- Develop a corporate culture that is ALL about innovation, excellence, and competitiveness. Congrats, you're now among the top 1% of companies.
- Develop a brand that is about something more than just your product. Something meaningful to real people and differentiated from everyone else.
- Put together a product development strategy to compliment your new brand strategy.
- Develop a brilliant tagline, logo, and advertising campaign to establish your brand identity.
- Be bold and don't be afraid to offend people. Dan Weiden famously said about Nike advertising, "Truth is, if we didn't get a bunch of complaints after we ran an ad, chances are it didn't work."
There, you're done. Now wasn't that easy? (insert sarc-mark here)
In my 15 years of advertising, I've met a lot of companies who say they want to be like Nike. So they come to their advertising professionals and ask them to create the next Nike. Well, it's just not that easy. Alas, I wish it was.
Your ad people can't make you like Nike. You simply can't be like Nike unless you actually ARE like Nike. Innovation must run deep in the culture of your company. You must take risks. Big ones. You must be willing to develop a million dollar ad and then not run it if it didn't come out right. You must be willing to wake people up. Everyone at your company must want to be the best. You must be willing to chase your competition with a frigging chain saw.
“Our job is to wake up the consumers” says Knight. “If we become predictable, that’s not waking them up.” Phil Knight
So I guess the question goes back to you. Are you like Nike?
If not, then you're much better off if you just try to be yourself.
Stumble It!