The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

How good is it?

Two icons of tennis …

Hell, for people of a certain age, they’re still icons, despite this pic being taken in 1978.

But this isn’t about them, this is about McEnroe’s shirt.

McEnroe’s NIKE shirt.

Notice anything about it? Anything different at all?

Well let me put you out of your misery, because the answer is there’s absolutely nothing different about it whatsoever.

It’s the same logo as you see today.
It’s the same font as you see today.
It’s the same flawed genius athlete as you see today.

It is a demonstration of a brand who has always known who the fuck it is, what/who it stands for and what it believes.

A brand that made that logo ‘an asset’ through the decisions it makes and the athletes it associates with.

For over 50+ years.

No ‘relaunch’.
No ‘brand purpose’ statement.
No ‘one colour’ brand systems.
No ‘system 2’ decision making.

Hell, they’re even OK with making mistakes because they are focused on fighting, challenging, pushing and provoking athletes and sport rather than chasing popularity and convenience.

In fact, the greatest irony is the reason they’re currently in the shit is because certain people decided their 50+ years of pushing who they are, what/who they stand for and what they believe was now out of date. Irrelevant. Not ‘optimising or maximising’ their commercial value enough. So they turned their back on who they are to embrace what many modern marketing guru’s said they should be … ignoring the fact these people have never done – or achieved – anything close to what NIKE has and does.

Now it is very true there are certain things NIKE have been slow to embrace. Some are mindblowingly ridiculous and stupid. However, I would argue that is more because they shed so many people who loved and live for sport while replacing them with people who love and live for marketing processes and practices.

Because while there is – if done correctly – value in those things, it’s important to remember they never MAKE a brand, they – at best – help empower it. A bit.

That we’ve chosen to forget this to enable us to profit from an increasing number of companies who seek to disguise the fact they don’t know who they fuck they are, what/who they stand for and what they believe, highlights how much marketing has become an industry of platitudes, not provocation.

Which is why I will always remember what a friend of my Dad once told me.

He was a lawyer, but his words were very pertinent for marketing.

Especially a lot of what passes – or is celebrated – in marketing today.

He basically said: “Great companies don’t change who they are but always fight to change where they are”