John Winsor

Oopps!

Here's a lesson on how not to name a new brand.

The Mark Parker Interview, Part #3

This is Part Three of an interview I did with Mark Parker for SPARK.

The Customer is the Boss

You also have to be very careful that you don’t lose sight of who you’re working for. At Nike we all work for one boss – the consumer. Consumers are tough and they’re smart, they have choices, they have power, and they like to throw it around. They understand the world of innovation. They mash together sports and music and film and gaming and art and food and fashion. They ignore the superficial scratch and hiss of brandsters. They are not beyond influence, but they are above manipulation.

Nike succeeds in this world of consumers for some very good reasons. First, we make good stuff. It doesn’t matter how cool you are, you aren’t cool for long if you don’t stand and deliver. Second, we have the strength of our convictions. We love sports and design. We like to have a good time. And we find great joy in getting off the beaten path. Third, we listen to consumers. We talk to consumers. We ask consumers. And we respond to consumers. That’s why they like and trust Nike. As long as we stay connected to them, we’ll be able to keep our products innovative and relevant.

Refuel Yourself

It’s very important for me to keep my own sense of possibility and curiosity cranked up. I travel a lot and have the good fortune to spend time with a wildly eclectic group of people – artists, designers, engineers, musicians, filmmakers and, of course, athletes. We encourage Nike designers and communicators to do the same. This kind of interaction results in some interesting collaborations that pull us out of the comfort zone. The deeper insights you gain from making the right connections are invaluable. Besides, it’s a lot more fun than P&L analysis.

Twenty-five years ago when I first came to Nike, I was lucky enough to work with two people who really defined the creative emphasis at Nike, Bill Bowerman and Jeff Johnson. As is often the case with wizards, they were alternately charming and cantankerous, generous and demanding, but both were equally fixated on innovation, deeply devoted to making sure that what we were creating actually helped the athlete perform better.

My job is to help carry that torch, to make sure our passion for real innovation continues to thrive.

The Mark Parker Interview, Part #2

This is Part Two of an interview I did with Mark Parker for SPARK.

The Right Chemistry

We also promote a less formal SWAT team approach, especially where speed is critical and a specific mix of individuals can really attack an opportunity. Often times it’s about finding the right “chemistry” – not just how good people are as individuals, but how well they work together. You may have someone who doesn’t have the greatest resume or experience, but when put on the right team they create great energy and incredible things because the chemistry is right. This approach is very powerful in designing products, but it also happens in other parts of the company – marketing, communications, operations, supply chain, and retail. Great ideas can come from anywhere. True brilliance is rare, but I think creativity in people is the norm and not the exception. The key is the ability to visualize what an idea can be, to elaborate on it, stretch and poke and play with possibilities that can be brought to life in earnest and not just in theory.

Amplify the Focus

Even with all these efforts, you’re going to face tough times when things don’t work, when the well runs dry. There was a point back in the late ‘80s when Nike’s growth flattened and the company was struggling. So we put together the “Speed Group” to accelerate the design and development of what we thought were the most compelling product concepts of the time, stuff rattling around in our Advanced R&D group. The results included “Visible AIR” technology and “Cross-Training” footwear, two defining moments in our history of innovation. It was a matter of pulling together the best people to work on this particular list of projects, and giving them the support and backing they needed to get it done quickly.

Sometimes you need to work around the larger organization when it starts to sag under its own weight. You look for ways to shake it up, amplify the focus, energize the sense of urgency, get on a mission, get each other excited, and create momentum. Managing this type of “disruption” in the organization can be very delicate. But if you’re open and you communicate, people tend to let their guard down and trust a lot more. I found that to be very helpful. In the end, what really matters are results. When people start to see that, ‘Wow, they’re moving fast and they’re producing some really good work and this is stuff that can really help the company in a big way,’ then people start to rally.

The Mark Parker Interview, Part #1

This is Part One of an interview I did with Mark Parker for SPARK.

Create an Innovative Environment

Nike is a company fixated on innovation. It’s what we look for in every idea, every project, and every relationship. We expect it of ourselves and respect it in others. I don’t consider it to be a fringe benefit or a lucky byproduct of our business. I consider it to be a prime directive, something I take very personally.

Sports is said to be a metaphor for life; we believe that. This is incredibly important to how we do business. On any day, in any event, at any game, anything can happen. World records snap in the blink of an eye. Vegas odds crumble when one athlete digs deeper than the rest. You have to have talent. You have to put in the hours training. And you have to believe. When you do, you unleash the power of possibility. This is the foundation of inspiration and innovation – the sense of possibility.

