From an Idea to Nike


Book Description

"Today, Nike is the biggest athletic shoe company in the world, but a long time ago runner and businessman Phil Knight started out with just an idea. Find out more about Nike's history, how the business grew, and the role that marketing playing in this illustrated nonfiction book!" -- Back cover.




Cultural Strategy


Book Description

How do we explain the breakthrough market success of businesses like Nike, Starbucks, Ben & Jerry's, and Jack Daniel's? Conventional models of strategy and innovation simply don't work. The most influential ideas on innovation are shaped by the worldview of engineers and economists - build a better mousetrap and the world will take notice. Holt and Cameron challenge this conventional wisdom and take an entirely different approach: champion a better ideology and the world will take notice as well. Holt and Cameron build a powerful new theory of cultural innovation. Brands in mature categories get locked into a form of cultural mimicry, what the authors call a cultural orthodoxy. Historical changes in society create demand for new culture - ideological opportunities that upend this orthodoxy. Cultural innovations repurpose cultural content lurking in subcultures to respond to this emerging demand, leapfrogging entrenched incumbents. Cultural Strategy guides managers and entrepreneurs on how to leverage ideological opportunities: - How managers can use culture to out-innovate their competitors - How entrepreneurs can identify new market opportunities that big companies miss - How underfunded challengers can win against category Goliaths - How technology businesses can avoid commoditization - How social entrepreneurs can develop businesses that appeal to more than just fellow activists - How subcultural brands can break out of the 'cultural chasm' to mass market success - How global brands can pursue cross-cultural strategies to succeed in local markets - How organizations can maximize their innovation capabilities by avoiding the brand bureaucracy trap Written by leading authorities on branding in the world today, along with one of the advertising industry's leading visionaries, Cultural Strategy transforms what has always been treated as the "intuitive" side of market innovation into a systematic strategic discipline.




University of Nike


Book Description

The dramatic expose of how the University of Oregon sold its soul to Nike, and what that means for the future of our public institutions and our society. **A New York Post Best Book of the Year** In the mid-1990s, facing severe cuts to its public funding, the University of Oregon—like so many colleges across the country—was desperate for cash. Luckily, the Oregon Ducks’ 1995 Rose Bowl berth caught the attention of the school’s wealthiest alumnus: Nike founder Phil Knight, who was seeking new marketing angles at the collegiate level. And so the University of Nike was born: Knight has so far donated more than half a billion dollars to the school in exchange for high-visibility branding opportunities. But as journalist Joshua Hunt shows in University of Nike, Oregon has paid dearly for the veneer of financial prosperity and athletic success that has come with this brand partnering. Hunt uncovers efforts to conceal university records, buried sexual assault allegations against university athletes, and cases of corporate overreach into academics and campus life—all revealing a university being run like a business, with America’s favorite “Shoe Dog” calling the shots. Nike money has shaped everything from Pac-10 television deals to the way the game is played, from the landscape of the campus to the type of student the university hopes to attract. More alarming still, Hunt finds other schools taking a page from Oregon’s playbook. Never before have our public institutions for research and higher learning been so thoroughly and openly under the sway of private interests, and never before has the blueprint for funding American higher education been more fraught with ethical, legal, and academic dilemmas. Encompassing more than just sports and the academy, University of Nike is a riveting story of our times.




Reimagining Design


Book Description

The power of transformative design, multidisciplinary leaps, and diversity: lessons from a Black professional’s journey through corporate America. Design offers so much more than an aesthetically pleasing logo or banner, a beautification add-on after the heavy lifting. In Reimagining Design, Kevin Bethune shows how design provides a unique angle on problem-solving—how it can be leveraged strategically to cultivate innovation and anchor multidisciplinary teamwork. As he does so, he describes his journey as a Black professional through corporate America, revealing the power of transformative design, multidisciplinary leaps, and diversity. Bethune, who began as an engineer at Westinghouse, moved on to Nike (where he designed Air Jordans), and now works as a sought-after consultant on design and innovation, shows how design can transform both individual lives and organizations. In Bethune’s account, diversity, equity, and inclusion emerge as a recurring theme. He shows how, as we leverage design for innovation, we also need to consider the broader ecological implications of our decisions and acknowledge the threads of systemic injustice in order to realize positive change. His book is for anyone who has felt like the “other”—and also for allies who want to encourage anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-ageist behaviors in the workplace. Design transformation takes leadership—leaders who do not act as gatekeepers but, with agility and nimbleness, build teams that mirror the marketplace. Design in harmony with other disciplines can be incredibly powerful; multidisciplinary team collaboration is the foundation of future innovation. With insight and compassion, Bethune provides a framework for bringing this about.




