This Future of Marketing Briefing covers the latest in marketing for Digiday+ members and is distributed over email every Friday at 10 a.m. ET. More from the series →There’s a sneaker shop in my neighborhood where troops of lithe, late 20-somethings congregate for a weekly running club. The wall opposite the front door is dominated by long shelves holding 80 different running shoes and, by the bottom left corner, beneath the pairs of Adidas, Brooks, Hoka, On, New Balance, Salomon and Saucony sneakers, you’ll find the shop’s five pairs of Nikes.Running, a hobby and a category that Nike once ruled, is a huge retail concern once again; the U.S. running equipment market was valued at $12.9 billion last year, and U.S. sales of performance footwear increased 13% in the first half of 2026, according to Circana. But Nike hasn’t been able to capitalize on the underlying trend as well as its rivals On, Hoka or Brooks have; the latter saw revenues ramp up 14% in the first half of this year.
At the time of writing Nike’s share price sits at a 12 year low, after being downgraded by a JPMorgan analyst earlier this month. Despite promising signals posted last year, it seems the market has lost faith in CEO Elliott Hill’s turnaround plan.
