story is remembered for decades.
Protect the shelf. Going direct only works if you don't hand your retail space to competitors.
Find the story in the data. The detail that makes a campaign is often already in the numbers.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Nike's revenue falling?
A combination of factors: the shift to direct-to-consumer selling that left retail shelf space to competitors, slower innovation, over-reliance on classic franchises like Dunk and Air Force 1, and weakness in Sportswear, Jordan streetwear, Converse and Greater China.
What is the "Hollywood effect" in marketing?
It's when a product earns a meaningful place in a film or series and the culture does the selling. Nike's Air Jordan 4 in Do the Right Thing and the self-lacing shoes in Back to the Future Part II are classic examples.
Isn't this just product placement?
No. Product placement pays for a logo on screen. The approach here is a partnership: back proven directors, give them creative control, and build a campaign around the moment.
Is this case study affiliated with Nike?
No. It's independent, unsolicited commentary and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nike, Inc.
Work with me
I help brands build partnerships that earn culture rather than rent it.
Mustafa Akindele is an independent brand partnerships consultant in London, with 20+ years' experience across music, luxury, hospitality and sport. CIM-accredited.
Independent commentary. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Nike, Inc. Film and footage references are used for commentary and criticism.
