Courageous Marketing with Former Jordan Brand’s Tom Kelley-Ep.21

Jason & Chris catch up on the state of the pandemic in Australia and America before diving into a quiz on some of the most successful marketing and advertising campaigns.

Tom Kelley talks about how the powerful Nike ad campaigns that were developed during his time at Nike and Weiden + Kennedy started with staying on mission by listening to the “voice of the athlete,” which is democratized by another element of the mission “if you have a body then you are an athlete.”

Chris asks Tom what it takes to make decisions that are bold and brave and potentially not in the short-term business interests of a large, for-profit company. Tom takes the concept further to describe the importance of courage in expressing a perspective for anyone. He also reminds us that this has been a part of Nike’s DNA since the early days with the outspoken Steve Prefontaine.

Tom talks about the importance of culture in an organization, where he thinks it comes from, and names three things that help make a culture worth being in.

Jason, Chris, & Tom discuss some of the marketing field changes over the last 10 years as direct marketing principles that have worked their way into traditional marketing are the tension of considering the consumers you serve with consumers being nodes of information and the importance of considering how you earn your way into the conversation. 

Tom discusses his time managing the Jordan Brand for Nike, including the challenge of being the steward for an already elite brand and taking it somewhere new. Tom then wraps with the next chapter in his career, starting his own firm.

Quiz soundtrack, Giulia's Chase, © 2020 by Casting Nail.