THE STORY OF MJ AND HIS BRAND
THE ORIGIN
Michael Jordan was born on February 17, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York, where his parents, James and Delores, had recently moved. His full name is Michael Jeffrey Jordan. His family is of humble origins: his father works as a mechanic at a power plant, while his mother holds a modest job at a bank. The boy is very shy, so much so that he attends a home economics course for three years, where he learns to sew, fearful that growing up, he would never find a woman to marry. Fortunately, his interest in sports serves to occupy all his energies: with his brother Larry and sister Rasalyn, he participates in various sports. An average student, but already an exceptional athlete, he stands out in basketball, but also in American football (as a quarterback) and baseball (as a pitcher). All this, however, seems insufficient for the basketball coach, who decides to pass on his first draft pick. Yet his talents shone through: in the few games he was allowed to play, he quickly earned the reputation of "dunker" due to his stunning dunks. After a year of hard work, he was named to the first team and quickly became known throughout the state as one of the best players in the school league. Many remember the young MJ in college for his exuberant hunger for the ball and his constant desire to overcome any obstacle, to achieve both personal and team victory. Already during his college career, he was earning the nickname "Mr. Air" for his leaping jumps.
HOW WAS JORDAN CREATED?
The history of the brand stems from a surreal story, many do not know, that the brand that has now become a millionaire and recognized worldwide was born thanks to Jordan's mother, Mrs. Dolores, who chose on her son's behalf to collaborate with Nike, even though MJ wanted Adidas, her statements before the interview with Nike were these:
“I want Adidas, we're wasting our time.”
These were MJ's statements to his manager and his father before joining Nike.
Air Jordan began hitting shelves in 1985 with the Air Jordan One, a collaboration with Nike.
A year before the beginning of a new era, Michael Jordan was targeted by Nike because they believed they could use him as a testimonial to relaunch the brand.
They decided to make their debut when Nike was going through a rough patch. Nike was known for its fast, lightweight running shoes at the time; it wasn't yet the giant it is today, and it probably owes a lot of that to MJ.
At the time MJ wanted support from Adidas or Converse, because Nike was still an emerging brand while Converse produced shoes for the NBA.
Adidas, on the other hand, was firmly in Mike's thoughts because he wore it in his games before the National Basketball Association.
Converse had no interest in signing Michael because they already had their own very well-known endorsers at the time, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
Nike assembled a team that presented Michael with several designs for the Air Jordan One concept in the Chicago team colors.
He is said to have said that he was unable to show off his sneakers because they were the devil's colors, and he, being a very Catholic by family, could not go against doctrinal principles.
Jordan agreed to the deal and Nike immediately began their rise by starting their massive marketing campaign.
At the time of the signing, Nike had projected that it would earn approximately $4 million from Jordan sales over the next three years.
The shoe was released in April 1985 at a price of $65 a pair. It was a worldwide success, reaching $70 million in revenue within a few months and closing the year with $120 million in sales, beating all expectations. Over the years, Jordan collaborated constantly with Nike and his designs, among the most recognized being Tinker, probably one of the figures with whom Jordan had the greatest affinity and creativity.
THE BIRTH OF JORDAN BRAND
Air Jordan split from Nike and became a separate brand in 1997, with the release of the new Air Jordan 13 (the first computer-generated sneaker). Nike concluded that Air Jordan had too powerful a fan base to not be a separate brand.
Over the years, Air Jordan has gained more and more prestige thanks to sneaker collectors from all over the world willing to spend huge sums of money to get their hands on a Retro model of shoes created specifically for MJ to play in certain seasons.
Furthermore, collaborations have been created with important people in the entertainment world and NBA players such as Spike Lee, Ray Allen, Carmelo Anthony and others, thanks to which limited editions of models with particular colours or new designs have been released on the market, all in limited editions.