They say that half of all marketing dollars are wasted -- you just don't know which half. Yes, Nike's $2+bn in Demand Creation leaves a lot to play with, but you gotta hand it to 'em, they always seem to come out on top.
Check this out... Go to www.cnn.com. Then click 'Sports', which will have, of course the leading story of the day -- Tiger's raging comeback on the final da of The Masters. Then click on the story, and you get the image below. Why is it that the two names up top -- the two that are sprinting into the final stretch -- each have Swooshes next to their names?
No, it's not because Nike has a crystal ball to only select the best athletes. But it DOES have the organizational process to capitalize on those sports assets whenever the opportunity presents itself. My point here is that Tiger might very well end up losing this one. I don't know and I don't particularly care.
What I do care about is that seeing continued evidence that the strategy is in place to monetize some pretty expensive players. Oh, and by the way, keep in mind that sales of Tiger merchandise never fell off anywhere near as much as his public perception since events from 2-Thanksgivings ago. In fact, at times they were up. The installed base of sales and distribution points remains huge, is likely headed higher.
Does this make me anymore inclined to own the stock today? Nope.
But is the long-term story intact? Absolutely.
