Just Did It

Random walk with Mike Wilskey, VP Brand Management of Nike Inc.

Every spring the Kansas City chapter of the American Marketing Association hosts an annual seminar and invites a heavy hitter from corporate America’s marketing ranks. Past participants have included executives from Google, NASCAR, Southwest Airlines, among others. The event is always well orchestrated by AMA volunteers including Brian Buckler of Avila University and is wonderfully moderated by John Holt of WDAF Fox 4 Television. This year was no exception and we were treated to approximately three hours of marketing, advertising, and athletic bliss at the hands of Mr. Wilskey.

Mike’s resume is like a size 13D pair of Nike Air Pegasus, long and full of substance. The dude has worked at Nike for 25 years in various Marketing, Advertising, Branding, and Product roles. His presentation style was a bit reserved, but with a quiet confidence and sense of humor reminiscent of a guy who could quietly steal your new girlfriend at a dinner party. I think he’s earned his confidence on the job as Nike is arguably one of the best brand builders in the world. There’s a reason that Phil Knight’s disciples stick around for along time. They know their business, they take big risks, they attempt to own categories, and they have a culture that supports this. Audience members seemed to be enamored by the Nike+ partnership with Apple, but Mike seemed to shirk it off as an interesting partnership, but really lacking scalability. It’s refreshing to see an executive downplay the omnipotent Apple and stay true to the core business.

While we are on the topic of truth, the key message of the presentation was really about Authenticity. Mike continuously spoke about the customer’s need for authenticity and meaning. Nike has acquired a number of interesting brands in the last ten years including Converse, Umbro, Cole Haan, and Hurley. Nike has always had a reverence for the athlete, and I think they are carrying over this reverence to the customer of their lifestyle brands through a focus on authenticity. Mike spoke about “Sandy” nurturing the Nike Skate brand for 7+ years to do it right. Hurley and Converse appear to be staying true to their roots and enjoying significant success because of it. Brands are a bit like careers….with passion, authenticity, a few big risks, and a bit of luck you can dominate a category.