Everyone anticipated a great game, and the opportunity to see Zion Williamson display his skills. Nike designer Tobie Hatfield discusses the brand's protocol when it comes to footwear incidents like Zion Williamson's infamous sneaker blowout. Many People Have Missed the Point. Williamson, who is one of Duke’s star players , was taken off the court and unable to return to play the rest of the game. Transcendent Duke freshman Zion Williamson ’s left Nike sneaker blew up 33 seconds into the Blue Devils’ game with rival North Carolina. Duke Blue Devils freshman Zion Williamson suffered a knee injury in the first minute of Wednesday's loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels after his left … This scenario underscores the importance of how products are different from brands. I also think it would have been nice to feature Williamson in a commercial once he had made a full recovery. My immediate thought was “what brand of shoe does he wear?” And secondly, “I hope he’s not hurt.”. Third, the company met with Duke officials the next day to better understand why it failed and how it might be prevented in the future. On February 21 the day after the game, the stock fell to $83.25, today (March 5) the stock was trading at around $87 and at 52-week high. Exactly 36 seconds in the game the unimaginable happened, Zion Williamson’s shoe blew out, he twisted his knee and had to leave the game. Nike shares were under pressure on Thursday morning as the fallout from Zion Williamson's injury rumbled on. That the shoe blew out for Duke-UNC. A full 20 days had passed since Zion Williamson had been seen on a basketball court, a pained look on his face as the Nike shoe on his left foot exploded underneath him. Overall I learned from this social media crisis, is that it is best to own up to your brands mistakes, and to address these mistakes as quickly as possible. How Nike handled the national “shoe blowout” truly demonstrated why brand reputation is such a valuable asset. In 2015 they signed another contract that would make them the athletic supplier for Duke for another 12 years. After seeing this, within minutes sports fans everywhere took to social media talking about the malfunction of the Nike brand shoe causing negative press for the brand. Currently studying Public Relations at the University of Florida. Nike takes a beating after Zion Williamson’s shoe explodes Duke basketball player Zion Williamson’s shoe split open just 36 seconds into a Feb. 20 matchup between Duke and University of … Bitcoin Hitting $100,000 Doesn’t Matter. While this is an isolated occurrence, we are working to identify the issue.” This was a good idea on Nike’s part to quickly release a statement addressing the public’s concern while wishing Williamson a speedy recovery. Second, it portrayed the failure as isolated; after all, the brand holds a 95+ percent share of the basketball shoe market, and few shoes have ever been known to fail. This caused him to collapse and injure himself. They are still sponsoring Duke this upcoming basketball season. Truly, brand reputation at its best! College basketball fans everywhere witnessed a major malfunction that happened to a college basketball player who was wearing the brand's shoes. How the Nike Brand Benefited from Zion’s Shoe “Blow-out”​, https://bloodhoundbranding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/0.jpg, BHG Develops Shopper Marketing Campaign for Welch’s, James Scott Farrin Assigns North Carolina Hispanic Marketing Campaign to The Bloodhound Group, The Bloodhound Group Tapped to Support SOLA Brand Growth Opportunity, Grocery Product Transparency Builds Shopper Trust. You could hear a pin drop in Cameron Indoor Stadium as all attention turned to Zion and his shoe. How the Most Dangerous Study of All Time Changed What We Know About Weight Loss, “BUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES WITH CRYPTOART WILL BE SOLVED SOON, RIGHT?”, The Negative Side Effects of Beautiful Women, A Psychological Trick to Evoke An Interesting Conversation, The Fate Of Elon Musk’s Assistant Is A Cautionary Tale For Negotiating Salary. As seen in photos, the bottom sole of his Nike shoe completely came off. By Dane Delgado Aug 6, 2019, 6:15 PM EDT. Even worse, Nike’s stock fell 1.8 percent and loss approximately $1.5 billion in stockholder value the next trading day. All Rights Reserved. That the shoe blew out on Zion Williamson. The quality and performance of our products are … Let’s recap. Paul George said Thursday that he reached out to Nike to find out "what went wrong" with his PG 2.5 signature shoe that Zion Williamson was wearing when he injured his knee on Wednesday. Zion Williamson's Nike shoe. Lance King/Getty Images Nike is facing backlash after Zion Williamson's shoe exploded during a highly anticipated matchup between Duke and North Carolina on Wednesday. Instead, spectators retain the image of a freak injury that Zion Williamson, the potential number one 2019 NBA Draft prospect, suffered due to his Nike PG 2.5 shoe bursting open. Second, it portrayed the failure as isolated; after all, the brand holds a 95+ percent share of the basketball shoe market, and few shoes have ever been known to fail. Products exist on a retailer’s shelf; a brand only exists in the consumer’s mind. Nike was quick to issue a response following Williamson’s shoe blowout, calling it an “isolated incident.” “We are obviously concerned and want to wish Zion