| Good morning, I'm Erle Norton, editor of CEO Brief, stepping in today for Alan Murray, the WSJ Leadership Institute president. Nike put on a show yesterday. Yes, the main event was Faith Kipyegon's attempt to become the first woman to run a sub-4-minute mile. The Olympic champion and world-record holder didn't quite do it, finishing in 4:06:42. But the effort put on display the fact that Nike is serious about running, something that would seem obvious except that, among its stumbles, the company in recent years ceded ground to competitors such as Brooks and Hoka. And the swoosh was everywhere at the Paris track and on the slick Nike-produced video stream. Nike developed special aerodynamic clothing and lighter shoes for what it called Breaking4. Weekend runners will never need those, but they're the sort of products on a runner of Kipyegon's caliber that can create a halo effect for the brand. CEO Elliott Hill, a long-time Nike executive who was brought back by the board last year, started the company's earnings call yesterday by talking about Kipyegon's run, which he said "inspired us all." He left no doubt about the importance of sports in his turnaround plan. "We pulled the lever we could pull the fastest, investing heavily in big sport moments and key product launches to win back our brand voice," Hill said. "That energy has ignited Nike performance products with consumers, which is helping us to better balance our portfolio. Reclaiming our voice in sports has turned out to be the jump-start we needed for our team culture, too." He echoed comments he said he made on his first day as CEO: "We will put the athlete at the center of everything that we do and every decision that we make." One example of success stemming from that: The signature shoe for WNBA star A'ja Wilson sold out in 3 minutes on Nike's digital platform in North America. While Nike posted sales and profit declines in its fiscal fourth quarter, which Hill said were "not up to the Nike standard," he added that "from here, we expect our business results to improve." Another key element of Hill's plan is doing a better job of working with retail partners. Nike said last month, for instance, that it would sell through Amazon again after a five-year absence. Amazon in the fall will have a branded Nike store that focuses on running, training, basketball and sportswear, Hill said. "We know what it will take to set off the next wave of growth for Nike from here," he said. "It's on us to get back to executing at the level we expect." | 
%20(1)%20(1).png)