From an Idea to Disney


Book Description

From an Idea to Disney is a behind-the-movie-screen look into the history, business, and brand of the world's largest entertainment empire. With humorous black & white illustrations throughout, learn about the company behind the world's favorite mouse, Mickey "I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing--that it was all started by a mouse." --Walt Disney Today, the Walt Disney Company is the biggest entertainment company in the world with theme parks, TV shows, movie studios, merchandise, the most recognizable cartoon character in the world, Mickey Mouse. But a long time ago, brothers Walt and Roy Disney started out with just an idea. Find out more about Disney's history, the business, and the brand in this illustrated nonfiction book Find out what Walt first intended to name his famous mouse. (Hint: It wasn't Mickey ) Discover behind-the-scenes magic of how Walt Disney World is run. Explore the ways the Disney expanded its brand from a little mouse into media, merchandise, and more




Shoe Dog


Book Description

In this instant and tenacious New York Times bestseller, Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight “offers a rare and revealing look at the notoriously media-shy man behind the swoosh” (Booklist, starred review), illuminating his company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands. Bill Gates named Shoe Dog one of his five favorite books of the year and called it “an amazing tale, a refreshingly honest reminder of what the path to business success really looks like. It’s a messy, perilous, and chaotic journey, riddled with mistakes, endless struggles, and sacrifice. Phil Knight opens up in ways few CEOs are willing to do.” Fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed fifty dollars from his father and launched a company with one simple mission: import high-quality, low-cost running shoes from Japan. Selling the shoes from the trunk of his car in 1963, Knight grossed eight thousand dollars that first year. Today, Nike’s annual sales top $30 billion. In this age of start-ups, Knight’s Nike is the gold standard, and its swoosh is one of the few icons instantly recognized in every corner of the world. But Knight, the man behind the swoosh, has always been a mystery. In Shoe Dog, he tells his story at last. At twenty-four, Knight decides that rather than work for a big corporation, he will create something all his own, new, dynamic, different. He details the many risks he encountered, the crushing setbacks, the ruthless competitors and hostile bankers—as well as his many thrilling triumphs. Above all, he recalls the relationships that formed the heart and soul of Nike, with his former track coach, the irascible and charismatic Bill Bowerman, and with his first employees, a ragtag group of misfits and savants who quickly became a band of swoosh-crazed brothers. Together, harnessing the electrifying power of a bold vision and a shared belief in the transformative power of sports, they created a brand—and a culture—that changed everything.




Future Proof Yourself


Book Description

Want to learn how you can stay employable and relevant for the rest of your working life? Want to enjoy feeling valued and fulfilled? In these unpredictable times, there is every reason for you to want to realise your skills and lifestyle choices to look forward to an adventurous and exciting future. Are you worth it? Of course you are! You are your greatest asset and investment. Welcome to Future Proofing Yourself. This book is for everyone. Reflecting on his own personal experiences and those of his family, friends and people that he has coached and mentored. David Yeabsley shares how at times we will all feel vulnerable in our working careers and worry about the future. We can feel lost and lacking in confidence. In Future Proof Yourself, David discusses how these feelings can be managed, encouraging you to discover how YOU can take control of situations and make the right choices for your future career and personal life. What could you expect from a life that you have Future Proofed? Well you can certainly look forward to having: – the ability to take control of your professional career – new skills and experiences – new people to network with – new learning opportunities It will also guide you to: – develop your confidence – create new ways of thinking – achieve the right balance in your life – enable you to stay relevant and employable for the rest of your working career Investment in yourself applies to all areas of your life, not just your career. Be careful though, following the Future Proof Yourself guidance you just might start living it and become the best version of yourself! Why should you make the effort? Well, if you don’t look after yourself, who is going to do it for you? The author, David Yeabsley, has over 20 years’ experience in coaching, mentoring, training and presenting.




From an Idea to Google


Book Description

Presents the history of the founding of Google and the development of its search engine, the innovations and acquisitions it made after the firm went public, and how it is preparing for future expansion and new capabilities.




From an Idea to Lego


Book Description

For fans of the successful Who Was series, From an Idea to Lego is a behind-the-bricks look into the world's famous toy company, with humorous black & white illustrations throughout. Today, LEGO is one of the biggest toy companies in the world, but a long time ago, a Danish carpenter, Ole Kirk Christiansen, started with just an idea. Find out more about LEGO's origins, those famous bricks, and their other inventive toys and movie ventures in this illustrated nonfiction book Find out the origin the name "LEGO." (Hint: it combines two Danish words) See how LEGO grew from a carpentry shop to a multi-platform toy company. Discover how LEGO bricks are made and how they came up with their design.




Nike: Part 1:The Demon Road


Book Description

Nike of Samothrace is different. Not only did she grow up among the matriarchal warrior tribe of the Amazons, she has a pair of huge, snow-white wings, something seen only on gods and monsters. Already an outcast among her people, Nike finds herself even more alone when a slave uprising claim the lives of her adopted parents. Feeling lost, without an identity and unable to earn the trust of her Amazon sisters, Nike requests permission to travel to Delphi and consult the famous Oracle for guidance. Her queen agrees, but on one condition: Nike must first escort a runaway princess named Syna back to her home in Crete. Desperate for answers, Nike sets off with her unexpected human baggage. When the most direct route to Crete ends in disaster, Nike is forced to take spoiled Syna on a journey through mainland Greece, following a highway the Amazons have named "The Demon Road." Nike must protect the princess-and in doing so, all of Samothrace-before she can reach Delphi and find her truth.