Robinho's turn to "Write The Future."

Many were surprised when the buck-toothed maestro Ronaldinho was left out of Brazil's squad before the start of the World Cup.

Perhaps none more so than Nike, who had made him a central figure in the acclaimed "Write The Future" campaign.

With Brazil likely to make a run deep into the tournament, Nike has released a new version featuring Robinho, the electrifying Manchester City striker.

Another win for Nike at this tournament. While Adidas is the official tournament sponsor, the controversy surrounding their official tournament ball "Jabulani," as well as the confusing "Quest" campaign has Nike leading the brand championship as we enter the tourney's round of sixteen.

Nike's Shuffling of the Stars

Below is a response I wrote to a thread discussing the new Kobe Bryant Nike commerical:

Hat tip, Dave Allen at North.

"Sure there is nothing new here – it’s a slick editing job reinforcing the Swoosh factory’s hoops bona fides.

It may seem purely tactical. But strategically, this signifies quite a significant shuffling of the stars.
For the first time in a long time, Kobe is the unequivocal centerpiece, along with Nike stars past and present, with just a tip of the hat to LeBron.

Seven years after being dubbed the “the chosen one” LeBron is still without an NBA championship, while Kobe has the inside track to his fifth title with the Lakers.

Achieving five will put him in pretty heady company. An equal number of titles as Magic Johnson and only trailing the immortal Michael Jordan by one.

Should Kobe match, and heaven forbid, surpass Jordan’s number of titles, a case could well be made that he is the greatest player of all time.

Food for thought anyway."

Nike's Finest Ever Commercial?

Judge for yourself. But according to Nike VP-Brand and Category Management Trevor Edwards, this latest spot for next month's FIFA World Cup it is "among the best we've ever done."

The fact I adored it comes as no surprise, I am after all, a lifelong Nike commercial fan boy. But I think this ad transcends the attention of ardent sports fan and communicates soccer as a powerful unifying force -- a global religion that stirs passions from pubs in London's east end, to shanty towns in the Ivory Coast.

The spot was made by Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam and directed by the wonderful Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu of Amores Perros and 21 Grams fame.

Nike stars featured include: Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney, Fabio Cannavaro, Ronaldinho, Landon Donovan and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ahead of the World Cup, How is "Brand South Africa" Doing?

My friend, and fellow Aussie expat in the US, David Farrar sent me this post on nation branding from the Branding Strategy Insider blog. It raises some interesting questions about how malleable a country's brand can be -- a topical question given the whole world is watching South Africa in the lead up to next month's FIFA World Cup. I had to chime in with my thoughts and got a little carried away. My reponse to the original blog post is below:

"A country is a living and breathing entity, with a reputation that can be managed. Not just as a means for boosting tourism, although that is important, but as a central organizing principle; a rallying cry that both citizens of the nation and outsiders can come to associate with that state.

I guess it comes back to our definition of a brand. After all, a sexy tagline does not a great brand make. But to say that nation branding is nonsense, shameful, or that a country has no control over how it is or isn't perceived in the eyes of itself and to the rest of the world makes absolutely no sense to me.

Just because South Africa has problems that won't be solved by a re-branding campaign does not mean that branding is not important. That is akin to saying Walmart or Nike do not need stronger brands, the people that manufacture their products in the developing world need better working conditions and health coverage. It is not a zero sum game of what is and isn't most right. It is about positioning the entity, be it a corporation, country or sports franchise, in a way that inspires others to adopt its philosophy and become part of the brand's story. Whether that means buying a product, rooting for the team or visiting the country.

In regards to South Africa, not even Don Draper could have sold the country as a place of economic growth, happiness and harmony during the long and ugly period of apartheid. There is no arguing that country brands are one of those "warts and all" categories -- a nation's brand is only as strong as its ugliest aspects. It took a paradigm shift in the nation's sensibility to provide the impetus for change to happen. Iconic events like Mandela's release and subsequent election as president, the adoption of a new flag, the 1995 Rugby World Cup victory, Desmond Tutu declaring South Africa the "Rainbow Nation" and countless other acts have resulted in South Africa being seen as it is today; nowhere near perfect, but a place of optimism and hope -- a place "alive with possibility," and certainly not the gloom and doom of the country wracked by racial division.

To paraphrase Oliver Wendell Holmes, greatness, in branding or any endeavor, lies not in where we stand but in what direction we are moving. South Africa has taken great strides as a country, and as a brand. To pass off these acts as serendipitous is to discredit those that provided the impetus for them to happen. More to the point, to argue that other undesirable countries are incapable of changing the way they are perceived by themselves and others seems dogmatic and unfair."

Below is a great spot on South Africa's "Alive with Possibility" campaign. Definitely worth a look.

What's Wrong With Reebok?

Reebok is a brand that's lost a considerable amount of its luster since its eighties hey day.

