Strategy is everywhere. From your morning commute, to the way you speak, to the way the designer of your office decided to go with the carpet you hate instead of hardwood or tile. There is good strategy and there is bad strategy. There is Alexander the Great, and then there is Homer Simpson. As humans, we are constantly planning and mapping out, making these commitments based on a value system that we believe will lead us somewhere better than wherever we are now.
Brands have a strategy too.
Strategic Branding
In his book Shoe Dog, Phil Knight, the creator of Nike, describes competition as such:
“The art of competing, I’d learned from track, was the art of forgetting, and I now reminded myself of that fact. You must forget your limits. You must forget your doubts, your pain, your past.”
-Phil Knight
Phil understood that competing with other high level athletes meant that you weren’t going to win all the time. In fact, you may not win so badly that you embarrass yourself. There is always an underlying fear of failure within sports. A fear of inadequacy and a fear that the work you put in to get to that moment was sorely lacking. And even with twice as much work put in as everyone else, there is still fear that it won’t be enough.
Phil Knight understood this, and so did Nike. That’s why in 1988, with the help of an ad agency by the name of Wieden+Kennedy, Nike launched its “Just Do It.” campaign.
“Just Do It.” was a great success. It allowed Nike to bring their North American market share from 18% all the way to 43% in just 10 years. That is staggering growth.
The reason “Just Do It.” was so successful is that it tapped into the innate fear of failure during competition that Phil Knight understood so many years before the brand was even launched. Nike knew their target market had a fear of failing to compete with others who maybe were more dedicated, or more talented. Nike also knew their target customer had a fear of embarrassment and being laughed at or ridiculed for not being the perfect athlete right away. In order to get potential customers to get over that fear and “become an athlete” so to speak, they had to find a message that resonated with customers. “Just Do It.” says to customers that pursuing some athletic achievement is worth it, and the little voice in your head is wrong.
This is strategic branding. It takes the Nike brand and says, “Okay, we have this brand that only some people like and understand. How can we make this brand the first name in the athletic shoe business?”
It brings together strong market research, creative ad teams, excellent graphic design, thoughtful endorsement choices and a big commitment from the executives. It’s able to do all this because it fits with the underlying strategy of getting the Nike brand from where it is to where it wants to be. It aligns with the values Nike has, and more importantly, it aligns with the values Nike’s ideal customers want to have.
Marketing with Strategy
Strategic marketing is not just making an ad, or a clever slogan, or a logo that catches someones eye at the store. It is taking a brand, understanding why that brand has value, what that value is, and communicating that value to the market over an extended period of time. It’s seeing trends just as they are starting. It’s knowing which trends work with a brands communicated value, and which trends defiantly do not.
Going forward in this newsletter, I’ll be breaking down past and present marketing strategies, ad campaigns, and brand positions that I think are really compelling. I’ll also be writing about general strategy practices that you can see and implement in your own companies.
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Thank you very much for reading
Until next time,
Brock