Nike Downsizes Annual ‘Just Do It’ Day This Year

Nike Inc. will not be celebrating its annual “Just Do It” Day, an employee-focused celebration on its Beaverton, Ore. campus, in the same way this year as in years prior. Instead, the sportswear giant will run other team experiences on a smaller scale, Nike confirmed to FN.

As the Swoosh explained, its major presence at the Olympic and Paralympic Games this year prompted the team to rethink how to celebrate and engage employees across the globe. To that end, Nike has hosted sports watch parties, activations on campus and a global team member meet-up in Centre Pompidou in Paris. Looking ahead, Nike said it will keep the large TV screens installed on campus for employees to keep watching sports together and will bring Nike athletes to campus and retail stores to engage team members in various locations.

Nike introduced “Just Do It” (JDI) Day in 2018 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its iconic “Just Do It” marketing campaign. The annual celebration, which typically includes celebrity performances, awards ceremonies and athlete appearances, took a two-year hiatus during Covid and returned in 2022 with appearances from Travis Scott, Drake, Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Carmelo Anthony and more.

The reimagined JDI Day campaign comes as Nike faces financial troubles and increased competition from smaller athletic brands. In December, Nike announced new measures to “streamline” its organization to save up to $2 billion in costs over the next three years by implementing layoffs, simplifying product and increasing automation.

In a call with analysts in June, Nike chief executive officer John Donahoe said that fiscal year 2025 will be “a transition year” for the company after it cut its outlook for the year. The company’s latest woes — which include declines in lifestyle sales, foreign exchange headwinds and macroeconomic uncertainty — compound other issues that have built up over the last several months. Among them are a broad lag in product innovation and an undefined marketplace strategy.