00:00In the coming hours, Kenyan athlete Faith Kipigon will attempt to become the first woman to break through the four-minute mile barrier.
00:08Nike's Breaking Four event is taking place in Paris and will be streamed live across the world.
00:13It's hoping to recapture the attention of women as the sportswear giant looks to improve its image.
00:19In the three years to 2024, Nike's share of the global sports footwear market dropped from 28.8% down to 26.3%
00:28as shoppers defected to smaller, newer brands.
00:31The main reason? A drop-off in the brand's popularity with women.
00:35Sales of Nike women products grew just 4.4% over that three-year period, while Nike men's sales grew 13.5%.
00:44So now the sportswear giant is betting on Faith Kipigon, already a three-time Olympic champion,
00:50the world mile record holder and arguably the greatest female middle-distance runner in history.
00:55Nike is providing her with new lightweight track spikes and an innovative 3D-printed sports bra,
01:03which it hopes to start mass-producing by 2028.
01:06Well, let's talk now to Scott Moore, who's a manager at Brand Finance.
01:10Good to see you, Scott.
01:11So is this tie-up with Faith Kipigon a gimmick or something that could genuinely bring in new female customers?
01:19I think success in this sub-4-minute mile attempt would be a truly historic and groundbreaking achievement.
01:27I'm really testament to Nike's R&D efforts in producing equipment that can really push athletes beyond seemingly unbreakable barriers.
01:35But I wouldn't say this single kind of PR play alone would resonate as strong with the everyday consumer.
01:43Rather, I think it's part of a much broader, larger marketing strategy targeted to women.
01:48So, for example, Nike championing female empowerment through this year's Super Bowl campaign or their huge Olympics investment last year.
01:56Those are going to be the real bigger platforms in Nike's attempt to win back some of this preference among the female audience.
02:02But all of that hasn't worked so far, hasn't it?
02:04Why has Nike been losing female customers up to this point?
02:08Well, I think the context is important here.
02:11So Nike is still the strongest and most valuable brand in this sector.
02:14They've actually topped all key brand funnel metrics that we research at Brand Finance, such as awareness, brand love.
02:21Among female audiences, usage of Nike is at 50%, and 3% more have a brand preference for Nike over Adidas.
02:28That said, our research shows that male audiences definitely have a stronger affinity.
02:33And it's likely this over-focus on mass market appeal in recent years that has opened the door to some of these specialized brands that are entering the market who are capitalizing on these trends, moving away from Nike's core offering.
02:45These brands have a much clearer value proposition targeted towards women and, I guess, ultimately starting to eat away at this kind of segment of the market that Nike's slowly been losing.
02:57Do companies more broadly, do you think, do enough to tailor their products to women?
03:01Obviously, roughly half their customer base.
03:03Or are products still designed for men by men, by and large?
03:10Well, what I find interesting, again, based on the piece of research we do at Brand Finance, is the drivers of consideration of particular apparel brands.
03:18So what are the key messages that brands want to communicate to?
03:20And particularly amongst women, stylish or being stylish is much more important than it is for men.
03:26And that's why we've seen a lot of these new entrants into the market, these new brands like Sweaty Betty or Tala coming in with that clear value proposition.
03:35And, again, this kind of design-focused, specialized product.
03:38And that's why we're seeing them make huge strides in this space, separate to Nike, who still, again, have that much broader mass market appeal.
