The story that last week left many doubts about the current and future policies of the Beaverton brand. Bloomberg’s article revealed the huge reselling round of Ann Hebert’s son, now ex-vice president and general manager of Nike North America, behind the brand. The story touched the nerve of the brand and many of its fans.
In these hours, the brand is back on the story. John Donahoe, CEO of Nike, said that the brand’s primary goal is to regain consumer confidence, particularly when it comes to the release of limited edition or highly anticipated sneaker. Drops that bots and resellers have controlled for years. Donahoe revealed that Nike has been working on anti-bot technology for several years. Donahoe further explained that Nike would update its internal policy and clarify what is allowed for employees and their families.
The CEO explained that Nike is looking for new solutions to adapt to a continually growing resell market. This has now reached a value of $ 6 billion and is expected to continue expansion. This is the first time an industry giant has spoken so explicitly about the resell and bot problem. None of the major brands in the industry, from Adidas to Nike, have not only never openly addressed the issue of reselling, but in fact, they feed the secondary market with minimal releases and exclusive drops. Without too many words, the benefits and gains it guarantees are too many to be able to give up.
It will be interesting to understand to what extent Nike will be able (and interested) to stem the problem.
