One of our most popular newsletter items is the Sales Fails section. People love reading about others' mistakes, whether it's because they're funny, embarrassing, or because they make us glad that we weren't the ones who screwed up.
But sales failures are by no means limited to individual reps selling software or medical devices, they can happen at the highest levels of business, where the stakes are in the billions, and the outcomes can have immense and long-ranging implications.
One such failure is considered by some to be the single biggest screw-up in the lucrative world of athlete endorsements, and, by some estimates, has brought over $14 billion in brand value for apparel company Under Armour at the expense of rival (and market-leader) Nike.