Nike’s Phil Knight: How to sell without selling
Masters of Scale
WaitWhat
4.6 • 4.4K Ratings
🗓️ 15 November 2022
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Great branding is about identity — and it’s about matchmaking too. No one knows this better than the legendary co-founder of Nike, Phil Knight. When he and his partner, Hall of Fame track coach Bill Bowerman, started the sneaker company, they never tried to force-feed customers a product just to drive up the bottom line. They focused on one thing: making an excellent product for people who believed in the edgy Nike ethos. Because they knew, when there’s a mismatch between product and market, the bottom usually drops out. Instead, they told the world who the are, and then did everything they could to find their ideal customers. And made history. Cameo appearance: Eddy Lu (GOAT).
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, listeners, it's Reed. As we head into the busiest retail season of the year, |
| 0:05.4 | entrepreneurs and business leaders are thinking about how to market their brand and sprint ahead |
| 0:09.2 | of the competition. That's why we're re-airing our episode with Nike's co-founder, Phil Knight. |
| 0:16.1 | It covers Phil's astounding scale journey from handcraft crafting running shoes with Hall of Fame track coach |
| 0:21.9 | Bill Bowerman to Nike becoming one of the most recognizable brands in the world. Along the way, |
| 0:28.2 | there are lessons on how to sell without selling and how to tap into your customer's sense of |
| 0:34.2 | identity. I hope you enjoy it. |
| 0:40.0 | I grew up in the 80s, |
| 0:43.1 | and that was when Michael Jordan was in his prime. |
| 0:49.7 | All the commercials and the visual imagery of Michael Jordan dunking, |
| 0:58.0 | shattering backboards, and criss-crossing over people. |
| 1:01.0 | That was my impression, of course. |
| 1:04.0 | What shoes was he wearing? |
| 1:05.0 | He was wearing his Jordans and, you know, his Nikes. |
| 1:09.0 | That's Eddie Lou, co-founder of Goat. you know, his Nike's. |
| 1:14.7 | That's Eddie Lou, co-founder of Goat, |
| 1:16.9 | the online marketplace for premium sneakers that every sneaker had knows. |
| 1:19.2 | As a child of the 80s and a basketball fan, |
| 1:21.9 | Eddie has vivid memories of Jordan and his Nike's. |
| 1:25.9 | Jordan played his first NBA game for the Chicago Bulls in 1984 and signed his Nike |
| 1:30.8 | endorsement deal the same year. |
| 1:33.1 | Right away, he started making news, making plays, and Nike started making Air Jordans. |
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