Swooshed: How Nike and the City of New York could potentially change the landscape of city branding through apparel licensing agreements

• Published date: 01 November 2022
• Author: Michael Blair Thomas
• Date: 01 November 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13519

VIEWPOINT

Swooshed: How Nike and the City of New York could

potentially change the landscape of city branding through

apparel licensing agreements

Michael Blair Thomas

Gov. Reubin O’D. Askew School of Public

Administration & Policy, Florida State University,

Tallahassee, Florida, USA

Correspondence

Michael Blair Thomas, Gov. Reubin O’D. Askew

School of Public Administration & Policy, Florida

State University, Bellamy Building 627, 113

Collegiate Loop, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.

Email: mbt12@my.fsu.edu

Abstract

Cities across the United States are increasingly implementing branding into their

strategic plans. Several municipalities are finding creative ways to do so, paced by

New York City’s 2019 licensing agreement with sportswear giant, Nike. The city

(via NYC & Company) and Nike entered into a 2-year agreement that is claimed by

Nike as the first known partnership of its kind. The contract allows the sportswear

company to produce footwear and apparel with nearly all the city’s likenesses,

with product release subject to the city’s approval. Buoyed by an analysis of rele-

vant public and place branding literatures, this Viewpoint analyzes the cultural ties

that serve as the foundation of the relationship between the two entities and the

potential impact of non-financial elements to consider within the agreement. The

article offers questions that practitioners should ponder when deciding to enter

licensing agreements when opportunities become available.

Evidence for Practice:

•Promoting tourism and commerce are just two ways that cities can expand

brand recognition. Licensing provides another opportunity while simulta-

neously adding another public revenue stream.

•Beyond entering a licensing agreement for revenue purposes, other elements that

administrators must consider include whether the relationship contributes to public

value and how the relationship addresses the authentic needs of the community.

•Practitioners are well served to enter their public entities into relationships

with organizations that already preexisting have informal and formal ties to

the community in which the licensing agreement is taking place.

INTRODUCTION

When thinking about licensing in the context of public

administration, it is natural to think of the issuance of

licenses for different activities including those obtained to

drive, own a business, or engage in a profession such as

nursing or teaching. However, there is another emerging

context that cities are utilizing the idea of licensing: The

allowance of private organizations to use their departmental

trademarks for branding purposes to create a new revenue

stream. As public managers increasingly see value in brand-

ing engagement, research on public branding (Thomas

et al., 2021; Zavattaro et al., 2021) and place branding

(Eshuis et al., 2013; Klijn et al., 2012; Stevens et al., 2021)is

surging within this field. Yet, in many ways, branding is in its

infancy within the public administration context as adminis-

trators search for ways to engage in the practice in a finan-

cially efficient manner. One such opportunity is through

licensing. Literature on private sector licensing interests in

city branding is emerging with scholars investigating the

potential benefit of cities with strong brands to engage in

marketing effectively (Keller, 2003; Parkerson & Saunders,

2005). Hankinson (2010) identifies Pike’s(2009)workasthe

first of its kind that calls for more research into brand licens-

ing as a potential alternative funding source. In New York

City (NYC), a new opportunity for cities specifically to

expand their brand footprint and produce another creative

revenue stream is via licensing.

The purpose of this Viewpoint is to examine the

potential impact of licensing agreements for public

Received: 14 November 2021 Revised: 16 April 2022 Accepted: 26 April 2022

DOI: 10.1111/puar.13519

1186 © 2022 American Society for Public Administration. Public Admin Rev. 2022;82:1186–1191.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/puar