After a Women's World Cup win, the retail giant is betting on a wider definition of sport, and more female collaborators, to attract more customers.The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup France Final on Sunday wasn't just a soccer match.
"We can feel the World Cup's energy and impact throughout our growing women's business. Female athletes worldwide are engaging with sport like never before," said Rosemary St. Clair, VP/GM, Nike Women, in a statement. "Whether it's unprecedented sell-through on national team kits, popularity for high-performance bras, or global impressions of our campaign, we're ecstatic about how this summer has contributed to the acceleration of our women's offense at Nike.
"We're looking for collaborators that bring something unique and new [to Nike]," Julie Igarashi, VP/Creative Director of NikeWomen, tells me in Paris ahead of final game. "It's fascinating to see what people do with the Nike platform and we can learn from each other.
In addition to the opportunities to learn, flex new creative muscles, gain exposure and make money , Kocher and Ahn were especially motivated by the opportunity to support female athletes. In many ways, the World Cup was only the beginning of Nike's efforts to both court female customers and to bring more attention to women's sports as a whole — something it's in the unique position to do. Despite recent controversy around the brand's payment of pregnant athletes, Nike has managed to make its support of female athletes feel genuine. And given the social and political significance of this particular tournament, that could prove very effective.