Latest / Presented by Speaking Human / #198: Why Do It?

Transcript

#198: Why Do It? · Presented by Speaking Human

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Speaking Human.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Today. On Speaking Human, we risk agony, defeat, and heartache
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: to share our thoughts on Nike's reimagining of the brand's
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: iconic just Do It campaign for a new generation.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Speaking Human.
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: Welcome to Speaking Human, where we simplify the world of
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: marketing for humans. I'm Shad Calmly and with me is
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: my co host Patrick Jebber. You know, sometimes Patrick, I
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: don't know if I can do this podcast. I don't
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: know if I have it in me, and then I
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: think to myself, just do it, and here I am.
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: It's it. It's all it takes.
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I often just say why do it?
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: I say, just do it, and you're like, but why
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: do it?
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: You're like, Jeff, let do it.
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: So, speaking of just do it, how about some Nike
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: related trivia, how's that sound.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: Oh, I'm psyched for Nike trivia. This is gonna be
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: a gonna be good, I think, Yeah, I think so.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: I think this will be good for you. Yeah, it'd
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: be good for my ego, my humility.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Always trivia always a boost for you, always brings you up.
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: So here we go.
• 1:26
  Speaker 4: A couple questions for you. First, one multiple choice. Of course,
• 1:30
  Speaker 4: we want to make it easy for our listeners out
• 1:33
  Speaker 4: there who are playing along, not for you. You don't
• 1:35
  Speaker 4: need these answers, but they might. So Question one. What
• 1:40
  Speaker 4: unexpected real life event inspired Nike's iconic just Do It slogan?
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: Was it a a motivational speech by Muhammad Ali b
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: a slogan from an Olympic gold medalist, C A line
• 1:57
  Speaker 4: from a Hollywood movie, or d the final words of
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: a convicted murderer.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: This one's easy. It's the final words of a convicted murderer.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: That's right.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you got one that's hard to believe. Right, it's
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: very surprising.
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: If you don't know it, you're probably like, say what,
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: But yeah, Nike's just do It slogan was inspired by
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: the final words of convicted murderer Gary Gilmour, who said
• 2:25
  Speaker 3: let's do it before his execution in nineteen seventy seven.
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: A detailed Nike's co founder Dan Widen intentionally kept quiet
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: for decades understandably yep. So one for one, Patrick feeling good?
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: Not really, because if that was the easy one, I'm
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: not going to succeed on the next one.
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: Well, I think you can get this one too, Okay.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: So question two, who was featured in the first Nike
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: commercial to use the just do it slogan in nineteen
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: eighty eight. Is it a female marathon or Joan Benoy Samuelson.
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: I'm sure I butchered that real good b NBA All
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: Star Michael Jordan, ce eighty year old runner Walt Stack,
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: or d pro football and baseball player Bo Jackson, very
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: good at Techmobile. Bo Jackson, he.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: Was Bo Nos Techmobile Bow Nos. I'm gonna say no
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: on Bo because Bo was Bono's. I think Bo was Bonos,
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: so I don't think it was him. I'm sort of
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: leaning towards either Michael Jordan or the marathon.
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: Or Joan Benoy Samuelson.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I just I just wanted you to say it again.
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: I wanted to try get you to pronounce it again.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: What year was it? It was eighty eight, right.
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: Yeah, nineteen eighty eight.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna say. I'm gonna say it's the marathon, or
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: even though I think it's Jordan.
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: It's not the marathon.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: Okay, So it's Jordan, it's not Jordan's. Oh, it's it's C.
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: It is C. It's eighty year old runner Walt Stack. Okay,
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: speature jogging across the Golden gate Bridge first ever, just
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: do it?
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: At see, I would have gotten it wrong three times over.
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah, but you know you only got it wrong once technically,
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: so you're fifty fifty coming out of here.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: I felt pretty good that I eliminated Bo because I
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: know Bo knows and that was a Nike.
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: Bo could have known two things.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: Eh, but what DoD he have just done it? Probably not.
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: He's like, if my name's not in it, I'm not
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: doing it. Yeah, He's like, why do it?
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: And that leads in nicely, I think, because obviously we're
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: talking about just do it, which is Nike's very, very
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: famous slogan. But this is also has a lot to
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: do with their very recent launch of the why do
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: It campaign.
