From artistic intern to leading visionary of a global brand, Nike’s former CMO and author of Emotion By Design, Greg Hoffman

Conversations of Inspiration

Holly Tucker MBE

Education, Society & Culture, Entrepreneurship, Self-improvement, Business, Personal Journals

5.0 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 11 July 2022

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Among the millions of other businesses on our planet, what makes one brand a cut above the rest? Is it the size of the business or the amount of money they have? No. In the words of Author and Nike’s former Chief Marketing Officer, Greg Hoffman, it’s that brand's ability to, “Go way beyond simple observations and assumptions”. And with a brand that connects as deeply as Nike has with millions of customers around the world, this is a rare opportunity to learn from the very best.

In just one conversation, you’ll hear all the creative genius Greg knows about building a successful brand, and the three key documents he insists are crucial for a business to have when starting. You'll also hear someone with a phenomenal entrepreneurial spirit and the kind of awe-inspiring understanding of what makes human beings tick.

For over two decades, Greg was at the beating heart of every strategic and creative decision at Nike. He was instrumental in transforming it from being a shoe company to a brand that resonates on a truly global scale. As a young boy, Greg was the victim of racism, and threw himself into art and sports to escape from reality. Little did he know that these two passions would allow him to evolve from Nike’s intern, to leading some of the most powerful marketing campaigns in history.

Holly talks to Greg about your responsibility as a founder to protect your brand story, and how powerful brands need to understand the importance and craft of storytelling. He also shares how to drive growth while connecting with your customer.

This isn't just remarkable insight for founders to listen to, but for anyone who is creative or enjoys popular culture. You will gain a deeper understanding of the true power of brand when used well, and how it can not just engage us emotionally, but also change our behaviour and inspire us to join movements that evolve our whole society.

So are you ready to learn something fascinating? In the words of Nike's iconic strap line: Just do it.

If you enjoyed this conversation, you might also enjoy Holly’s episode with David Hieatt, founder of Howies, The Do Lectures and Hiut Denim.

This Conversations of Inspiration podcast episode is brought to you with support from Adobe Express.

Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? Subscribe to Holly’s weekly newsletters on our website, where she shares small business inspiration of all kinds, exclusive nuggets of wisdom from her and her guests, plus offers, creative ideas and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

Transcript

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0:00.0	My goodness, that was the most amazing conversation. It went straight to my brand heart.
0:06.4	This week I spoke to Greg Hoffman, former CMO of Nike, and now the author and founder of Modern Arena.
0:14.9	Greg spent two decades, can you even believe that? We're nearly actually three at Nike,
0:20.0	helping to build it into one of the most empowering iconic brands of our time.
0:26.0	This is the guy responsible for the majority of the famous Nike ads that we all know about.
0:32.8	And he spoke about this relationship, and I've never heard anybody speak about brand in this way
0:38.8	of like empathy and curiosity and courage and playing this huge role in people's lives.
0:45.4	And Greg believes that we need to be more human and is everything I believe, and just to hear
0:51.5	a master speak about it, about emotional connection. Oh my goodness, I was in heaven.
0:57.8	And then he went and wrote a book as well. Greg is a global brand leader. I would say true
1:03.6	visionary, a titan of innovation. And as you can imagine, I was hanging off his every word.
1:10.4	And I know you're going to be as well.
1:13.1	I'm Holly Tucker, and welcome to Conversations of Inspiration.
1:25.1	Back in 2006, I founded Not on the High Street for my kitchen table, and since then,
1:30.9	I've gone on to launch Holly and Co. I'm the UK ambassador of creative small businesses,
1:36.6	and I believe that having a business doing what you love is the key to a happy fulfilled life.
1:42.7	My dream is to help everybody start theirs. I'm here to offer advice, inspiration, wisdom,
1:49.3	and encouragement. And in my view, the best way to do this is by sharing stories. So I've reached
1:56.9	out to my favourite small businesses, entrepreneurs, and those who simply inspire me and ask them to share
2:03.9	theirs. With thanks to Adobe, who've helped bring this podcast to life. Here are my Conversations of
2:11.2	Inspiration. Hi Greg, can I just say I am very excited as I was just saying to you at Speak to
2:19.3	You today. I'm going to, well, we're firstly welcome to Conversations of Inspiration.
	...

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