by Jonathan Marshall

Global Brands like Nike often use their enormous reach and influence to educate people about issues like cancer, AIDS, global warming, and many others. Even though the Lance Armstrong Foundation has made huge strides in the fight against cancer, they would be much less recognizable and credible if Lance was not a Nike-sponsored athlete. Smaller organizations, groups and foundations simply cannot convey the sense of urgency for a cause that a mega-brand like Nike can. Nike is very involved in many organizations and causes outside of sports today, and their involvement is crucial for those organizations and causes to gain national and even international recognition, but it also polishes the Nike brand. Not everyone plays or enjoys sports, but everyone knows and recognizes Nike, and it’s been like that for years. Nike knows this, and while supporting foundations like Lance Armstrong’s is truly admirable, the support suddenly makes Nike appealing to us in a whole new and different way. Now I’m definitely not saying that their support is not genuine, but there is no disputing the fact that it evolves the brand outside of sports and allows them to be even more influential on a truly global level. When you achieve the brand recognition that Nike has, you can pretty much do anything you want, but deciding to innovate and raise awareness is definitely a win-win situation. Below, Eugene Kan from Hypebeast goes on to talk about Lance Armstrong and Nike uniting to launch STAGES, a global art show to raise funds and awareness for the fight against cancer. Check out some of the pictures from contributing artists such as Cai Guo-Qiang, Rosson Crow, Jules De Balincourt, Dzine, Shepard Fairey and many others.

Paris, (July 16, 2009) – To heighten global awareness of the cancer burden, Lance has teamed up with Nike to present “STAGES,” an art show that benefits The Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Engaging the creative community in the fight against cancer, “STAGES” exhibits over twenty original works of art in response to the devastating disease with a distinct focus on the subject of survivorship. The show features some of the world’s most accomplished and promising international artists, including Ed Ruscha, Cai-Guo Qiang, Richard Prince, Catherine Opie, KAWS, Eric White, José Parlá, Christopher Wool, Tom Sachs, Dzine, and Rosson Crow.

The show unites the worlds of art, philanthropy and sport in a unique celebration of human potential inspired by Lance and dedicated to the fight against cancer. “It will project hope, strength and commitment to millions and carry the LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Campaign all over the world. I am humbled by the effort and energy given by so many to bring STAGES to life.“ said Lance Armstrong.

Nike continues to be a long time supporter of both Lance Armstrong and the Lance Armstrong Foundation, creating the yellow wristband in 2004, which gave global visibility to the foundation. To date there are over 70 million bands that have been worn by supporters throughout the world.

“We’re taking the LIVESTRONG message, which is already in the global lexicon, and giving it a different type of energy and voice. At the same time we’re combining the fight against cancer with sports and art to create a larger community that is aware and engaged in the fight against cancer,” said Mark Parker, CEO & President, Nike Inc.

The show opens to the public on Friday, July 17th following a preview today for invited guests at the world renowned Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin in Paris. It will also travel to the United States this fall. All work is available for purchase with proceeds directly benefiting the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Contributing Artists:
Cai Guo-Qiang, Rosson Crow, Jules De Balincourt, Dzine, Shepard Fairey, Andreas Gursky, KAWS, Geoff McFetridge,Yoshitomo Nara, Catherine Opie, José Parlá, Raymond Pettibon, Lari Pittman, Richard Prince, Ed Ruscha, Tom Sachs, Kenny Scharf, Eric White, Christopher Wool, Aaron Young

By Les Kollegian

Okay…so normally I reserve this blog to discuss Graphic Design, Web Design, and Search Engine Optimization topics in order to inform my clients and site visitors about what is currently happening in the industry with other brands and marketing strategies. I have to make an exception here!. This is in my opinion the 5 minutes where Michael Jackson branded himself as the best pop-music icon in history.

When Michael Jackson took to the stage for this performance in 1983, I was 13 years old and sitting alone in our apartment watching on a 20″ TV. Thriller had just been released and I really didn’t know what to expect. All I know is, not only was the performance amazing, but I spent the next 12 months trying to learn how to moon walk. It’s a shame how his life seemed to take such a downward spiral. Much like Elvis, I believe when people hit a certain level of world fame, I think it becomes virtually impossible to handle. Anyway…below is the video for those who missed it or just plain miss it.

We often talk about “Core Purpose” when speaking with clients about their brand. A core purpose is essentially what your business will stand by in both good and turbulent times, even if your business mission/vision changes. Thanks to changes in technology, marketing environments, and more… obviously, all businesses must embrace change. Even during change, your business core purpose must stay consistent. For example, 3M has a core purpose that states “Solving Ordinary Problems Innovatively”. They stand by this with every product they manufacture right down to the “sticky note”. NIKE’s core purpose is to “Experience the emotion of winning while crushing your competition”. Have you ever noticed that virtually every commercial they create embraces this statement? Below I have posted one of my all time favorite NIKE commercials. Not only is the concept fantastic, but the execution is flawless. Check it out.

It’s too bad they can never play it again on TV since they used Michael Vick.

XTERRA Wetsuits approached Jacob Tyler in late 2008 to re-brand the company for 2009 with a new look and feel and brand campaign to cross over all collateral. The goal was to increase their brand recognition in the triathlete market as a leader in wetsuit technology enabling the athletes to swim faster and win races. Of course, the MAIN objective was to sell more wetsuits.

XTERRA had never used an agency before for their marketing collateral and Web site and it was clear when you looked at the materials. There was no cohesive identity in either their Web or print media. The team at Jacob Tyler created a campaign called “First Out” attempting to make a statement that if you wear an XTERRA wetsuit, you’ll be first out of the water.

At our first photo shoot, we creative directed shots with a focus on action and models running out of the water, unlike their previous posed studio shots. The new action shots were to be used on all collateral moving forward with the headline “First Out.”

The old version of the site was dark and out-dated. The product shots were small and the site navigation was confusing. Sections weren’t  appropriately organized, as there was no secondary navigation. Lastly, there was no call to action allowing to guide the user to make a purchase or learn about the product technology. The site re-design, focused on the technology and “First Out” campaign. Some of the main changes included were:

A call to action on the home page showcasing new or sale items quickly link to “special deals” and convert users to buyers.

Site navigation was minimized to maintain the usability “rule of 5″.

Enlarged product views with the ability to see both sides of the suit, as well as view the suit both on and off a model.

A clean white background making information easier to read and print.

A quick user guide pop-up linked from each specific product showing users how to choose a suit based on height and weight.

The site was recently launched and now we will be tracking increases in sales from our Eblast campaigns and magazine ads. The main statistic we will be following however is the difference in conversion rate to sales on the new site vs the last version. We are betting big that it will be a large increase. Check out the new site at xterrawestuits.com