NEW YORK -- After ignoring women for three decades, Nike's Jordan Brand will start making sneakers for them.
There will also be gear for weekend warriors and football fans. Nike's vision for Michael Jordan's flagship line is to now extend to categories beyond basketball -- all with the goal of doubling the brand's sales to $4.5 billion by 2020. That even includes a play for runners, a category Nike already leads by a mile.
"It is a great brand and has been one-dimensional -- largely footwear, largely male and U.S.-based," Nike Chief Executive Officer Mark Parker said. "The opportunity is to give the consumer more choice in that brand, carefully."
The success of the effort will be the latest referendum on the current state of Jordan's marketing power, and on Nike's reputation as a branding juggernaut. The move also has the potential to dilute one of the company's crown jewels by getting away from its hoops DNA, according to Matt Powell, an analyst for research firm NPD Group.
"It's do-able, but it will really take some thoughtful design work, and the product has to be right also," Powell said.
Nike already dominates women's athletic shoes, but the Jordan brand barely registers. Even at some marquee basketball programs where the men's teams wear the Jordan brand, the women opt for Nike.
Examples include Marquette University and the University of California. At Jordan's alma mater, North Carolina, both teams sport the superstar's line. While there's anecdotal evidence that some women are buying boys sizes, current Jordan offerings for women on Nike's website are just accessories like socks, hats and backpacks.
The brand also faces a challenge among 20-somethings, said Neil Schwartz, vice president for market insights at researcher SportsOneSource.
"The millennial, for the most part, never saw Michael play," he said. "These are the folks who are right now at the forefront of consumer spending."
Another risk of expanding the Jordan brand to women is that it may turn off the guys who came to love it as a men's-only line, said Laura Ries, president of marketing-strategy firm Ries & Ries.
"Jordan is one of the most iconic and successful brands, and it very much aligns with young men," Ries said. "Once you start diluting it, it doesn't have the credibility and authenticity it once had, and the guys might not want it anymore."
SundayMonday Business on 10/18/2015