A shoe is just a shoe until someone steps into it.
Last week, I watched the movie 'Air'.
I loved the whole thing, but this one sentence stayed with me:
"A shoe is just a shoe until someone steps into it."
The movie tells the fascinating story of how Nike signed Michael Jordan.
Today, Nike is the no. 1 shoe manufacturer in the world.
But back in the 80s, things looked very different. Converse and Adidas dominated the market. While Nike was on the verge to shut down their basketball division.
That is, until Sonny Vaccaro, a Nike marketing exec, took a bold gamble.
He bet the division's entire budget on a young, unproven talent: Michael Jordan.
They built an entire shoe line around Jordan’s identity, called ‘Air Jordan’.
The result? All-time sales record of any shoe line in the first 12 months.
Putting people at the centre of their brand has paid off big time for Nike ever since. And the same can be applied to any product or service.
People don't connect with faceless brands. People connect with other people.
That is why personal brands get 561% more reach and 8x more engagement than company brands online. So, here’s the question:
Will you step into your company's shoes in 2025?
Until next week,
Until next Monday, with warm regards,
K. Johan Ingemarsson
Founder & Owner, Lindhagen Studio
+46 (0)76 254 24 96 · johan@lindhagen.studio