The Awl http://www.theawl.com/ Be Less Stupid Tue, 11 May 2010 12:00:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.2 The Secret To Economic Recovery: A Corporate Sponsor? http://www.theawl.com/2010/05/the-secret-to-economic-recovery-a-corporate-sponsor http://www.theawl.com/2010/05/the-secret-to-economic-recovery-a-corporate-sponsor#comments Tue, 11 May 2010 12:00:00 +0000 Maura Johnston http://www.theawl.com/2010/05/the-secret-to-economic-recovery-a-corporate-sponsor just think of the franchising possibilities"This recovery is going to look like the Nike swoosh."
-Timken Company CEO Jim Griffith, who pontificated about his "hopeful but cautious" outlook for the American economy to Reuters. Griffith, whose company manufactures bearings and alloy steels and other associated items, was referring to the "gentle curve" presented by the omnipresent logo. But really, why not take this idea further and have Nike (current market cap: somewhere in the $37 billion range) lead the way in recovery-related investments — and then brand the effort with their trademark swoosh? It would make for some great brand association, not to mention that it would boost consumer confidence like nobody's business.

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]]> just think of the franchising possibilities"This recovery is going to look like the Nike swoosh."
-Timken Company CEO Jim Griffith, who pontificated about his "hopeful but cautious" outlook for the American economy to Reuters. Griffith, whose company manufactures bearings and alloy steels and other associated items, was referring to the "gentle curve" presented by the omnipresent logo. But really, why not take this idea further and have Nike (current market cap: somewhere in the $37 billion range) lead the way in recovery-related investments — and then brand the effort with their trademark swoosh? It would make for some great brand association, not to mention that it would boost consumer confidence like nobody's business.

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]]> http://www.theawl.com/2010/05/the-secret-to-economic-recovery-a-corporate-sponsor/feed 5 Grant McCracken on Nike http://www.theawl.com/2009/11/grant-mccracken-on-nike http://www.theawl.com/2009/11/grant-mccracken-on-nike#comments Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:26:29 +0000 Dave Bry http://www.theawl.com/2009/11/grant-mccracken-on-nike
"Frame for frame, 'Tag' is probably the most exciting ad ever made. It had the drama of the chase scene in The French Connection. It won the admiration of the industry and a Cannes Lion Grand Prix." An excerpt from anthropologist-economist Grant McCracken's new book, Chief Culture Officer, is about ad exec Dan Wieden, who coined the slogan "Just Do It" for Nike in the late '80s, and directed the "Tag" commercial in 2001. It has something of the last episode of Mad Men to it, the scene when Don Draper is asking Peggy to join him at the new firm and says, "There are people who buy things-like you and me. And then something happened. Something terrible. And the way that they saw themselves is gone. And nobody understands that. But you do. And that's very valuable." Or as McCracken puts it: "Max Weber, the German sociologist, believed that as the Western world grew more rational, routinized and commercial, our experience of this world became disenchanted. The personal, the traditional, the sentimental, the human scale, all of these were diminished. 'Tag' and its companion trends seemed to offer a restoration. Apparently, even strangers can make the city more playful and less predictable."

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"Frame for frame, 'Tag' is probably the most exciting ad ever made. It had the drama of the chase scene in The French Connection. It won the admiration of the industry and a Cannes Lion Grand Prix." An excerpt from anthropologist-economist Grant McCracken's new book, Chief Culture Officer, is about ad exec Dan Wieden, who coined the slogan "Just Do It" for Nike in the late '80s, and directed the "Tag" commercial in 2001. It has something of the last episode of Mad Men to it, the scene when Don Draper is asking Peggy to join him at the new firm and says, "There are people who buy things-like you and me. And then something happened. Something terrible. And the way that they saw themselves is gone. And nobody understands that. But you do. And that's very valuable." Or as McCracken puts it: "Max Weber, the German sociologist, believed that as the Western world grew more rational, routinized and commercial, our experience of this world became disenchanted. The personal, the traditional, the sentimental, the human scale, all of these were diminished. 'Tag' and its companion trends seemed to offer a restoration. Apparently, even strangers can make the city more playful and less predictable."

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