BIOGRAFI : Bill Bowermann (pembuat nike)

Nike is a famous brand sport products in the world, company Nike was founded by two people: Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight .founder of Nike, William Jay "Bill" Bowerman was born on February 19, 1911 in Portland, Oregon, USA and died on December 24, 1999, before founding the company perkerjaannya Nike is the athletic trainer. His father is a former Governor of Oregon Jay Bowerman, his mother grew up in Fossil. His family returned to the fossil after her parents divorced in 1913.Bowerman had an older brother and sister and his twin brother, Thomas, who died in an elevator accident when he was 2 years old.Bowerman entered in the Medford school and then returned to Seattle Medford to continue to high school. He played in the school band and also played for the football team. Bill Bowerman first met Barbara Young, the continuation of woman would marry him while still a student of the same school in Medford.

In 1929, Bill Bowerman attended the University of Oregon majoring in journalism and also played football for the university was. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity. After graduating from college he later taught biology and coached football at Franklin High School in Portland in 1934. In 1935, Bowerman moved back to Medford to teach and coach football. Bowerman then married Barbara Young on June 22, 1936. Bowerman then military service and entered the Army ROTC and the Reserve, and then joined the U.S. Army as a 2nd Lt. in the days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was assigned to Fort Lawton in Washington and before being assigned to the 86th Infantry Regiment at Camp Hale in Leadville, Colorado. Bowerman task is to supply logistics for troops and also maintain donkeys used to carry supplies in the mountains. On December 23, 1944, the division arrived in Naples, Italy and soon moved north to the mountains of northern Italy and During his tenure, Bowerman was promoted to commander of the First Battalion 86th Regiment with the rank of Major. Bowerman, for his role in the military, Bowerman received four Bronze Star Medal, and the Silver Star. He was honorably discharged in October 1945. After the war, Bowerman returned to his position as a teacher and coach at Medford High School. Bowerman's third son, Tom, was born May 20, 1946. His family later moved to Eugene, Oregon United States, where he became head coach at the University of Oregon on July 1, 1948. Bowerman coached team members from Norway, Canada, Australia, and the United States. American Athletics team was formed by Bill Bowerman Phil Knight who composed what was to become Her partner in setting up the company Nike and Geoff Hollister in 1977.

Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight

As a track coach, Bowerman was not satisfied with the original US-made shoes. He also experimented designing and making shoes Knight as the rabbit experiments.

" US-made shoes are cheap at the time, but I do not want my feet are covered in blisters after running a few miles , "said Knight. 

From that starting point of the Nike shoe. Bowerman and Knight as the creator shoes-Stanford Business School graduates-as management and marketing management. With each depositing capital USD500, Bowerman and Knight formed Blue Ribbon Sports, forerunner to Nike, in 1968. Shoe sole design similar to that used in the food waffle heel shoes is the creativity of the Nike Bowerman. He inspired her while making waffles. In fact, he designed a shoe with his wife's waffle grills. The collaboration between the two men made ​​Nike gradually growing. Nike derived from the Greek goddess name meaning "Victory ", Nike was founded in 1964 when the Oregon businessman once named athlete Phillip Knight, mengagas running shoes imported from Japan to compete with German brands like Adidas and Puma who then dominated the U.S. market. The advantage is that the Japanese shoemurah karena tenaga kerja lebih murah di Jepang. Mereka mulai menjual sepatu keliling dengan tujuan di stadion atletik, dimana penjualan secara pelan tapi pasti meningkat secara dramatis. Pada 1970-an, Knight dan perusahaan yang berkembang nya melihat awal revolusi jogging dan mulai mmasaran produk untuk pelari non-profesional juga. Ia lantas segera membuka pasar yang lebih luas dan mengubah image sepatu lari menjadi sepatu fashion dan menarik semua orang dari anak-anak sampai dewasa memakainya.

Dimulai dengan produk sepatu bernama Cortez yang diproduksi pada 1972, merek Nike dengan semboyan Just Do It itu mulai dikenal di dunia atletik AS. Hingga 1979, Nike sudah mampu menguasai 50% pasar sepatu lari di AS. Pada 1979 Nike telah menguasai setengah pasar di AS dan dengan pendapatan mencapai US $ 149 juta. Pada pertengahan tahun 1980-an posisi perusahaan tampaknya tak tergoyahkan, namun secara mendadak muncul serangan dari pihak saingan yaitu Reebok. Tapi pada tahun 1990 Nike kembali memimpin perusahaan, terutama karena pengenalan dari sepatu “Air Jordan” yang didukung dan dipromosikan oleh bintang basket Michael Jordan. Sepatu Air Jordan, menjadi produk fenomenal dan digandrungi di seluruh dunia. 

Salah Satu Produk Nike

Memang, Michael Jordan sebagai bintang iklan Nike ketika itu tengah mengalami masa-masa jaya. Diyakini, Knightlah orang yang berhasil mengikat kontrak dengan pebasket legendaris AS tersebut. Pada 1984, Michael Jordan masih seorang rookie (pemain debutan) di Chicago Bulls. Namun Knight sudah bisa melihat potensi besar Michael Jordan sebagai ikon olahraga yang berguna bagi pemasaran produk-produk Nike. 

”Bagi saya, Phil Knight akan selalu diingat sebagai seorang tokoh pemasaran alat olahraga yang visioner. Dia akan selalu menjadi bagian dari Nike. Saya banyak belajar darinya mengenai industri ini dan selalu menghormati determinasi dan kreativitasnya,” papar Michael Jordan.

Pada tanggal 24 December 1999 di Malam Natal, Bill Bowerman meninggal dalam tidurnya di rumahnya di Fossil, Oregon pada usia 88. Bill Bowerman meninggalkan perusahaan Nike sebuah perusahaan peralatan dan perlengkapan olahraga yang terkenal di Dunia. Nike menjadi salah satu perusahaan sepatu, pakaian dan alat-alat olahraga Amerika Serikat yang merupakan salah satu yang terbesar di dunia. Mereka terkenal karena mensponsori beberapa olahragawan terkenal di dunia seperti Tiger Woods, Ronaldo dan Michael Jordan. Selain itu mereka juga memiliki perjanjian dengan berbagai tim sepak bola dunia seperti Manchester United, F.C. Barcelona, Arsenal, F.C. Basel, Juventus, Clube de Regatasd Flamengo, Steaua Bucuresti, AC Sparta Praha, Red Star Belgrade, Inter Milan, VfL Bochum, VfL Wolfsburg, Hertha BSC Berlin, Borussia Dortmund, PSV Eindhoven, Valencia C.F., Urawa Red Diamonds, Kaizer Chiefs, Atlético de Madrid, NK Maribor, Glasgow Celtic, FC Porto, Paris Saint-Germain, Boca Juniors, dan Corinthians. 

Referensi :

- http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike,_Inc.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Bowerman
- http://endrewwangbaoen.blogspot.com/2007/10/phil-knight-pendiri-nike-ubah-sepatu.html?zx=9739e02406169c8b