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: It was a little walking why do it?
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: Why? This campaign doesn't just tweak its iconic slogan, it
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: flips it what some might call a full blown cultural commentary.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: So just do it. As you mentioned, it's been around
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: with the Nike brand since nineteen eighty eight. It's been shouted,
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: it's been whispered, it's been stitched onto the backs of
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: the world's greatest athletes. It's simple, it's commanding, and it's timeless.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: But in twenty twenty five. You know, we're in a
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: different world now than nineteen eighty eight, and sometimes trying
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: too hard in twenty twenty five is seen as cringe
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: as the kids say.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: So.
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  Speaker 2: This new Marquee spot, the why Do It campaign, is
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: narrated by Tyler the creator Guys Don't Know, It's a rapper,
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: and it features an all star cast of Lebron James,
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: Caitlin Clark, It's Goin Barkley, Vinnie Junior, Ray So Lil,
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: I think that's how you say, and the entire Real
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: Madrid squad. The campaign directs the language at this cringe
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: culture of trying too hard, but in visuals these are
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: people who are trying really hard. So the ad challenges
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: that idea though, and it's saying do it anyway ultimately,
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: so Nike's Nike depends on how you like to say it.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: We've talked about this a million times on the show.
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  Speaker 2: The chief marketing Officer, Nicole Graham said the campaign is
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: part of a larger shift and the company is reorganizing
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: its marketing around specific sports again, basketball, football, soccer, skateboarding
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  Speaker 2: to reconnect with both elite athletes and everyday players. So
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: that's a big part of the why Do It campaign
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: and what they're trying to achieve, balancing that legendary status
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: of stars like Lebron with the relatable hustle of ordinary
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: athletes like you and me shed you know, yeah, the
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: ordinary athletes pushing ourselves daily on this podcast, maybe weekly.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: According to Fast Company, the campaign has great potential to
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: combat the impacts of cringe. It's a real thing, like
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: people talking about the cringe. Some branding experts believe it
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: could help Nike better resonate with younger audiences who prioritize
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: purpose over performance. So while the just do It campaign
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: or the just Do It tagline isn't going away, Nike
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: is clearly evolving and acknowledging in this day and age
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: that you know, motivation looks different than it did in
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: nineteen eighty eight. So that's a little background too what
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: we're talking about today Nike.
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah, No, that's good. That's a good like preamble of
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: information on how we got here and what this campaign
• 7:51
  Speaker 3: is trying to do. All that being said, let's dive
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: into why do it?
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: Why do it?
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: The great question of our time? Does this work for you?
• 8:01
  Speaker 3: The big question? Patrick, what do you think is this working.
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: I'm not in love with it. I'll say that I
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: think I'm fine with it, but I'm not in love
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: with it. What do you think?
• 8:11
  Speaker 3: I think for the most part it works. It's a
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: simple but clever recalibration. It's also a little bit of
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: a trick. We'll get into that a little more. I'd
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: want to blow that up right now. But for the
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: most part, I think it works in the way almost
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: most Nike marketing works, you know, plays kind of like
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: a sports movie, makes you want to lace up, gets
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: you kind of inspired, gives a jolt back to that
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: iconic slogan that still kind of plays, but it's also
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: become so much of an icon it's a little bit
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: of background now. I think it works for the most part.
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: But I think I sound kind of like you. I'm
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: not really over the moon about it.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: Mm hmm. I don't know if it was a combination
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: of the voiceover, or if like the way it was
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: voiced over, or if it was the shots, Like I
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: felt like they could have played with it a little
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: bit more and it might have been better for me.
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: Maybe I'm with you on that. I think when I
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: was saying that kind of felt like standard issue Nike.
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  Speaker 3: That's kind of mostly what I was talking about, not
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  Speaker 3: a bold reimagining. It feels like a Nike ad that
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: you've seen many times before, which are always good and
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: well executed. But it doesn't feel any different than what
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  Speaker 3: we've seen many times before.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think today brands are having a real
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: hard time for the most part, So yeah, I kind
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: of get it why they would do that. The other
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: part is it should feel like a Nike ad, but
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  Speaker 2: also like it's kind of like one of those things
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  Speaker 2: where you hope for a little bit more, You hope
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: for something that just a little bit different that you go, Oh,
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: I like that, because it could come across a little
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: bit more clever and playful if done a little just
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: a little differently, you know, not anything strikingly different. But
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  Speaker 2: I think there was something there that they missed maybe.
