Michael Girdley makes great 20 minute videos in a series called "The Rise and Fall of..." Girdley is a entrepreneur and investor, who makes these folksy videos that are entertaining and informative. Here's "The Rise and Fall of Nike."
Nice video! My favorite part was about Phil Knight. Imagine starting a business that was once a premier company, from the trunk of your car. He understood what marketing is. Get your product to your target market, in that case, runners. Like the presenter said, they went to centralization, and withdrew a good portion of products from satellite vendors. The idea of just being a one-stop shop for all of your sporting goods needs is ok if you can keep your goods moving. The quality had already been established as well as the brand. Pricing can make a huge difference, as well as alienation from sellers who did you a service by promoting your product at the street level, which opened up more competition for the product line. Live and learn.