Phil Knight
Phil Knight
Philip Hampson "Phil" Knightis an American business magnate and philanthropist. A native of Oregon, he is the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Nike, Inc., and previously served as chairman and CEO of the company. In November 2015, Forbes named Knight the 15th richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$28.1 billion. He is also the owner of the stop motion film production company Laika...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth24 February 1938
CityPortland, OR
CountryUnited States of America
I'm Phil Knight, and I don't believe in advertising.
It doesn't matter how many people you offend, as long as you're getting your message to your consumers. I say to those people who do not want to offend anybody: You are going to have a very, very difficult time having meaningful advertising.
We wanted Nike to be the world's best sports and fitness company. Once you say that, you have a focus. You don't end up making wing tips or sponsoring the next Rolling Stones world tour.
Nike is a marketing-oriented company, and the product is our most important marketing tool
We used to think that everything started in the lab. Now we realize that everything spins off the consumer.
Play by the rules, but be ferocious.
A brand is something that has a clear-cut identity among consumers, which a company creates by sending out a clear, consistent message over a period of years until it achieves a critical mass of marketing.
Our business practices are no different than those of our competitors, but we are bigger, and thus more visible, so we get more flack.
I was very aware of shoes when I was running track. The American shoes were offshoots of tire companies. Shoes cost $5, and you would come back from a 5-mile run with your feet bleeding.
We're not in the fashion business, as the Wall Street Journal wrote the other day. We're in the sports business, and there's a big difference.
why does a 67-year-old guy who got his start running an athletic shoe company think he can enter a field famous for gobbling up fortunes?
We could see that he was a charismatic guy who jumps over the moon and is very competitive, but nobody could have predicted what he would become to our culture.
At first, we couldn't be establishment, because we didn't have any money. We were guerrilla marketers, and we still are, a little bit. But, as we became No. 1 in our industry, we've had to modify our culture and become a bit more planned.
We are committed to improving working conditions for the 500,000 people who make our products,