How Laika Entertainment came to be is an intensely personal story. I was fascinated by how Nike founder Phil Knight and his son Travis, who didn't share his father's passion for sports growing up, wound up working together - in ...READ»
Living a quiet life as an animator, Travis Knight never dreamed he'd work for his father. Then the Nike founder gave him an offer he couldn't refuse.READ»
Jones Soda founder and CEO Peter van Stolk never made it to business school. But shepherding one of today's hottest beverage brands has been an excellent marketing education. Here's what he has learned.READ»
The best way for a company to create a prosperous future is to make sure all of its employees understand the company's past. That's why many veteran execs at Nike spend time telling corporate campfire stories.READ»
I ran a marathon, once, when I was 16. I trained for several months with my dad, who'd run a bunch of them before. After I finished the race, I felt so crummy that I yelled at him, "How could you let me do this?" But within a few ...READ»
Nike's founder hoped his sons would come work for the multi-billion-dollar empire that he started in the 1960s by selling sneakers out of the trunk of his car. Maybe they’d even run the company one day. But that was not to be. ...READ»
Russ Quackenbush
Award-winning photographer Russ Quackenbush regards his portraits as documents of his subjects' life experiences revealed in their faces and their body language. He brought that sensibility to photographs of Nike ...READ»
Off the Runway There's no shortage of drama at Liz Claiborne ("Project Rehab," April 2008). On election night, Michelle Obama wore a black-and-red dress by Narciso Rodriguez. Unfortunately for Liz CEO William McComb, he had just ended ...READ»
Fathers and sons. Legacy and tragedy. Grand ambition and a multimillion-dollar gamble. The story of how Laika Entertainment came to make Coraline, the first 3-D stop-motion animation film, is as engrossing as anything on the big screen.READ»
I read a stat recently that three out of four Americans own at least one pair of sneakers. But could Nike’s current difficulties be an indication that Americans don’t love their sneakers enough?
As recently as the mid-90s, US ...READ»
Nike was founded in 1964, and interestingly, the Greek idol inspired the name of victory. However when it began, the imprint was originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports which imported Japanese men watches variety Onitsuka Tiger ...READ»
Kevin Plank's improbable hit -- a sweat-wicking undershirt -- kicked off the fastest-growing category of sportswear. Now Nike and other megabrands are in hot pursuit of Under Armour. Welcome to the disrupter's dilemma.READ»
Wieden+Kennedy's new headquarters has one design goal: to help its people live creative lives. It also has a secret weapon: The Portland Institute for Contemporary Art is a tenant.READ»
A great name is like extra octane in a brand. A bad, boring, or sound-alike name won't necessarily kill a brands chances for success. In most cases however, it dramatically dilutes the brand equity and potency.
Do you have a name ...READ»
On the morning that Oscar nominees were announced last month, Nike founder Phil Knight called his son, Travis, at 6 a.m. They both had just gotten word: Coraline, the debut film by their studio Laika, was up for best-animated film. ...READ»
It's difficult enough for CEOs to manage their companies and inspire their staff. Now they must add another role to that list--Chief Technology Adopter. For without the permission and example of a CEO, companies have almost no chance of building the online communities that will increasingly drive their profits in the future.READ»
Unless you're an avid gamer, you've probably never heard of Reggie Fils-Aime. But if you are a member of the brand cult otherwise known as Nintendo, Reggie is nothing less than a demigod.
Actually, his title is "chief marketing ...READ»
My reporting for the article Who Do You Love? led me to Dan Weiden, co-founder of Weiden + Kennedy, one of the world's largest independently owned ad agencies. From its base in Portland, Oregon's Pearl District, W+K has launched ...READ»
Scott Bedbury knows brands. The man who gave the world 'Just Do It' and Frappuccino shares his eight-point program to turn anything -- from sneakers to coffee to You -- into a great brand.READ»
