Nike CEO Philip Knight spoke to shareholders yesterday at his company’s annual meeting in Oregon. BikeBiz a UK-based publication covering the retail bike industry, said that Knight was listing the achievements of Nike-sponsored athletes, but then interrupted himself and said:
Whoa, whoa, whoa…you guys are doing a great job, but occasionally you need some coaching. You missed the story of the year. The story of the year without a doubt was…Lance Armstrong.
At that point, Lance Armstrong appeared on the stage to huge cheers from audience.
The article goes on to point out that Nike has distributed a large percentage of the 12 to 13 million LiveStrong yellow wristbands sold worldwide. They also played key roles in the WearYellow website and the sale of LiveStrong wristbands to spectators at the Tour de France.
BikeBiz also points out, “Nike made no money from sales of the bands but they generated ‘a buzz’….” People who came into Nike dealers looking for LiveStrong wristbands probably left with several other purchases as well. Who says that a company can’t do well for itself while it’s doing some good?
By the way, you may be interested to know that Nike donated $1 million itself to the LiveStrong campaign.