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I'm there on that. I think like
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: hearing about the campaign, you know, reading a little bit
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: about it, and then watching the commercial, maybe my expectation
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  Speaker 3: thought there was going to be something a little bit
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: more than what we got there, Yeah, to kind of
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  Speaker 3: throw in, you know, something I will say that I like,
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: or I think is pretty brilliant. Here the shift from
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: just a declarative sentence yeah or command if you will
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  Speaker 3: to a question that's pretty brilliant.
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, not a lot of work on.
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  Speaker 3: The back end, but you know, it seems like it's
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: making a big impact. You don't have to change much,
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  Speaker 3: just a couple of words, you throw a punctuation mark
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  Speaker 3: on there, and bam, you got something fresh. I like that,
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: you know, I was even trying to think of my mind.
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  Speaker 3: I'm like, okay, if we got just do it, and
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: then we moved to why do it? What is going
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: to be our third iteration in another forty years? And
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: maybe it's don't do it? Where it's like a little
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: reverse psychology, yeah, Catigonia style, where they're like, don't do it,
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: You'll never succeed, you can't make it.
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: I think they did something similar in one of the
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: ads where it was like Serena Williams.
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: Or somebody was voicing it over.
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: It was kind of like it felt like that, you know,
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: kind of a negative tone they said you can't do
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: it or something like that.
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: Mmmm. Yeah, yeah.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: I mean it's a good point, though, you could really
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: play with that to the endth degree. So things that
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: I like or don't like about the campaign. Mm hmm,
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: I broke it into threes. I think you're gonna love
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: these because they're also a literative alliterative.
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: Well, who doesn't love of three things? Lay it on me?
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: Number one posing? What do you mean by posing? Patrick?
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah? What do you mean?
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  Speaker 2: The idea of posing the question to me is a
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: way for them to play with the original tagline. But
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: there's no need to make this long term commitment. That's
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: kind of the beauty of it is like this one off.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: So they're just kind of posing this question and the
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: cam pain only works. Posing the question only works because
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: of what came before, because it's not strong without it right, Like,
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: this question doesn't mean anything without having.
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: The forty years of history that came exactly just do
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: it right?
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, So I like that. Number two pressuring? What do
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: you mean, Patrick? Why are you bringing all this posing? Pressuring?
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: Sounds like you're just trying to be creative. I am
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: a little bit. I'm trying to be creative. So the
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: idea that the original tagline was a type of mandate
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: or outcome they mentioned, it feels a little like this
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: thing that was demanding right the way that they sort
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: of position that feels a little bit like BS. The
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: way they describe it, like in the news room, it
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: feels like marketing spin to me, do athletes today because
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: they say this, do athletes today really feel more pressure
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: than athletes who came before. Maybe maybe the social pressures,
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: social media, that kind of thing could be a little
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: bit harder than back then. But I don't think it's
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: entirely true, And I think you can simplify it to
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: one word, which will be number three. But this is
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: what they say right film striking message speaks directly to
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: today's athletes who are growing up in a world where
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: trying and failing can feel daunting, where taking a leap
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: feels harder than ever, and where the temptation to quit
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: is louder than any reason to keep going. That's kind
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: of like everybody like for all time. I don't think
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: that there's any difference today than there has ever been
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: with that feeling. So I feel like that pressure for
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: them to like create a reason to do it feel
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: a little bit like BS. Then they led to pandering
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: because they're pandering to this new generation. So number three
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: is pandering. It feels like they're pandering to the new
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: generation and that's not a bad thing. I mean, I
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: get you have to do that. You know, as they
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: mentioned in their newsroom, it's designed to meet young athletes
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: where they are. The campaign reframes greatness as a choice,
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: not an outcome, handing just do It to today's generation
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: and emboldening them to write the next chapter. I think
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: giving them some sense of ownership right in the just
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: Do It campaign, which came way before them. It's a
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: good idea, you know, it gives them a fresh place
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: to start. I mean, I feel like that's the goal
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: of any brand, you know that's had the same tagline
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: for almost forty years, right, So, I feel like there's
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: this like these three things that I noticed that were happening, posing, pressuring,
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: and pandering. What do you think of that?
