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How McKinsey Helped Nike Lose $223 Billion
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Nike's market cap peaked at $280 billion in 2021 and has lost $223 billion since. Eric walks through Trung Phan's breakdown of how it happened: McKinsey advised Nike to eliminate its running, basketball and soccer categories, the marketing budget moved from brand advertising to programmatic retargeting, and hundreds of wholesale partners were cut for a direct-to-consumer bet that collapsed when shoppers went back to stores. Neil on why consultants who never ran a business should not be running yours, and why a kid asking for Nikes is what good brand advertising looks like. Then LeBron James' Polymarket partnership and why both hosts call it brand eroding, and the shirtless YouTuber Eric calls the Sam Sulek of e-commerce.
Key takeaways◾Nike cut what worked (categories, brand ads, retail partners) for what was easier to measure◾A brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room; retargeting does not build it◾It takes decades to build a brand and five minutes to erode it
Chapters00:00 Nike lost $223B: McKinsey killed the categories01:32 Consultants who never ran a business04:06 Locked in: adapt or die04:34 Nike swapped brand ads for retargeting06:36 Why kids wanted Nikes07:59 Neil's Tesla09:16 Nike burnt its wholesale partners10:07 LeBron x Polymarket: a brand-eroding move13:07 The Sam Sulek of e-commerce15:22 What views actually matter