Nike bosses plan to spend 'bigger' on Olympics as marketing ramps up

Nike is spending more on these Olympics than on any previous Games, top executives said Friday, as the American sportswear brand embarks on a marketing campaign it hopes will revive flagging sales and help it compete with upstart rivals.

Sportswear makers are looking to revive demand in the wake of Paris 2024, which represents a return to normality after Tokyo 2020, delayed until 2021 and held without spectators due to the global pandemic.

Sponsored athletes, including American sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson and Kenyan marathoner Eliud Kipchoge, modeled Nike's Olympic uniforms at a show in Paris on Thursday, where the brand also unveiled 13 prototypes of futuristic shoes developed with athletes.

“These Olympics are going to be our biggest… they're going to be our biggest media spend,” Heidi O'Neill, Nike's president of consumer, product and brand, said in an interview. “This will be the biggest investment and biggest moment for Nike in years,” she added, without giving a figure on the amount of the planned expenditure.

In Nike's latest quarter, total marketing spending was $1 billion, up 10% from the same period last year. Asked if spending will continue to increase, O'Neill said marketing was “the number one priority investment” for the company.

Nike overall is focusing on “fewer and bigger” marketing campaigns, he added. The $139 billion company hired a new chief marketing officer late last year as it looks to bolster its brand in an increasingly competitive sportswear market.

New running brands such as On and Hoka are taking market share from Nike, while a trend away from chunky basketball shoes is benefiting its closest rival, Adidas, and its low-profile “terrace” shoes.

Nike's plans contrast with those of Adidas. The German brand has been cutting marketing spending and spent €2.5 billion ($2.7 billion) on marketing in 2023, down 8.5% from the previous year. Nike's spending in its last four quarters was $4.3 billion, an increase of 6%.

Nike's investment should help spur demand despite pressure on consumers globally, executives say.

“Consumers face challenges in nearly every market we do business in,” said Craig Williams, president of global markets and geographies at Nike.

Despite this, consumers continue to respond “very positively” to the Olympics as an event, Williams said, adding that they are still considered “the epitome of sport.”