If Nike and Adidas represent the high performance end of the athletic equipment spectrum; with brands like Puma and Converse at the fashion end; it's hard to determine exactly where Reebok lies. Granted, the brand is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Adidas, but that is no excuse for having an ambiguous and inconsistent brand strategy.

Take these two TV spots featured below that are running concurrently. The first, for the new "Zigtech" shoes featuring Sidney Crosby (Another spot shows Chad Ochocinco), does little to convince us that Reebok's new cross trainer is anything more than a short lived gimmick.



Contrast this to the following spot showing how Crosby practiced hockey as a boy in Nova Scotia. If this does not move the sports lover in all of us, I don't know what will.



My point here is not that one or the other of these representations of the Reebok brand is wrong, it's just that doing both at the same time begets ambiguity. While the Zigtech spot is captivating and entertaining, it also screams of ephemeral, throwaway trendiness -- much the same way Toyota's FJ Cruiser does. On the other hand, the spot showing Crosby returning to his roots where he discovered his love for the game speaks to authenticity, passion and permanence.

What do you think - what's the best plan of attack for Reebok to remain relevant today?

Earl Woods Questions His Son From The Grave

I wrote the following response to Justin Spohn's great post criticizing Nike for playing it safe.

"Let’s be frank here. If Nike were to get super creative, it would draw attention to the issue even more. Some of the most powerful Jordan spots were not super creative, almost corny and hackneyed, but by george, they managed to stir the emotions.

I commented earlier today on someone expecting the players Nike aligns itself with to be paragons of marital fidelity. I didn’t realize that was part of the Nike sponsorship criteria. Michael Jordan was no saint, but I think it’s safe to say that investing in “his airness” was not a bad business move for Nike.

Tiger is a golfer. Sure he is a role model, but he never set out to become the moral gold standard for which we should all should use to live our lives. Sure his actions were reprehensible, but, none more so than the pope turning a blind eye/covering up the offenses of child abusers within his ranks. The difference is, the Holy Father bases his existence on living by example – Tiger did what pretty much all professional sportsmen do – but became a pariah for it – at least until he wins his next major.

Perhaps when he was on the fence about having several of his affairs he could hear the subtle whisper in his head — “just do it” "




Hat Tip: Dean McBeth

A Tiger’s Tale: Road to Redemption

It’s old news now, but Eldrick “Tiger” Woods, the squeakiest of the squeaky clean sports stars, has been outed as a serial philanderer. The Twittersphere and the tabloids have done a pretty good job of documenting Tiger’s indiscretions, the details of which need not be revisited here.

The question I’m more interested in is a little harder to answer - What damage has Tiger Woods, the man done to the Tiger Woods, the brand?

First thing’s first - Tiger will return to golf. He will better than ever. He will break Jack Nicklaus’s record for the most Major wins. This much is certain.

But far murkier is how Tiger’s tale will evolve from this point. Will his wife leave him? Is he a toxic asset that sponsors must drop? How will golf fare in his absence?

Accenture has already pulled the plug, Procter & Gamble have “benched” him by limiting his presence in Gillette ads. Tag Heuer has announced they will continue supporting Tiger after initially signalling they would sever ties with the troubled superstar.

But Tiger’s most important booster is the swoosh factory – and Nike is sticking with their man. Founder Phil Knight recently observed, “When his career is over, you'll look back on these indiscretions as a minor blip.”

Tiger - The Brand
With some sponsors leaving and others holding firm, no one has a crystal ball telling us whether Tiger’s stock is buy, hold or sell. While most think his brand image will slowly rise from rock bottom, few believe it will ever climb back to the stratospheric heights it once lived.

One thing is certain, Woods’s actions have made his brand infinitely more vulnerable than the virtuous juggernaut it seemed only a couple of months ago. Perhaps his self-described “transgressions,” made us realize is human after all. As it might be expected, the immediate damage to his market value was significant. University of California, Davis economists Christopher Knittel and Victor Stango have estimated the financial fallout of Tiger's scandals to have cost his sponsors between US$5-12 billion in wealth.

While it's hardly comforting right now, his sponsors can be optimistic that the outing of his inner lothario have added a whole new dimension to Tiger's brand. In the final telling of Tiger's story, the silver lining of this moment is that practically all revered heroes in history face daunting challenges at some point, but most come out intact. Let’s face it, stories aren’t very interesting when it’s all smooth sailing.

Legendary mythologist Joseph Campbell believes that such adversity is a recurring theme in every great story in history. In his famous book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell formulated the idea of “ The Hero’s Journey” or “Monomyth” - a narrative framework that transcends time, place and culture. George Lucas famously used the monomyth as a template for writing the Star Wars saga.

A quick glance at the cycle quickly reveals how it relates to Tiger’s travails. Some of the stages, appropriately named, “the road of trials” and the “woman as temptress” have landed Tiger firmly in “the abyss”. But as Campbell writes, “It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.”

