Source:

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/f1a02a08-6586-11e4-aba7-00144feabdc0.html

Nike and Adidas have always been major competitors, but currently it may seem that Adidas has an edge over Nike. Many athletes and celebrities are eradicating their Nike sponsorships and moving to Adidas.

The list includes Kanye West, Jeremy Lin who both have a great fan base and following that would potentially move from customers of Nike to customers of Adidas. This change of shoe sponsors is mainly due to the fact that Adidas offers better perks and benefits to those who endorse them when compared to Nike. This proves a great threat to Nike, who in the past years was the leading shoe brand. But now with Adidas taking ex-Nike endorsers as well as the fact that over the past year the Adidas sales have increased, closely matching Nike, the number one shoe brand title may be taken away.

The change Nike is facing will definitely impact the marketing department as well as the research and development department. Firstly new marketing tactics and campaigns will have to be constructed, as well as new products that innovate and appeal to a mass market segment of Nike consumers.

Additionally, those dealing with sponsors will be under tight watch from senior executives and board members, as Nike cannot afford to lose a major sponsor at the moment, so the relations between the athletes and the company will have to be very good.

On a whole, if Nike manages and maintains itself well then they have nothing to fear, as they still have an immense number of customers and consumers, which makes the number of fans of the athletes who left to Adidas seem minimal.