Published on August 21, 2017  
Jay Mike Johnson
Jay-Mike Johnson, right, poses with Adidas North American President Mark King, third from left, and team members.

Samford University senior Jay-Mike Johnson was part of a six-member team that won the Summer Intern project at Adidas U.S. headquarters in Portland, Oregon. Johnson is a senior pursuing a management major and sports marketing concentration in Samford’s Brock School of Business.

For the project, the 90 interns were divided into 15 teams, with each person from a different department. Each team was assigned a trade zone in one of Adidas’ key cities and asked to do intensive research of the area. That boiled down to understanding its history, demographics and other data results.

“We were then tasked to use this data to create an activation idea that would connect this customer demographic and allow them to engage with Adidas,” said Johnson. “Our project was deemed the winner because of our group’s display of collaboration and creative abilities, as well as how well our activation idea matched our target demographic.”

The group’s work possibly could be activated within the next few years.

“The sports marketing program in Brock School of Business first helped me land the highly competitive internship with Adidas at its corporate headquarters in Oregon,” said Johnson. “It also prepared me for success by allowing me to participate in real-world, cross-functional projects while still in school.

“Working as consultants for various sports teams, leagues and sports brands laid the foundation and paid huge dividends in allowing me to draw upon that experience during this project,” he said. “Samford faculty are passionate about investing deeply in each and every student. I am so grateful for all the many hours that Samford faculty have invested in mentoring me and preparing me for success in the real world.”

In addition to his summer internship, Johnson works during the year with the Samford athletics department.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.