The reason for the abyss stage is simple - while not all protagonists in mythological tales are human, the audiences who read them are. In order to relate to the hero, we must be able to empathise with their experiences. It’s pretty hard to empathise with a flawless robot. To err is human after all.

From Tiger’s perspective, his short hiatus from the game has already put him on the road to redemption - at least with the fans and sponsors - no one knows how atonement will go for on the home front. But time is a powerful healer, and before long Tiger will have mended fences and be back swinging clubs and spruiking products like never before. The only thing Americans love more than a fall from grace is a comeback of Lazarus proportions – just ask Robert Downey Jnr.

Like Michael Jordan before him, Tiger Woods is one of those rare figures that transcends his sport, his race and his nationality. His marketability is based on the certainty of outcome – he will win, and he’ll look good doing it. So sure, the facade of the bulletproof boyscout has been shattered. But for Tiger, perhaps his own “hero’s journey” may not be a such a myth after all.


To read about another recent tale of redemption, see Gunther Sonnenfeld's great post on Michael Vick.

Brand As A Unifying Force

A tribe. A community. A movement.

Whatever term is used to describe it, brands must seek to become it.

The wall that used to stand between employees and consumers no longer exists. This has something to do with that fact both are human beings first and foremost. Brands like Apple and Nike attract staff and customers for the same reasons -- and money (whether it be salaries or price), ain’t got nothing to do with either.

Believing in and becoming part of something that transcends function is the cost of entry to play in the market today. And this is easy to lose sight of on the never ending carousel of tactical execution. Brands that stop asking themselves “Would anyone care if we stopped existing?” do so at their peril. Just ask Pontiac or Circuit City.

But brands that commit to meaning something more than a fat bottom line are well positioned to thrive while others falter. Brands like Patagonia, Seventh Generation and TOMS Shoes all speak to an idealism and timelessness that transcend tough economic times.

So before slashing prices and ordering a raft of social media tactics, brand managers must aim higher. Aspiring to a differentiating idealism not only inspires and attracts employees and customers, it also ensures the brand is better equipped to fend off competitors focused only the functional.

Michael Jordan "Maybe"

My favorite ever Michael Jordan commercial.

Jordan was the first athlete of the modern era to truly transcend his sport, paving the way for modern greats like Tiger Woods and LeBron James. This ad is a beautiful reminder that Jordan's genius was a product of elbow grease and determination rather than the talent and flair he became famous for.

The Evolution Of Apple

The graphic on the left is meant to depict one thing – that a brand has very little to do with a logo.

Sure, iconography is important – the instantly recognizable Coke bottle silhouette or the Nike Swoosh are testament to that. But any logo itself is an inanimate shape – its meaning is derived from the sum total of what the brand stands for.

Apple was not recently listed by Fortune Magazine as the most admired company in the world for having a sexy logo, but by embodying a set of values and beliefs that its users find cool and aspirational. So while its logo and products have evolved over the years (I'm sure its designers would prefer to forget its notorious beige phase!), the values that define Apple have stood the test of time.

So just what is Apple? How do you distill the essence of the Apple brand? Many people talk about its sleek design or its user intuitivity. These are important attributes to be sure, but they are not what make the Apple brand admired.

The answer lies in the message behind the famed 1984 and Think Different TV spots. Not unlike its pugnacious visionary Steve Jobs, Apple is a fierce independence symbolizing a free-spirited creativity. This is the reason people have Apple bumper stickers and tattoos of the logo - because they are a member of the Apple "tribe." What the brand stands for resonates with them.

However, with growing popularity comes a host of new challenges for Apple. How does a brand remain cool as it becomes as ubiquitous as white ear buds on a college campus? A former periphery brand used by a niche market of designers and creative professionals, the Apple juggernaut continues to gain market share across all its categories. Going forward its greatest challenge will be to avoid becoming commoditized - like Starbucks before it - a victim of its own success.

For some reason, I wouldn’t bet on it...

Nike "Leave Nothing"

I love the latest Nike "Leave Nothing" commercials.



Continuing on the campaign from the 2007 season, the latest spot features the parallel lives of two of the NFL's most popular players, LaDainain Tomlinson and Troy Polamalu - finally meeting head on in the heat of battle on the football field. A minute long tale of two boyhood upstarts morphing into professional warriors.

Make no mistake, these guys are two of the stars of the NFL. And both rank right up there in terms of the number of fan jerseys sold. But more than that, they are also two players who draw admiration for the spirit in which they play the game - a rare commodity in an era where the NFL has had its fair share of prima donnas.

It's still quintessentially Nike - individual rather than collective brilliance, raising the bar through persistence and determination - but the choice of players this year almost mirrors what the NFL's strategy should be as an organization. Last year featured controversial stars Shawne Merriman and Steven Jackson - two guys not known for the best off field behavior or humility.

But LT and Polamalu are both class acts who seem to play the game for the right reasons - because they love it. And ultimately that is the genius of Nike - its not an equipment manufacturer, it never has been. It's a philosophy on living.