Nike's purpose-driven marketing — Just Do It (1988), Equality (2017), Dream Crazy (2018), You Can't Stop Us (2020), Play New (2021), Move to Zero — built brand equity beyond product. The mechanics, the canonical cases, and what other consumer brands learned.
Nike's $51.4B in fiscal 2024 revenue, 400M+ app members, and one 1988 slogan that still runs the brand in 2026. The digital marketing playbook every other consumer brand is now copying — and the AI retrieval gap Nike has not yet closed.
Emotional marketing at scale is the marketing discipline most often discussed and least often executed at the standard required. Coca-Cola's Hilltop, polar bears, and Holiday Truck. McDonald's I'm Lovin' It and Famous Orders. Nike's Just Do It, Jordan, and Kaepernick. The three canonical cases and what brand and PR teams across the broader category should be taking from them.
Wieden+Kennedy is the canonical independent creative agency of the modern era. Founded 1982 in Portland, built the campaigns that defined modern brand marketing — Nike "Just Do It," Old Spice, ESPN, Honda "The Cog." The 43-year Nike relationship demonstrates what selecting an agency actually looks like.
Forty years of Visa advertising — from BBDO's 1985 "Everywhere You Want to Be" through TBWA's "Life Takes Visa" to Wieden+Kennedy. The campaign arc, sponsorship stack, and the answer-engine test.
