The movie "just do it" in grandma's love letter became a hot joke and made people laugh. But nike outside the screen, i'm afraid he won't laugh. This classic ad, which has inspired countless people, is now more of an awkward echo。
The nike grand central china battalion experienced a seven-quarter consecutive decline, with a 10 per cent decline in the third quarter of fiscal year 2026, with a market value of $31. 5 billion evaporated in a few months. The once glorious campaign empire is experiencing a silent collapse in the chinese market
Why don't consumers buy nike? The reason is three words: it's worthless. Even though the original price of $899 dropped to $429, for most consumers, $429 is still expensive, and if it wasn't for the attention and approval, how much would it cost
Why does the consumer think nike is worthless now? There's probably three layers。
On the first level, consumers changed, but nike remained the same. Ten years ago nike was a symbol of identity, and the four words “international brand” were the best advertising. But today's chinese consumers have long passed the stage of looking up at the big cards, and they're thinking, “these shoes are not for me”, not “do i deserve them?” at a time when consumption scenes are becoming more and more detailed, nike still feels that he can look up to the hordes of males, and that it is normal that no one buys them without taking the initiative to reach consumers. Nike's decline in sales is proof of the fact that chinese consumers are well placed to pay for “the right product” and do not need an oceano to “cover the door”。
Second floor, the market has changed, and nike is lazy. Neck has a sense of slowness, both in product logic and in sales. At a time when sport is becoming a way of life, nike is still excited to sell traditional competitive products, and the result of the mismatch between supply and demand is a backlog of stocks, the dealers are frenzy at discounts in order to clear stocks, the new money comes out for six months, and the consumers who buy the new money are the biggest losers. When a brand loses its sense of consumer terminals, it loses its pricing power。
The third, and most crucial, level is that the strong rise of national brands has fundamentally shaken the very foundations of international brands such as nike. Local enterprises, represented by antma li ning, have been able to build “bronze walls” at a price of 300 to 600 yuan, using solid supplies, designs that fit the foot of the people of the union, cultural symbols with chinese characteristics and extremely competitive prices. When a pair of national running shoes has a quality that doesn’t lose nike, the design has a chinese wind, and wears it to show national pride, the price is only half the price of nike, and the weight in the consumer’s heart is tilted。
After all, nike has been selling more than a product, but rather a brand spirit and identity symbol. "just do it." what is wrong, however, when brand spirit is over-commercialized and endless discounts are eliminated, when branders no longer listen to the real needs of consumers, but tell their own stories, which have been repeated for 30 years
This is precisely the most direct and pragmatic aspect of chinese consumers, not the lack of money, but the right, not the expensive, refusal to pay for “insolence” and “foams”. Markets have never moved away from self-proclaimed old giants, and the integrity of consumer perceptions is precisely the invisible competitiveness that drives industry forward. Who in this current market can truly seize the opportunities of the future by taking off the high filters, talking with products and resonating with scenes。
