Categories: Articles

Nike's Got Balls

Is it the independent test that says Nike‘s new black golf balls, One Black, have greater initial velocity and distance than any other PGA Tour-level ball tested, or is it simply marketing buzz, Nike’s brand and a new color?
One golfer paid $215 for a single One Black on eBay to have it prior to its mass release this week.
Better performance golf balls in the past did not receive this much media coverage, so was it a simple act of turning your standard white golf ball black? (even if it was done before, Nike seems to be getting the credit).
The Nike marketing machine is alive and well. They’ve had “The It Factor” since those magical three words: Just Do It. With Nike, it’s not about sports merchandising. It’s about empowering the individual to be their best. When you wear a pair of Nike shoes, does it make you run better than Adidas?
As David Ogilvy said: “Give people a taste of Old Crow, and tell them it’s Old Crow. Then give them another taste of Old Crow, but tell them it’s Jack Daniel’s. Ask them which they prefer. They’ll think the two drinks are quite different. They are tasting images.”
For Nike, it’s brilliant in its simplicity and complexity – that’s what great marketing is all about.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.