Nike SB
Category Positioning
The “Alter Ego”
Chasing double digit growth the Nike SB brand had lost it’s footing and reputation within the coveted, highly nuanced, heat-driven, skate culture.
Aligning the team, we set out to reset the internal culture as well as regain the hearts and minds of those at the epicenter of authentic skate culture.
Immersing ourselves in the past and present experience, I led our team in re-imagining the SB brand positioning and creative strategy. Re-shaping how the team was structured internally and showcasing how allowing SB to be the “Supreme of Nike” driving heat for the larger Nike Brand was more beneficial to the bottom-line than replicating the ways of the bigger categories.
Thriving today, Nike’s
“Alter Ego”
carries on.An aside,
the “champagne of skatebaording,” the CPH Open, is hands-down the greatest sport-art-festival-competition-impossible-to-define-experience I have ever been to. Skate gets it.
CASE STUDY
SAVE OUR SOCIAL
During a time of uncertainty and change within the Nike organization as well as the social media space, I was able to lead the Nike SB team through a difficult situation to a win-win result.
After identifying that Nike SB accessed a different, and highly influential consumer base that identifies with the SB brand, as opposed to the broader Nike brand and establishing the “Alter Ego” positioning, we had to focus on saving @nikeSB social channels from the threat of being rolled up into one, @nike handle. Social Media was maturing and there was a move to a pay to play model of engagement for brands and the Global digital and media team reigning in all category, territory, and store channels.
“I don’t pay attention to Nike, outside of SB. It’s just not for me.”
- Drake, 19
This didn’t work for SB and the team was up in arms, but didn’t have access to leadership that could make the call and lacked a persuasive narrative for all of their reasoning. Working with the team to synthesize their thoughts and create a persuasive argument, I was able to sharpen and elevate the thinking before opening the door to the audience that needed to hear it.
The team's efforts paid off, and they were able to keep their social handles while the rest of the organization lost the coveted one-to-one community engagement they had spent years and millions to cultivate.
Through my leadership, the team felt motivated, seen, heard, and in the end rewarded.
By putting the team first, leveraging my knowledge of and influence within the matrix organization, and demonstrating my understanding of the digital and social media space, consumer behavior, and the uniqueness of skate culture itself, I helped my team achieve their goals despite the uncertainty and challenges they faced.
A win-win for all. The skate community, the SB team, Nike, and in the end, my capacity to lead.
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Colin Leary: Sr. Director, Global Brand Marketing
Briana Zilles: Brand Manager, Global Brand Marketing
Greg Gorski: Brand Manager, Global Brand Marketing
Kelly Bird: Brand Manager, Global Brand Marketing
Kaspar Van Lierop: Global Sports Marketing
John Rattray: Brand Digital Manager
Benson Ka’ai: Social Brand Manager
Ben Wall: Operations Manager
Index
I spent 4 years at Y&R New York, moved to Amsterdam, The Netherlands to lead the Nike account at W+K Amsterdam. Joined Nike in 2007 and spent 10 years in brand & creative leadership positions at WHQ, EHQ, and Brazil. Eyeing a creative gap in the Ad industry as well as an emerging trend of big business consultancies moving in on the Ad & Media game, I founded Levity Creative in early 2018. Levity is a cross-disciplinary, international, brand & creative consultancy scaling to the challenge.