Michael Jordan Turns 50

Today is Michael Jordan's 50th birthday.  It's hard to believe that Jordan hasn't played basketball in more than a decade, but he is still talked about regularly.  Jordan is arguably the best and most iconic player in NBA history.  He is so iconic that ESPN spent the last 2 weeks talking about Jordan and doing a countdown of his top 50 plays and moments.  However, I wanted to talk about the entrepreneur in him.  Michael Jordan revolutionized the marketing industry, especially for companies like Nike and Gatorade.  Here is an article explaining how Jordan got a deal with Nike.

Nike's fourth quarter 2012 sales were $6.5 billion.  A quarter of those sales can be attributed to the Jordan brand.  That is a significant amount of money and it all started because of the idea that everyone wanted to be like Mike.  When Jordan first signed a contract with Nike, they offered him $500,000 a year for 5 years.  Yes, that is a lot of money, but look at the contracts today.  Derrick Rose signed a 14 year, $260 million contract with Adidas.  Lebron James and Kobe Bryant are each making $15 million a year with Nike.  The point I'm trying to make is that Michael Jordan did not just revolutionize basketball, he changed marketing.

Everyone wanted to wear the same shoes or drink the same sports drinks as Jordan.  Businesses began to realize this and began to put significant sums of money into hiring key opinion leaders in order to appeal to consumers.  People are paid millions to associate their name with a product and many people think that advertising is a waste of money.  However, it works.   Companies don't just want a viewer to buy a product, they want the viewer to talk about the product.  Companies care about name recognition because they want you to talk about their product with your friends.

This fundamental idea of marketing is also particularly American, especially when athletes are involved.  Many athletes come from lower socioeconomic status' and don't have very much money.  When they make it to the pros, they are bombarded by large pay checks and sponsor contracts.  The idea that a poor boy in the ghetto can become a millionaire and be a role model for many others is an American idea and both Jordan and Nike capitalized on this opportunity.

Why do you think that marketing is so successful?  And besides Michael Jordan, who do you think revolutionized the advertising industry?

Happy 50th Michael!