NIKE TO REDUCE MARKETING BUDGET AND RE-EVALUATE STRATEGIES

          Nike "will slash its global marketing budget" by $100M
     for the FY starting June 1, "and over the next six months
     will re-evaluate its strategies," according to Jeff Jensen
     of AD AGE.  Nike's '97 marketing budget was an estimated
     $891M.  Nike Chair Phil Knight "holds marketing partly to
     blame for the company's recent woes" and will put its new "I
     can" campaign from Wieden & Kennedy up for "reassessment." 
     Knight: "Our problem has not been too much marketing, but
     too much ineffective marketing" (AD AGE, 3/23 issue). 
          FOOT SOLDIERS: In N.Y., Jennifer Steinhauer examines
     whether a slowdown of Nike sales will impact Woolworth's
     Foot Locker stores.  Analysts estimate that Woolworth
     controls about 16% of the U.S. athletic footwear market, and
     about 40% of the market for athletic shoes over $40.  At
     Foot Locker stores, investors estimate that footwear makes
     up roughly 75% of the merchandise, with Nike representing
     30-50% of that category (N.Y. TIMES, 3/24).