Understanding the Concept of “Brand”
Here’ s the kind of CEO who really understands the concept of “brand” at the highest level. Obviously, that’s what it takes for the scrappy upstart to take on the Nike’s and Adidas’s of the world. It is possible for true believers!!!
There is a terrific piece from Knowledge @ Wharton about Kevin Plank, the founder and CEO of Under Armour, which he built from a company making “the first form-fitting, moisture wicking t-shirt” to one that currently generates more than a billion dollars a year in sales selling a range of athletic gear.
Plank says that the strength of his business comes from what he calls the “four pillars of greatness”: “Build a great product.” “Tell a great story.” “Service the business.” “Build a great team.”
Among the notable quotes in the piece:
• On building a relationship with customers… “Our object cannot be to try to convince 25-year-olds to change brands, though that is always something good. But now 8-, 9- and 10-year-olds have a relationship with Under Armour [and say] it is their brand. I tell them that their great-great grandfather [bought products from] the guys from Germany [Adidas] and their grandfather grew up with the guys from Oregon [Nike]. But you will grow up with Under Armour.”
• On passion and teamwork… “My passion is to build the biggest, baddest brand on the planet. My vision is that I want to stay focused…. We want to make sure there is nothing that prevents us from doing what we want to do with our brand. Finally, we want to have the best type of people — team, team, team. I can’t underscore that need [enough].”
• On protecting the brand… You do something so you can get a quick buck and that may look good on the revenue chart, but only for a little while. What you do must protect your brand or you will ultimately fail. If you slap a logo on it, it might sell right away, but the brands that will endure are the ones that respect the consumer.”
• On focus… “Nothing is really God-given. You have to embrace the things you feel are important and work hard — will it to happen … What I do know is that we have not yet built our defining product at Under Armour. We are not living in the past. Our larger competitors are 20 times our size. There is running room all over.”
• On the importance of narrative… “Great companies have to manage the cadence of what they do. ‘Chapter One’ [of a business's growth trajectory] has to relate right to Chapter Two and Chapter Three and Chapter Four. Every great brand is like a great story. Every commercial we run, every product we make, is like a chapter in that book. If we don’t manage the cadence, though, we will get too far ahead of ourselves.”