a speedy recovery,” Nike … After a shoe blowout and a knee injury, where do Zion Williamson and Duke go from here? First, it responded incredibly fast with the appropriate level of concern over Zion Williamson’s well-being. The Duke freshman suffered a knee injury on … © Copyright 2020 Bloodhound Branding Group. It was a brand’s worse nightmare. It could be a product-liability case. The shoe blowout occurred in the first minute of the Feb. 20 game between the NCAA men's basketball teams Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels when Blue Devils star player Zion … To put everything in perspective, ticket resale price for that game neared those of Super Bowl tickets at $2,500 and ESPN’s ratings for a single game were the third highest since 2002. So how in the world did Nike not only survive the incident, but appear to have benefited from it? Nike responded to the unfortunate malfunction in a statement to ESPN : ”We are obviously concerned and want to wish Zion a speedy recovery. Nike sympathists would say, "This is an exception, this was a one sneaker blow-out." Zion Williamson returns from knee injury following Nike shoe blowout. The high-profile failure of a Nike Inc. basketball shoe on Wednesday night was more than an epic embarrassment for the athletic brand. A lot of fans were cracking jokes at the brand joking that Duke would drop them as a sponsor of the team. Nike shoe failure changes outcome of Duke vs. North Carolina game. First, it responded incredibly fast with the appropriate level of concern over Zion Williamson’s well-being. ... Zion Williamson famously blew out his Paul George signature shoes … Zion Williamson’s shoe blowout may have helped Nike sign him to shoe deal. By Joedy McCreary Associated Press, February 21, 2019, 9:40 a.m. Email to a Friend Later it was determined that the injury was a mild knee sprain. The most notable being former President Barack Obama and Lebron James, who both commented on the show blow out. By now, most everyone is aware of Nike’s high-profile shoe failure during the nationally televised Duke and North Carolina basketball game. In fact, the Apex Marketing Group estimated the shoe failure resulted in approximately $12 million in negative publicity. The quality and performance of our products are of utmost importance. Nike’s response was classic crisis management. On Thursday a Nike official was at Duke personally examining the shoe being seen worldwide. In fact, Nike turned the high visibility incident into a positive by living up to the consumer’s expectations when handling it. While I do think Nike’s quick response was the right move, I think they could have done a better job at reporting their findings to the public after they had investigated this issue. Nike’s reaction to the incident helped maintain their stellar brand image, which they’ve cultivated through years of public relations strategy executions all while ensuring the problem would be investigated. Awful look for Nike. Many celebrities also started tweeting about the incident as well. Guest Talent Coordinator at Disney Performing Arts. For Nike Brand, Zion Williamson's Shoe Blowout Is The Exact Opposite Of Tiger's Legendary Chip-In David Ching Former Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Former Nike Engineer Explains Zion Williamson Shoe Malfunction Ex-Nike Designer Tiffany Beers Explains Zion Williamson's Shoe Malfunction 2019-02-25 09:28 in Sneakers Words By Fabian Gorsler ... at Nike in response ... of the shoe. Products deliver functional benefits that can become outdated and change over time. Nike handled this very well and overall the brand did not take that big of a hit due to this shoe malfunction. Indeed, that's what Nike's statement said shortly after the incident: "We are … Thirty- three seconds into the game one of Duke’s star players, Zion Williamson, was injured because his Nike brand shoe fell apart while he was running on the basketball court. The next day, February 21st, 2019, Nike responded to the shoe crisis … On February 20th, 2019, a big college basketball game occurred between rivals Duke and the North Carolina Tarheels. “We are obviously concerned and want to wish Zion a speedy recovery. Bottom line, the Nike brand’s strong relationship and ongoing dialog with its consumers enabled the company to place the product failure incident in proper context, and move on with little or no impact to its brand. The Nike brand endured a very public social media crisis this year. Use our Sage Services to help develop your brand from strategy to implementation. Duke star player Zion Williamson suffered a mild knee sprain Wednesday night after his Nike shoe tore apart during the Blue Devils' game against North Carolina. This quick statement release was important since Nike has had an exclusive deal with Duke University Athletics, providing their uniforms since 1992. Twitter lit up with the typical jabs from fans and other shoe brands as ESPN played the “blow-out” event over and over to show the moment of shoe failure. The most notable being former President Barack Obama and Lebron James, who both commented on the show blow out. That the shoe blew out on National TV. Brands, after establishing a dialog with the consumer, can endure indefinitely. Nike shoe fell apart in the opening minute of a regular-season game against rival North Carolina, a wardrobe malfunction so high-profile that Nike’s stock actually dipped the following day.