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Since he decided to participate in the Olympic qualifying competition, major sports brands have been closely watching him, and when he reaches the B standard, he has been an important target for these brands, and when he won the championship with a time of 10.24 seconds, he became the number one signing partner of these companies.

If Pepsi has pursued Fang Jianhui for the longest time, then Nike is the most resolute in pursuing Fang Jianhui.

In 1964, Knight and Bowman began a partnership. They each contributed $500 to form Blue Ribbon Sports, which became the exclusive distributor of Tiger sneakers in the United States.

In 1972, Knight and Bowman finally invented a shoe on their own and decided to make it themselves. They contracted the production to factories in Asia where labor was cheap, and named the shoes Nike, the name of the Greek goddess of victory. They also designed a unique mark that means 'whoosh', which is prominently and distinctively displayed on every Nike company's product.

On a Sunday morning in 1975, Bowman fiddled with a kind of urethane rubber from the iron mold of a barbecue waffle and used it to make a new type of sole, which was fitted with small rubber spikes in the waffle-style sole to make the sole more elastic than any other popular shoe on the market. This seemingly simple product improvement became the starting point of Knight and Bowman's career.

Bowman's invention of the waffle-style sole was a huge hit with athletes. As the market improved, sales of the shoe reached $14 million in 1976, compared to $8.3 million in 1975 and $2 million in 1972.

Nike is a leader in the footwear industry due to its meticulous research and development of new style shoes. By the end of the '70s, Nike's research and development department employed nearly 100 researchers and spent $2.5 million a year on research and development. The company produces more than 140 different styles of products, some of which are the most innovative and technologically advanced on the market, and are designed for different foot shapes, weights, running speeds, training programs, genders and different skill levels.

Nike grew rapidly, with sales increasing from $14 million in 1976 to $694 million six years later, by which time Nike had become the industry leader, with a market share of 33 percent, and two years later, to 50 percent.

But in addition to the flowery development, Nike at this time is facing a grim situation:

The sneaker market doesn't grow forever, in fact, the industry peaked in sales in 1983 and has since begun to stagnate. From '82 onwards, Nike had a large backlog of products, and profits were taxed down.

Thanks to Fang Jianhui's "Lightning Dance", breaking became popular in the United States and then swept the world, so the market for breaking shoes expanded rapidly. In addition, with the rise of aerobic exercise, the footwear market is divided, and the shelves are filled with a large number of break dancing shoes, aerobic sports shoes, fitness shoes, etc. Reebok seized the historical opportunity and took advantage of the momentum, and its sales have the potential to catch up with Nike.

Old rival Adidas spared no expense to smash the Olympic sponsorship quota, just in the Olympic year, it is bound to overshadow Nike in publicity.

At this critical juncture, Nike President Phil Knight decided to implement a diversification strategy, that is, to open up a new front in addition to sneakers, and transform from a sneaker company to a full-fledged fitness company.

But such a strategy needs a superstar with great appeal in the world to promote, at this time, Fang Jianhui was born, as a movie star and singer, one step into the sports world, and as soon as he made a move, he achieved good results. How not to make Nike's heart flutter!

Nike's corporate headquarters in Oregon, USA.

The company's two founders, Bill Bowman and Phil Knight, were thrilled when they received a call from Japan.

Bao Man clenched his fists and said, "Fang Jianhui, have you finally let go!"

Philnet immediately decided: "Now is the time to show our sincerity and courage, I decided to buy a plane ticket to Tokyo immediately and talk to Fang Jianhui in person." ”

Bowman: "Okay!

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After more than a dozen hours of continuous flights, Knight arrived in Tokyo at night.

"How's it going?" Knight, getting into the car to pick him up, asked the manager who had been following up on the matter.

The manager reported: "Fang Jianhui first advanced to the semi-finals with a time of 21.50 seconds this morning, and then advanced to tomorrow's final with a time of 21.05 seconds. At the same time, this result also qualified him for the Olympic Games in the men's 200m. ”

100 meters is fine, 200 meters is not reasonable. Knight sighed and asked, "Is there any progress on the endorsement?"

