John Kim 
In Forbes’ recently released list of the world’s most valuable brands, Nike comes in at number eighteen overall thanks to a robust $27.5 billion in brand value. In the category of apparel, Nike is sitting pretty at number one, beating out cheap labels such as Louis Vuitton, Uniqlo, and noted rival adidas. In fact, despite adidas’ impressive efforts in product and brand management/marketing the competition is much less fierce than what bloggers and random tweets suggest. Yes, the Yeezy Boost resells for more than your average Air Jordan Retro. But the brands don’t benefit much financially from aftermarket, and although adidas has its hits with cheap silhouettes like the adidas NMD and the Ultra Boost, Nike is not only worth more, but growing at a faster rate (Nike’s 1-year value change is at 5%, whereas adidas’ value went up by 2%). adidas is certainly having a moment in sneaker and fashion culture, but the brand as a whole won’t be boosted by the work of a few choice sneakers.
Does that mean Nike is doing everything right? Not quite. Despite high sales and growing categories, a lot of its footwear product, particularly newer models such as the LeBron 13 and Air Max 2016, simply don’t appeal to consumers nearly as much as they used to. It’s heavily reliant on archive products so Nike hasn’t had that OMG moment like the Ultra Boost and Yeezy series gave adidas. Still, there are promising models like the upcoming KD 9, which appears to be Nike’s most innovative basketball shoe ever, priced at a relative bargain of $150. Peep the full list by Forbes here.