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: No, those are good And I'm glad you even called
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: out that quote. You know, I was trying to think
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: in my mind how this actually works to connect more
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: with younger generations.
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: M hm.
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: And you kind of like stated that, you know, isn't
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: this every generation? I guess they're like putting it on them,
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: like it's harder for you than it's ever been before.
• 14:53
  Speaker 3: Even if that maybe BS, Yeah, you know, maybe everybody
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: wants to feel that way, like, hey, it is harder
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: for me, that's so sure.
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: There.
• 15:00
  Speaker 3: I looked at this and I was like, is this
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: really gonna connect with younger generations? My one thought was like,
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: maybe if YouTube and TikTok had proven anything, it's this
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: generation loves kind of a challenge and maybe reframing it
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: as like why do it is more of, you know,
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: a challenge versus the command. Maybe that's the idea here,
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: But I had trouble connecting how this is better for
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: the younger generation piece. That part did not totally come
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: together for me.
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're getting to the point now, right, A, we've
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: been podcasting for thirteen years, and B we're a couple
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: of older guys, and maybe this is where we're at.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: Like I don't see it because I'm too far outside
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: of the bubble. Yeah, and therefore, you know, whatever I say,
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: a young person is going to be like, okay, boomer, right,
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: And I get that, And I do get that if
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: it does speak to them, it's surprising to me other
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: than the fact that, like they're seeing all these greats
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: which inspire everyone, right, no matter what age athlete you are.
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: You see Lebron or you whatever, in whatever sport you
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: see that person who you aspire to be, Like, yeah,
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: that speaks to me, But I don't know how the
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: changing the slogan does that.
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I alluded to in the beginning that this is
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: a little bit of a trick, a little bit of
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: smoke and mirrors.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: M M.
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: I feel like Nike is making it seem like they're
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: blowing this out, like they're doing something bold and significant,
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: when really they're not doing all that anything, all that different.
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: I mean, the new ad ends would just do it.
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: Mm hmm.
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: It's like a vintage Nike ad that ends would just
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: do it. So just because you're incorporating this, why do
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: it messaging? I don't know. And then you're like positioning
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: it out to the world as, Hey, guess what we're doing.
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: We're changing up our pitch something different.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: Now.
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: They moved a few characters around at a doc and
• 16:51
  Speaker 3: did a lot of work convincing us they're doing something different.
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: But then when you see the product, it's kind of
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: the same. Yeah, and it is very much like you
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: said down the middle. You're seeing like Lebron and these
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: other like famous athletes, and it's inspirational, it's good. Again.
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: I'm like mostly positive on it, but I feel like
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: it's being sold as more than it actually is.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, which that's the spin and I get that. That's
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: why I say, sometimes whenever you're trying to justify something
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: a little bit of the BS that goes along with
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: it to try to justify it, some people can see
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: through that. That's all I'm saying. Some people can see
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: through the BS, you know, and see it for what
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: it actually is. I mean, who am I to judge? Like,
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: did I do anything for Nike lately?
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: No?
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: I don't have the cred of a Nike level client,
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: so I can't say, hey, you could have done something
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: amazing and something much better. I mean I think you can.
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: But it's okay for what it is in my opinion.
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and they've inflated it pretty well. Actually, it's kind
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: of impressive in that way. It's just one of those
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: things when you kind of put it under the microscope
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: a little bit, you start to see the seams m hm,
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: and you're like, you know, if you know what to
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: look for, You're.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: Like, hmm.
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: Interesting. So this kind of you know, brings up an
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: interesting facet of this.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: Just do it?
• 18:10
  Speaker 3: Obviously one of the most iconic tagline slash ad campaigns
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: of all time, As you mentioned almost going on forty
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: years here a little under that, do you think that
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: makes the job of the Nike marketing team easier or harder?
