At Nike’s 33rd annual meeting last week held at Tiger Woods Center on the Nike World Headquarters campus, new Nike Brand president Trevor Edwards addressed the World Cup, the opportunity around expanded sizes, and Nike’s future in digital technology.
But the coming-out party at the meeting for the 20-year Nike veteran, who replaced the retired Charlie Denson in July as part of a management overhaul, led the The Oregonian to anoint Edwards as “the leading contender to succeed chief executive Mark Parker some day.”
Parker and Denson were both co-CEOs of Nike Brand before Parker was promoted to Nike Inc.’s CEO in 2006. The newspaper also cited Nike’s inclination to prefer insiders that understand Nike’s culture in succession situations, particularly given the short-lived CEO tenure of Bill Perez.
The Oregonian still said Parker appears set as CEO since at least 2017. In May 2012, the board granted Parker $20 million in restricted stock that becomes accessible in that year. Besides Edwards, COO Eric Sprunk was mentioned as an early CEO candidate.
In his recap of Nike’s performance for its fiscal year ended May 31, Parker touched on the management overhaul at the close of the year that marked the retirement of Denson and Gary DeStefano, president of global operations.
While both execs had clearly played a large role in expanding Nike Inc. over the years, “their most important legacy was the deep bench of enterprise leaders they helped develop, who are now helping lead the company,” Parker said.
He said the new members of management “bring tremendous passion, energy and experience to our future. Some people will provide leverage and continuity, while others are taking on new roles.”
The focus will continue to be on Nike’s five biggest growth opportunities: accelerating innovation, elevating design, optimizing its category and go-to-market strategies, integrating product creation and merchandising “to create greater continuity from design all the way through to retail,” and seeking supply chain and manufacturing enhancements. “We spend a lot of time developing our leadership talent, that’s something that never stops,” said Parker. “It allows us to adapt and evolve our competitive offense and that’s what you can expect as this team takes NIKE into the future.”
As far as business matters at the meeting, shareholders rejected a proposal that the company reveal more information about its political contributions, with 81.7 percent voting against. Shareholders elected board members, voted in favor of a compensation for the company's top executives, and ratified the company's accountant.
In the brief Q&A session, Edwards first tackled expectations around the World Cup, being held in Brazil in 2014. He said Nike has a “great array of teams” continuing to qualify; “an all-star lineup of great athletes, citing Brazilian star Neymar and England’s Wayne Rooney; as well as many “amazing” launches lined up. “The World Cup will be another, you know, great opportunity to showcase our products, to tell compelling stories about football,” said Edwards. “And, personally, because I hail from England, I'm truly, truly excited about some of the things that we're going to do. So it's going to be great.”
Asked whether Nike saw an opportunity in expanding product sizes, Edwards noted that many of its star athletes “tend to be sometimes bigger than most of the average consumers out there,” and Nike recognized the need. At the same time, he felt more expansive range available online addressed the need.
Asked whether Nike planned to extend into further services for consumers, Edwards particularly expanded on the potential around digital technology in connecting with a “broader range” of consumers.
The digital tech push is centered around three dimensions, beginning with digital brand connections, or one-on-one conversations through Twitter, Facebook or other social tools. The second, “digital sports and services,” includes Fuelband and Nike+ that help people run or train better while keeping them connecting with other runners. Third is digital commerce, which enables Nike to “bring more services to a broader range of consumers.”
Digital services will also be increasingly brought to Nike’s retail stores, whether through gait analysis, supporting a training or running club, or other methods. Said Edwards, “We're really expanding out the idea of the brand being not only about great products, but also about great services in terms of how we connect with our consumers.”
Following up the question, Parker added “one of the top priorities for the company is how digital technology will enable even more potential for Nike and our consumers, and athletes around the world.”
Nike, Inc. Chairman and Co-founder Phil Knight, who oversaw the meeting, answered only one question on the chances his beloved Oregon Ducks would win the BCS title. Said Knight, “It’s obviously my favorite team, missed winning the national championship by three points three years ago, and they missed getting in the national championship by a field goal two years ago. They missed getting in the national championships by a field goal a year ago, and they have better players this year than they have at any time in the last four years. So they've got a chance, but you've got to be a little bit lucky, too. But if they do, I'll be there.”
