Work History / Nike Basketball
Three year line planA standing plan for what to sell, at what price, in which season
Jimmy created the three year line plan framework for North America Basketball in November 2013 and kept it as a working document through at least twelve versions, until he left the category in 2015.
Operating · 2013 to 2015
| Project type | Multi year product and pricing plan |
|---|---|
| Industry | Athletic footwear |
| Seat | North America Footwear Merchandising Director, Basketball |
| Ran through | Nike |
| Dates | November 2013 to October 2015 |
What it is
The line plan set out three fiscal years at once. For each season it named the models, their prices and their launch moments, from the signature shoes down to the entry models at $62 to $65, against the rhythm of the basketball year: the start of the NBA season, Christmas, All-Star Weekend, the college tournament, the playoffs and back to school.
The first version, dated November 2013, was cross functional. It carried footwear, apparel and equipment, with a shared analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. From July 2014 the footwear plan ran as its own working document.
What Jimmy did
- Created the framework template in fiscal 2014 and built the first plan in November 2013, covering fiscal 2015 to fiscal 2018.
- Named the growth strategy in that first version: raise the average price per unit, expand doors, lead with innovation, add tiered signature, refresh the Hyper franchise and maximize the core.
- Wrote specific moves into each year. For fiscal 2015 the plan added the KD Trey 5 for holiday 2014 and the Kyrie 1 for spring 2015, and raised the price ceiling on core performance shoes from $85 to $95.
- Set a life for each signature model by season, such as four seasons for the LeBron XII and two for the Zoom Soldier VIII.
- Owned the plan with analyst support. The August 2014 version carries an analyst's notes to him on which chart format he preferred.
- Rebuilt the plan in 2015 around three growth drivers: Conquer the Kill Zone, Create the Future with Signature 2.0, and Dominate at Good.
- Added flow plans by channel to the 2015 version. Each model has a row showing the months it delivers and the retailers that carry it, from Nike direct and House of Hoops to sporting goods and family footwear.
- Planned the Zoom Soldier 9 as a four season, eleven month shoe in the fiscal 2016 plan.
- Drove adoption across sales, brand and product. His fiscal 2015 goals call for cross functional investment in the plan, and his fiscal 2016 review records the new plan as created and socialized before he left.
Results
- The plan ran from version 1 on November 14, 2013 to version 12 on July 18, 2015. A Keynote edition of the fiscal 2017 to 2019 plan, marked version 42, is dated October 1, 2015.
- The two tiered signature models written into the first plan both launched in fiscal 2015. The KD Trey 5 appears on the holiday 2014 launch calendar, and the Kyrie 1 on the spring 2015 calendar.
- The November 2013 plan projected footwear at $555M for fiscal 2015 and $705M for fiscal 2018. Those were plan figures on the plan's own basis.
- The plan absorbed the change in the market. The July 2015 version carries a reset page for fiscal 2016 that shows footwear flat at $580M, with signature up 5% and Hyper orders down 19%.
- His career profile lists the plan among his main contributions as a leader: "Developed & Drove Adoption of NA Basketball Footwear 3 Year Line Plan".