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: You're like cemented to just do it essentially, I mean,
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: I can't imagine they're just going to scrap it. Do
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: you think that makes their job easier harder? You know,
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: what are the kind of challenges and opportunities of marketing
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: in the shadow when you're suctioned two? Just do it.
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: It's a double edged sword, right, I think it's easier
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: and harder, And I know listeners you love it when
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: I do this. I like I basically I'm pandering to
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: both sides. Right, It's easier to play off the original
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: now that is has iconic status, and that's mainly because
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: of the recall and recognition. Right, it's easier to play
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: off of that. This wouldn't be anything without that, it
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: couldn't exist, or it could exist, but it wouldn't mean anything.
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: It would just be like why did they ask the question?
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: You know, But it's harder because of the generations of
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: people who have experienced the history of the brand's message.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: And what I mean by that is like people feel
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: a connection or a personal relationship with it. I'll use
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: an example, a more recent example. Take the history of
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: the cracker barrel and that controversy. Was the business out
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: there trying to offend people, not in the slightest. No
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: business goes out there and goes, you know what, I
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: want to alienate all of my customers. Did they clearly
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: because people were upset about the changes enough so that
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: the brand reverted and abandoned all of their efforts to
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: refresh the brand. It's that connection that people have with
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: the thing that came before. That's what makes it hard,
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: because you have to be very delicate, you have to
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: be very conscientious. I think that's why they tended to
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: be really safe. I mean, maybe that's not going to
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: be it for all time, if they're still going to
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: play this campaign out, But I think that's really the
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: meat and the potatoes of it is it's easier and
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: harder at the same time.
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah, to me, it's like having an older brother who's
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: a star quarterback. You know, how can you ever really
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: live up to that? It's almost impossible. At the same time,
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: you're kind of working from the top. You know what
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: I mean, you already have that in your DNA, so
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: it might be less exciting than trying to build something
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: big from scratch, but you already have it. Most companies
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: spend decades trying to get where Nike's already got to,
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: and you're kind of just starting right from that platform.
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: I will say it does seem a little bit like
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: Nike's been coasting, you know, resting on the laurels a
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: little bit. According to the data firm Tracksuit, the company
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: shifted marketing resources away from brand building and culturally relevant
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: campaigns toward performance marketing, which caused a decline in Nike's
• 21:11
  Speaker 3: quote unquote brand heat as it's lost its connection with
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: consumers who no longer saw themselves in the brand. I
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: mean the company's sales, you know, we haven't really mentioned
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: that they're down significantly this year. Yeah, so Nike's in
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: a little bit of a funk. And you could say,
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: I think there's a lot of factors involved in that,
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: but I think the marketing is probably one of them.
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: You know, I don't know if they're going as hard
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: as they have gone in the past.
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: I was reading somewhere last year that they were talking
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: about that they're trying to come back from sluggish sales,
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: and you know, there's numerous factors that play into that.
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: I think a lot of that comes back to, you know,
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: brands that have been around that long. You know, they
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: become sort of a staple. Like brands themselves can become
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: comfortable or maybe complacent. Custom also sort of become that too.
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: There's not like the spark of creativity and excitement that
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: you get when it's kind of a new brand and
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: you're like, yeah, it gives me goosebumps, right, the brand goosebumps.
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: Like when you have a brand that's been around for
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: a long time, it doesn't do that anymore. It becomes comfortable.
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: It's kind of like I'm gonna go ahead and put
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: on that nice cozy sweater to go to bed, ind
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: you know what I mean.
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: Yeah, And you're right, Nike I think has to be careful.
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: They don't want to become like the grandfather of running shoes, right,
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: which they are, but they don't want to become that
• 22:38
  Speaker 3: in terms of perception.
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because that's a slippery slope. Then you're not the
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: ones who are innovating. People are always going to gravitate
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: towards the shiny new shoes quite literally in this case.
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so it'll be interesting to see where they kind
• 22:53
  Speaker 3: of go from here and where this campaign takes them
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: from here. We don't know, we're just seeing this first
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: a taste of it. Well, Patrick, it's that time.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: I love this time of the podcast of the year podcast.
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: I don't know, it's not a year.
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: You're ready then? You ready for a little mind thundering.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: I love some mond thundering.
