Nike Restructures, Names New Brand President

Nike announced a series of leadership changes and restructuring on Monday, including the retirement of its current president of consumer, product and brand. The company is restructuring its consumer, product and brand leadership into three separate areas: consumer and sport, marketing, and product creation. As a result, Heidi O'Neill, Nike's president of consumer, product and brand, is retiring after 26 years. She will stay on as an advisor until September.

Amy Montagne, previously the vice president and general manager of global women's, has been promoted to president of Nike. She'll be responsible for serving consumers across all sports and driving future growth for the brand, according to a company press release. Montagne has worked at Nike for 20 years.

Elsewhere, Phil McCartney has been promoted to executive vice president and chief innovation, design and product officer. He formerly served as the vice president of footwear. Nicole Graham, who previously served as the company's chief marketing officer, has been promoted to executive vice president and CMO, leading Nike, Jordan and Converse storytelling. Tom Clarke, currently a strategic advisor to the CEO, has been named chief growth initiatives officer.

“I’m confident that with this new structure and leadership team in place we will be able to better line up and leverage all the advantages that make Nike great,” President and CEO Elliott Hill said. “These exceptional leaders bring extensive Nike experience and have been instrumental in resetting our priorities to lead with sport and put the athlete at the center of everything we do.”

Total Retail's Take: The restructuring is no doubt part of Nike's new "Win Now" turnaround strategy, unveiled in March to reboot growth, focusing less on direct-to-consumer sales and moving more into core sports markets, with an effort toward product innovation, storytelling, and cost-cutting measures.

Nike warned in March that sales could drop by double-digit percentages as a result of new tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump this spring. Nearly a quarter of Nike's manufacturers and suppliers are located in China, the country most impacted by tariffs.