Culture is Strategy
Nike Hits It Big Selling Lifestyle, Mindset, and Attitude
Image by Josh Redd from Unsplash
NIKE, Inc is the world’s leading athletic footwear innovator.
The Nike corporation holds a particular and rare position in the business world and in American culture. Nike uses bulldozing innovation and emotion-based marketing to command worldwide brand recognition and customer buy-in among two markedly different sectors - 1) the general public, and 2) superstar athletes.
The Nike checkmark encapsulates layered messaging while simultaneously signifying disposition, lifestyle, and an in-group that goes for it and leaves everything on the field.
Nike’s checkmark stands for quality, performance, the celebration of rigor, and the pursuit of athletic excellence and accomplishment. This is true despite the fact that for decades, Nike has made a point to avoid and even omit direct mention of the company’s footwear or apparel products in marketing and advertising campaigns. This intentional and powerful tactic changed the way the company was perceived around the globe. The tactic also changed Nike internally. Despite the fact that in many ads the company doesn’t advertise the specific material products they sell, Nike is the most valuable sportswear company and brand in the world. How, more specifically, did Nike accomplish this feat?
Nike’s success can be largely explained in two key points:
Nike employed unconventional strategy when the company decided to carefully define and build a specific culture — the culture they wanted.
Nike made the decision to sell lifestyle and culture rather than shoes.
Nike Emphasizes Culture, Transcending their Industry
Image by Madalyn Cox from Unsplash
With the decisions to build a specific culture internally and to SELL LIFESTYLE AND CULTURE first before shoes, Nike transcended the sports gear industry, and catapulted itself into an elite echelon of companies that have changed business tactics and traditional marketing practices becoming part of the fabric, culture, and lifestyle of millions of people around the world.
The list of companies in this category is short. Apple, IBM, the Ford Motor Company, Google/Alphabet, Amazon, Tesla, and Nike are among this elite echelon.
In a word, Nike transcended the norms of their industry when the company started selling mindset, attitude, and values first, shoes and apparel second.
Nike was one of the first American corporations to intentionally design a value-centered, identity-building culture. Nike was also one of the first American corporations to then to artfully sell culture rather than to specifically sell their products. The vision was that if Nike could beautifully sell culture, Nike products would sell themselves.
The bottom line with Nike? Quality products are assumed.
Quality, high-performing products are the promised norm.
Beyond quality products, Nike devoted itself to the maxim that culture beats strategy. Nike then took this idea further in realizing that well-defined, well-built culture beats strategy to such a degree that when built from the ground up just so, Culture IS Strategy. Nike has employed the culture-is-strategy maxim for decades, has climbed to the pinnacle of their industry, and has followed through with their promise and commitment to ongoing technical innovation, to unconventional business strategy, and to continuously benefit and serve their customers.
Nike is the most valuable sportswear company and brand in the world. The company’s decision to build and sell culture rather than things paved Nike’s path to incredible innovation, customer-centered service, and unimagined success.