Nike

Marketing spend by year

Bars: advertising and marketing expense, $B (10-K). Line: spend as a share of revenue.

What they told investors

“We executed creative brand marketing, including an experiential chain from Milan to the Alps called the All Conditions Express, and we elevated our presentation in more than 600 retail doors around the world, including a stand-alone ACG door in Beijing.”Elliott J. Hill · 2026 Q3 · transcript

“Due to these actions and as we continue to reduce investment in paid media, we expect digital traffic to be down double digits in fiscal '26.”Matthew Friend · 2025 Q3 · transcript

“our demand creation being up high single digits, 8% this quarter is truly a reflection of Elliott coming in and challenging the team to elevate our storytelling with impact.”Matthew Friend · 2025 Q3 · transcript

“To support this action, demand creation expenses grew high single digits versus the prior year.”Matthew Friend · 2025 Q3 · transcript

“I also see that we've shifted investments away from creating demand for our brand to capturing the brand demand through performance marketing for our digital business.”Elliott Hill · 2025 Q2 · transcript

“We are also reducing investment in performance marketing, which will reduce paid traffic.”Matthew Friend · 2025 Q2 · transcript

What the 10-K says about marketing

• investing in brand “• Brand Management: Increasing investment in demand creation including brand marketing and sports marketing, to support key product launches and sports moments.” 10-K, Jul 15, 2026
• shifting the mix “Demand creation expense increased 1% due to higher sports marketing expense and unfavorable changes in foreign currency exchange rates, partially offset by lower brand marketing expense, reflecting higher investment in key sports events in the prior year. Changes in foreign…” 10-K, Jul 15, 2026
• investing in brand “• Demand creation expense increased 6% primarily due to higher sports marketing expense.” 10-K, Jul 15, 2026
• shifting the mix “• Demand creation expense increased 5% due to unfavorable changes in foreign currency exchange rates and higher sports marketing expense, partially offset by lower brand marketing expense, reflecting higher investment in key sports events in the prior year.” 10-K, Jul 15, 2026
• cutting spend “• Demand creation expense decreased 14% primarily due to lower brand marketing expense.” 10-K, Jul 15, 2026

Say vs do

Walk the talk. In 202 statements from its leaders in interviews, 8 argued for investing in brand and 0 for cutting; the filed spend went up.

In the news

• Nike bets on locally developed products in bid to regain Chinese market BGNES · Sep 28, 2026 · brand strategy
• Nike dares to dream with TDR shots.net · Sep 28, 2026 · campaign
• Nike and Adidas’s football duopoly begins to crack as Kylian Mbappé backs ON OneFootball · Sep 27, 2026 · sponsorship
• Nike scraps Benzema-Corteiz London shoot after ‘brand values’ review Sporticos · Sep 27, 2026 · campaign
• Converse’s Latest Controversy Shows Why Cultural Competency Is A Business Imperative Black Enterprise · Sep 27, 2026 · marketing
• Jordan Brand Backs No Tees Tour Golf Competition KicksUnderCost · Sep 27, 2026 · sponsorship

Peers