• 23:18
  Speaker 3: So right now, what we're gonna do is, you know,
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: taking some inspiration from what Nike has done, We're going
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: to try to think how could some other iconic slogans
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: be rebooted in a similar manner, How could they go
• 23:34
  Speaker 3: from maybe more of a statement to a question. The
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: example I think you threw out, Patrick was McDonald's I'm
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: loving it becoming am I loving it?
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah? When you say it like that too, you know
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: it's so good. This is fun because you know, basically
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: what we're going to be doing is a lot like
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: what Nike did, you know, just changing it up, just
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: slightly shifting it, as they say, reimagining it or reimaging it.
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: So what are you going on the docket?
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: So I have a few here. Let me throw this
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: one out to you first. So we know the classic
• 24:12
  Speaker 3: KFC tagline finger licking good, which I don't think they
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: actually use anymore. So KFC's finger licking good, you know,
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: I converted into is it really finger licking good? And
• 24:26
  Speaker 3: then you got to try it?
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: I like this because whenever you ask the question, naturally
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: you're gonna try to answer it.
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you want to know the answer, is it really
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: finger licking good?
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Is it.
• 24:40
  Speaker 3: Well? And you could show the chicken and you could
• 24:43
  Speaker 3: be like, is it really? And then it's like, well,
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: you got to try it and see if you lick
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: your fingers afterwards.
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, I like it. I like it. I
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: have one is a diamond forever, and that comes from
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: a diamond is forever from de Beers, which everybody knows,
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: you know, the de Beer's diamonds. But I think people
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: will naturally go, yeah, of course diamonds are forever. I
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: mean I think so unless they prove that they're not.
• 25:08
  Speaker 3: Some sort of scientists would be like, well, actually a
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: diamond will last one hundred and fifty three years and
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: then start eroding. Now that's a good one. I can
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: see that working. Let me give you my sincere one
• 25:19
  Speaker 3: that I could see actually playing out. This is a
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: classic loreal because you're worth it? Am I worth it?
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: That overlaps I had are you worth it? Oh?
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: Okay? Are you worth it? Am? I was speaking directly
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: to the individual.
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I like it?
• 25:37
  Speaker 3: Well you are too. I guess you're going with you.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: Because you're worth it? You know? Are you worth it?
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: Am I worth it? When you like? I could see
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: that in a commercial, you know what I mean, Like
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: the person's going am I worth it? The problem with
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: it is it could be a derogatory question, you know
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: what I mean, because you're you're talking about someone someone's
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: worth right, a little insulting. It could be like a
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: cracker barrel issue all over again, you know, people getting upset. Yeah,
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: but a lot of these I think they they also
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: rely on intonation, you know what I mean, the vocal subtext.
• 26:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely. And there's different ways you could even, you know,
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: play the same thing.
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: How about the age old eminems melts in your mouth
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: not in your hands? And it could just be does
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: it melt.
• 26:22
  Speaker 3: In your mouth not in your hands?
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: I think this is a little too close to home though,
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: because we all know that eminem's melt in your hands,
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: especially the given the right circumstances.
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: Well maybe they come out with an eminem that does
• 26:36
  Speaker 3: not melt in your hands. Mmm, and then they challenge people.
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: See, I think it could be kind of comical, especially
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: given the eminem's jokes with the characters, right, just kind
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: of going a step further, like does it melt in
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: your mouth not in your hands? And then you show
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: the person right their hands are chocolate because they had
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: hands of eminem's and it's just codd and the person
• 26:58
  Speaker 2: starts eating their hands but it's chocolate, and it could
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: be like a comedy type thing, you know. It's kind
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: of like when the one eminem eats the other eminem,
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: kind of like self cannibalism. Person just ate their own hand.
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I've got one along the same line. So in
• 27:18
  Speaker 3: the in the candy category as well. So it's Skittles,
• 27:22
  Speaker 3: we on the taste the rainbow mm hmm. What does
• 27:26
  Speaker 3: the rainbow taste like?
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: What does the rainbow taste like? What does a rainbow
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: even taste like? I think you need the even in there.
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Skittles could have some fun with that. They do
• 27:36
  Speaker 3: some weird weird ads.
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: They do. And that's that's a brand that definitely could.
