While many brands talk a good game about equality, far fewer back it up. Sargent argued Jordan does the latter at a corporate level too, especially in an industry still dominated by men.
With Sarah Mensa as president, Susan Mulders as vp of sports marketing, Karie Conner as general manager of basketball, and Jen Treadwell leading communications, women aren’t just present in the senior team, visibly in charge.
That kind of leadership, Sargent said, isn’t symbolic. “It permeates down into the organization and into our teams,” she said.
Parent group Nike Inc. is in the middle of a turnaround plan, shifting its marketing from lifestyle to performance-focused through a new strategy called “Sport Offense.”
In December, just over a year into his role as CEO, Elliott Hill told investors that Nike is “in the middle innings of our comeback,” with a marketing strategy focused on distinction within key sports like running, training, and basketball.
The strategy is slowly starting to bear fruit, with group sales up 1% year-over-year to $12.4 billion.
