Paul Swangard, managing director of the University of Oregon's Warsaw Sports Marketing Center in the Lundquist College of Business, is quoted prominently throughout an April 14 New York Times story about Nike's attempts to regain its advertising edge.

Swangard points out in the NYT story that Nike initially made its name in advertising by collaborating with the most successful athletes of their day – most notably, Michael Jordan. But the company has been bitten by more recent relationships with athletes such as Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, Kobe Bryant and Oscar Pistorius.

Additionally, Swangard said, Nike is now the established leader in its field, so it is more challenging for the company to portray itself as an edgy upstart.

“The maturity of the brand creates an inherent challenge because you’re no longer the new kid on the block,” Swangard says in the Times story. As a result, Nike executives “run the risk of being the victim of their own success.”