Creative Structure

Nike is a big company. We have 25,000 employees spread out across the world. In a sense, Nike is a society. It requires structure and guidelines to operate with any degree of efficiency. I don’t consider this a hindrance to innovation but rather a tool to pursue it. Leonardo da Vinci stands alone as a creative thinker, but much of his ability came about through studying the physical aspects of the senses. He was as interested in how the eyes worked as in what they saw. That kind of emphasis on structure can yield incredible gains in the creative process.

We have several organized and established advanced R&D groups. Engineers, developers, researchers and others who aren’t defined as creative in the classic sense of the word are responsible for a lot of divergent thinking. They embrace trial and error – always willing to take risks, to go down different paths and hit some dead ends, back up and re-group. And they learn from it all. That’s just the nature of the beast. Much of the innovation at Nike comes from these formal groups. At Nike, leadership and management understand this and support it.

Kudos to Nike

Kudos to Nike for appointing Mark Parker to the role of President and CEO. This is a great move and one that will ensure that Nike stays focused on innovation.

I've known Mark for a very long time and have always appreciated his ability to mix art with business in an alchemy that has created great innovation.

He is a true renaissance man who feels equally comfortable cruising the streets of Tokyo, checking out the underground art scene or working with professional athletes to divine the future of a sport. What impresses me most, however, is his ability to identify and support other creative and innovative people. He really has a sixth sense when it comes to innovation.

            

Many companies struggling with sporadic innovation have great people who know how to innovate, yet suffer from a lack of support from senior management in making innovation a priority. Mark’s ideas regarding learning from failure, reducing bureaucracy, encouraging communication, and not getting stuck using only one method are all important in an effort to support the co-creation of innovation.

Such a management style is critical for the success of any innovative company in today’s uncertain business and cultural environment. Too often, annual reports profess the concept that upper management supports innovation, yet those trying to actually innovate are so weighed down by the bureaucracy of counting and tracking that they have no time to co-create new products and services.

Companies that consistently innovate, like Nike, not only talk the innovation talk – they also walk the walk. To innovate today, businesses need to have a deep personal knowledge of their product, market, and customers, combined with ongoing support and the belief in an organic innovation practice.

With Mark at the helm, look for Nike to continue to push the innovation envelope.

Over the next few days I'll share with you some excerpts from an interview I did with Mark for my book, Spark.

He is a true renaissance man who feels equally comfortable cruising the streets of Tokyo, checking out the underground art scene or working with professional athletes to divine the future of a sport. What impresses me most, however, is his ability to identify and support other creative and innovative people. He really has a sixth sense when it comes to innovation.

            

Many companies struggling with sporadic innovation have great people who know how to innovate, yet suffer from a lack of support from senior management in making innovation a priority. Mark’s ideas regarding learning from failure, reducing bureaucracy, encouraging communication, and not getting stuck using only one method are all important in an effort to support the co-creation of innovation.

Such a management style is critical for the success of any innovative company in today’s uncertain business and cultural environment. Too often, annual reports profess the concept that upper management supports innovation, yet those trying to actually innovate are so weighed down by the bureaucracy of counting and tracking that they have no time to co-create new products and services.

Companies that consistently innovate, like Nike, not only talk the innovation talk – they also walk the walk. To innovate today, businesses need to have a deep personal knowledge of their product, market, and customers, combined with ongoing support and the belief in an organic innovation practice.

With Mark at the helm, look for Nike to continue to push the innovation envelope.

Over the next few days I'll share with you some excerpts from an interview I did with Mark for my book, Spark.

Product Placement Versus Product Integration

The NY Times has a worthy read exploring the diferences between product placement and product integration. The article points to the site productinvasion.com set up by the Writer's Guild of America. I really love the Subservient Donald video!

Product placement/integration is a confusing area. I'm not sure how far is too far is too far in the integration of content and advertising. There is a line somewhere. I guess, at the end of the day the customer will decide whether to watch and buy or not.

 

NKE 6.0

I just came across Nike's new site for it's action sports product, called NKE 6.0. Here is what Nike has to say about what they are trying to do:

In skate parks, on ski hills and in the waves, kids are taking on more, at a younger age, and are no longer confining themselves to identifying with just one sport or lifestyle.NKE6.0 was created for this new generation of sideways thinkers—the young rippers that are pushing the progression of action sports.