"We have been in contact with Mr. Fang's PR department, and in the afternoon, Ms. Shirley, the PR director, gathered representatives from various companies and announced the three principles on the spot. ”

"What are the three principles?"

"First, to reiterate, Fang Jianhui will not endorse more than three brands. The second is to hope that Fang Jianhui expects to be able to cooperate with the endorsed brand for a long time, and the third is to delineate the bottom line of the endorsement fee, that is, not less than 5 million US dollars per year. All companies are acceptable to these three points, and as far as I can see, there are about 15 companies that are interested in it. ”

is not less than 5 million US dollars, this price is really not low, it is estimated that it has set a record for celebrity endorsement fees! Knight said secretly, however, who made Fang Jianhui himself worth this price, and even if it is so high, it is still priceless, and it depends on whether he is happy or not.

The manager said, "I have already informed them of the news that you have come in person, and Ms. Shirley said that she will try her best to arrange for Mr. Fang to have an interview with you." ”

"Good. Knight didn't delay in doing things: "Since Mr. Fang said that he hopes to cooperate for a long time, you hurry up and organize people, and we will work overtime together tonight to make a cooperation plan!"

"Yes, boss. ”

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Compared with Knight's direct departure to Tokyo, PepsiCo president Kendal was much more prepared, and he organized people at the headquarters to get a complete cooperation plan before boarding the plane to Tokyo.

When Kendall arrived in Tokyo, Fang Jianhui's men's 200m final had also been completed, compared to the semi-finals, in the final, because of the tenacity of his opponent, his time rose again, and he ran the whole distance at a speed of 20.68 seconds, winning the 200m championship lightly.

After the competition, the Asian Athletics Classic officially organized a press conference for him.

"Mr. Fang, as far as I know, you have never been trained in professional sprinting, but you ran at such a fast speed, how did you do it?" a reporter from Kyodo News asked.

"I guess it's no more than two things. Fang Jianhui replied seriously: "Talent, as well as long-term and unremitting hard training." ”

The AFP reporter asked: "You really can't match the two points you said in terms of talent, but you said that you have been training hard for a long time, but in fact few people have seen you do running training, how do you train?"

"It's true that I haven't trained on a regular field. Fang Jianhui said: "I usually train at home, and the outside world naturally can't see it." ”

"Mr. Fang, your 100m and 200m scores are very high, reaching a world-class level, but with your current results, it seems that you can't win gold at the Olympics, do you think your results can be improved?"

"I'll tell you a secret, my results depend on the opponents I play with. Fang Jianhui smiled: "The stronger the opponent, the faster I will run, and the weaker the opponent, the slower I will run." ”

There was a commotion among the reporters, and someone immediately asked, "Excuse me, can you explain it in detail?"

"It's not easy to explain. Fang Jianhui scratched his head and said, "Let's put it this way, if the opponent is very strong, it will stimulate the potential power in my body, and my blood will boil, and my speed will become faster, otherwise, my speed will slow down." ”

The Associated Press reporter asked: "The opponents in the Olympics are very strong, Mr. Fang, according to you, your results will increase significantly in the Olympics?"

Fang Jianhui said: "Theoretically, if my estimate is correct, yes. ”

"Do you have the confidence to beat Carl Lewis?"

Carl Lewis made his debut in 1981 and won three gold medals in the men's 100m, 4*100m relay and long jump at the 1983 World Athletics Championships, and in this Olympic Games, he will compete in the men's 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay and long jump, exactly the same event as the legendary American superstar Jesse Owens participated in the 1936 Olympic Games, and was called ' by the American media. Owens was second, and he himself was full of confidence, making a bold statement that he would win gold medals in all four events.

Fang Jianhui didn't answer directly, just smiled: "If he and I weren't in the same group, I might not be able to outrun him." ”

"You mean, as long as you're together, you're going to win him?"

"I didn't say that. Fang Jianhui deliberately circled with him: "I mean, in the men's sprint event, I won't run slower than anyone else!"