Nike Turns Your Old Shoe Into A Court

Since the Reuse-A-Shoe program started in 1990, Nike has recycled more than “21 million pairs of athletic shoes toward more than 265 sport surfaces; giving thousands of young people access to new playgrounds and athletic facilities around the world.”

Nike will take your old athletic shoes–they don’t have to be Nike–and they will grind them up into three separate materials–rubber, foam, and fabric.

Nike partners with industry-leading surfacing companies to integrate these materials into athletic surfaces such as basketball courts, tennis courts, and playground surfaces.  This product is called “Nike Grind.” Nike’s goal is to “incorporate an average of 10% to 20% Nike Grind by weight” into these surfaces.

The following list shows approximately how many pairs of recycled athletic shoes generally go into making each surface:
• Outdoor basketball court: 2,500 pairs
• Outdoor tennis court:2,500 pairs
• Full Field or soccer pitch: 50,000 – 75,000 pairs*
• Mini soccer field: 10,000-20,000 pairs
• Running track: 75,000 pairs*
• Playground: 2,500 pairs
• Indoor basketball court: 2,500 pairs
• Indoor synthetic basketball court: 2,500 pairs

* In the case of full-size fields and tracks, which use mostly Nike Grind from footwear manufacturing scrap material, the average use is equivalent to the rubber from about 50,000-75,000 pairs of shoes.

The Reuse-A-Shoe program is a part of the Nike Let Me Play commitment. Drop-off locations can be found on the Reuse-A-Shoe web page.

Filed under: Sustainability , athletic, brand, Business, ceo, fabric, foam, grind, innovation, let me play, nike, recycle, rubber, shoe, surface, Sustainability

Good Thoughts on Pricing

I just finished a marketing management MBA course last week.  Before taking the course, I really had no clue about the importance of marketing to the life of a firm.  I could not decipher between marketing and advertising.

This weekend I read a post by Paul Williams on the Marketing Profs Daily Fix Blog called “Discounting Prices Discounts Your Brand.”

Williams makes a lot of the same points that my marketing professor hammered in our brains this past semester.  He argues that a company should never resort to discounting its prices to drive up sales.  By doing this you are “eroding your long-term margins and your long-term sales.”  While the company may see this discount as a short-term tool to drive up sales, it has effectively change the “perceived value” that the customer has regarding the company’s brand.

Williams’ recommendation

1. If customers are complaining about your prices, make sure you aren’t charging too much for your product.
2. Instead of giving away money through discounts, “strategically provide add-on services or products.”  You won’t erode the base price of your product, and you may offer your customers items of value they have never tried before.

Williams ends the post with the following paragraph:

Once you start offering discounts, the only way to get that rush the next time, is to discount more. If this cycle continues, your margin is gone, your prices are bargain basement, and your brand has reduced value.

Filed under: Business, Marketing , bargain, brand, customer, discount, marketing, mba, price, reputation, value