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: They'd have fun with it. I think for sure. Listen,
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: I got a really good one here that I think.
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: Now I'm flipping the script as they say, got milk.
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: The original is got milk. This is got milk.
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: Period.
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: Yeah, change it from a question to a state where
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: is that? All the other ones that are changing him
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: to questions. I'm imagining two people in a restaurant, maybe
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: even a bar, of course, and one guy says the other,
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: what you got there, buddy, And the other guy says,
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: with total confidence, got milk? You know what I mean? Yeah,
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: say I'm going with that like just this, like no question.
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: You could start a movement with that, you know you could.
• 28:25
  Speaker 3: I got another. I got another funny one. I think
• 28:27
  Speaker 3: it's kind of funny. So we know Old Spice got
• 28:32
  Speaker 3: popular with their tagline the man your man could smell
• 28:38
  Speaker 3: like But what if we twist that around to could
• 28:41
  Speaker 3: your man smell like that man?
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: Could that actually happen? Probably not?
• 28:49
  Speaker 3: Could your man smell like that?
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: No?
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: Nah? Nah?
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: I think you could do that with almost everyone. And
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: I think it's fun when you have the one that
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: are already questions and you change them into non questions.
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: It's almost more difficult in a way because you're making
• 29:09
  Speaker 2: the bold statement, and the bold statement is sometimes harder.
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: It's a harder sell, so it'd have to be executed correctly.
• 29:17
  Speaker 3: This is one I think is pretty good. You know, Toyota,
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: Let's go places, So then you flip it to where
• 29:24
  Speaker 3: are we going?
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: From?
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: What's their tagline? It's let's go places?
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: Oh where are we going?
• 29:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's not an exact flip, it's more of you.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: Know, Yeah, I actually like that better. I think it's
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: a legit slogan that they should be using because think
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: about that, like, where are we going is a pretty
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: strong question. I think it's a stronger than going places. Yeah,
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: don't you you're the one say.
• 29:55
  Speaker 3: I think it works. I think it works as a companion.
• 29:58
  Speaker 3: I do feel like there is a car company that
• 30:01
  Speaker 3: has something similar. Is there somebody else who has a
• 30:05
  Speaker 3: question about like going or where to or something like that?
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: I don't know. Just let's go place is the only
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: one that I see.
• 30:12
  Speaker 3: Yeah, maybe not. Maybe I'm thinking of like something else,
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: So yeah, maybe that's legit. Toyota, jump on it.
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: Where are we going? We could do that with almost
• 30:23
  Speaker 2: every single tagline. I gotta be honest.
• 30:25
  Speaker 3: I know it's pretty fun. Sometimes it's hilarious. Sometimes it
• 30:28
  Speaker 3: actually works, so it's fun to play with the takeaway here,
• 30:33
  Speaker 3: I think Patrick, you're looking to breathe new life into
• 30:38
  Speaker 3: a marketing or advertising campaign. One way to approach it is,
• 30:42
  Speaker 3: can we flip it? Can you take what you've done
• 30:44
  Speaker 3: and turn it upside down? To approach it from the
• 30:46
  Speaker 3: opposite direction. That's a declaration. Try turning it into a question.
• 30:51
  Speaker 3: If it's a question, turn it into a command rather
• 30:55
  Speaker 3: than starting from scratch, find a way to reframe it
• 30:58
  Speaker 3: in a surprising, thought provoking way. That's it. Anything to
• 31:02
  Speaker 3: add there.
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: No, I love it. Flip it, flip it. I've noticed
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: people saying this a lot lately, flip the script. I'm
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: not a big fan of that phrase, but I like
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: I like flip it.
• 31:14
  Speaker 3: If you want to go the extra mile, you could
• 31:16
  Speaker 3: smack it up, flip it and rub it down.
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the way I prefer to do it. If
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: I'm just being honest. Yeah, Well, I think that's all
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: there is to say about that, and that's all for
• 31:33
  Speaker 2: today's episode. You can find current and past episodes of
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: the podcast on Speaking Human dot com.
• 31:40
  Speaker 3: We'll be back in two weeks with another episode of
• 31:43
  Speaker 3: Speaking Human Catch You, then Humans
• 31:49
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