NKE6.0 is for the kids who choose their own line and define their own lifestyle each time they go out to play, whether it's bike, skate, snow, or surf. Action sports grew out of a need for personal expression, and it's our goal at NKE6.0 to encourage and reflect the innovation that defined each of these outlets. NKE6.0 is on a mission to build a network of like-minded youth that participate in multiple sports and need products to fit their dynamic lifestyles.

Once again, Nike gets it right by not trying to push a corporate vision of what is cool for a set of customers and, instead, gets out there and co-creates the future with them.

I especially like the videos on the site that are downloadable to your iPod or PSP. Talk about staying in touch with rapid change!

PR Versus Advertising

Guy Kawasaki has a great post today entitled, "The Art of Branding." I especially enjoyed his views on PR versus Advertising:

Focus on PR, not advertising. Many companies waste away millions of dollars trying to establish brands with advertising. When it comes to branding, too much money is worse than too little because when you have a lot of money, you spend a lot of money on stupid things like Super Bowl commercials. Brands are built on what people are saying about you, not what you're saying about yourself. People say good things about you when (a) you have a great product and (b) you get people to spread the word about it.

I'm someone who has spent his whole career on the advertising side of the branding equation. It's not been until recently that I've started to understand the power of PR. You have to let your customers co-create your brand through the stories they tell one another. Advertising has a harder time doing that than PR.

Great advice, Guy.

Toyota Rules!

The New York Times has a great article on Toyota, GM and Ford today. It's sad to see how far two great American brands, GM and Ford, have slipped. It's innovate or die!

Learning to Listen Again

One of the things I’ve been trying to do better this year is listen to my customers.

It seems listening is a very difficult skill to learn. Asking a provocative question is one thing; listening well to the answer is quite another. Really listening depends in part on making yourself innocent again. Within any company, learning from what you are listening to means divesting yourself of all the baggage a brand has acquired over the years. It’s so easy to hear something a customer says and quickly respond, “We’ve heard that before” without really listening to what that particular person is trying to tell you.

Listening does seem incredibly basic. Yet the reality is that all of us are often distracted and don’t bring all of our skills or faculties to a listening situation. Have you ever left a meeting and wondered, “What did they just say?” When you are out listening to your customers, the first thing to remember is to clear your mind and enjoy the very human process of listening. This is a difficult thing for most of us to do.

The overall goal of listening is to see patterns where others see chaos, and to make meaning that is well grounded in both experience and intuition. To achieve this goal, you have to capture the Vox Populi, or the voice of the people. Here are some things to remember:

Concentrate – It is very difficult for companies to concentrate. There are spreadsheets to fill out; there are sales to be made and the bottom line to look after. How can anybody take the time to concentrate on listening with so much to do? Yet concentration is absolutely essential to effective listening. Be

Free From Anxiety – This is, possibly, the hardest thing for a company to do. As a businessperson you know how hard it is to not focus, always, on the bottom line. It is hard to not be anxious about getting a product or service to market. Likewise, it is also hard not to think about accomplishing specific goals when you are talking to a customer. This, however, is the only way to have a successful dialogue in which you are able to hear clearly.

Imagine – Aren’t all great companies started by someone with an amazing imagination? Look at Apple: it was Steven Jobs and his imagination that created the personal computer that fueled a revolution. Likewise, Nike’s Phil Knight spent his first few years selling shoes out of the back of a station wagon. They were both out there with their customers, listening and learning. They were imagining ways to solve problems, whether for computer users or runners. Every great company has a heritage of myth and imagination surrounding its start.

Empathize – At the foundation of most great companies is a group of people that embodies the passion and commitment of their customers and has a vested interest in doing things right; in essence, empathy can be defined as the ability to relate to customers in an intuitive manner. The most straightforward way to attain this is to be a passionate user of your company’s products. Understand – Understanding is not about simply downloading a bunch of numbers and statistics and then analyzing them from behind a desk. In this context, it means feeling an impact in the heart and soul. It is an understanding that comes from experiencing what's really happening.

Love – While many businesspeople might laugh, this is the start of great listening. Great companies don’t just like their customers – they love their customers, and their employees too. Look again at Nike and Apple. Both companies are on crusades with their customers to change the world. And their customers can feel the love. They recognize that these companies really care about them and want to spend time with them. It’s all about letting people talk and tell their stories without any screens or interruptions. It’s about slowing down enough to have the time to engage people in a passionate dialogue while in the context of their lives.