For those of you on the west coast, the fires and smoke we're experiencing are heart wrenching. On top of a pandemic and economic hardship, it's a test of resilience. And a call to action for all.

This image is from Sunday, September, 13th across from downtown Portland where our air was the worst in the world. It's also a metaphor for how we need to set a course without having perfect information or knowing how we'll get where we want and need to go. When it comes to the map for your life, you're creating it every day.

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'Just Do It'

Way back in the late 80s when I was in Journalism School at the University of Oregon, Scott Bedbury, then Nike's Director of Advertising spoke at one of my advertising classes. He'd moved from marketing pickles on a $50,000 budget to shoes. Nike wasn't the juggernaut it is now. In fact, according to this article on the brief behind 'Just Do It', 20% of the company had recently been laid off. There was an economic recession, and Nike was only focused on elite athletes and losing to Reebok. I remember how cool Reeboks were. I had a pair of black ones. Nikes were out.

Nike hadn't communicated the feelings that people get when they worked out and Scott sought to tap into that for the masses. Not just the elite athletes. Founder Bill Bowerman had said that "everyone has a body and is therefore a potential athlete." That and the desire for th'authentic athletic performance.'

Out of this, Scott sent Wieden and Kennedy this brief:

"Nike is about to become a significant network television advertiser. We will spend nearly three times what we spent on the 'Revolution' campaign in the fall of 1988. This is a turning point for a company that not long ago spoke to its customers at track meets from the tailgate of a station wagon. This just cannot be a narrow look back at where we have been. We should be proud of our heritage, but we must also realize that the appeal of 'Hayward Field' is narrow and potentially alienating to those who are not great athletes. We need to grow this brand beyond its purest core; we have to stop talking just to ourselves. It's time to widen the access point. We need to capture a more complete spectrum of the rewards of sports and fitness. We achieved this with 'Revolution.' Now we need to take the next step."

Side note: In the summer of '88 I was a courier for a typesetting firm back in the time when type was set by professionals and output on camera-ready paper then pasted into layouts. W+K was their largest client and I remember delivering the 'Revolution' ad copy. In fact, I went there sometimes five or six times a day, not quite realizing what I was witnessing. Although I always thought it was very, very cool.

'Just Do It' became so successful not only for it's simplicity, but because it tapped into the soul of the company and what they stood for. They just hadn't articulated it in a way that seemed approachable to a wide audience. It resulted in 1,000% growth over ten years. Not to mention being one of the most iconic campaigns and brands around. Even to this day. Imagine if they stuck to talking only to elite athletes!

What does this have to do with you exactly?

It's certainly not easy to create such a brand as this. It takes a company willing to do the hard work to connect to their core purpose. One that is ingrained across the company. This past week I've been reading Fusion, a book about 'how integrating brand and culture powers the world's greatest companies.'

Many companies separate their internal values from their external brand. That's a mistake. So many, too, don't live the words you read on their walls. Yet it's core to Nike's success. And Apple's. Say what you may about egos and politics. No company is perfect.

Each is focused and clear about what they do. Even if they lose their way from time to time, they are able to go back to their roots. They stand for something.

You should too. You can apply the principles of branding to yourself and how you position your work. There are no rules saying you can't yet we think it's only for big companies. Given the accessibility to tools and information and the competitive nature of markets, you need to think about how you can differentiate yourself like a brand.

How can you become memorable and iconic? I don't mean this in a narcissistic way. But in a way that people think of you first when it comes to the value you offer. That is what can seed your financial independence and stability in a world of too much of too much.

Jeremy Conley who was part of the brand work with Scott Bedbury provides this context:

"A brand's symbolic meaning originates with its underlying purpose, and is expressed as a field vibration that radiates from the very core of a company. If a brand is to become iconic, to become a world-class energy that customers deeply identify with, then it must evoke transcendent qualities of human soulfulness."

What is your core purpose? How do you connect with your clients and colleagues? What is the soul of you? I encourage you to spend some time with this for there's gold in how it can enable you to design your work and life.

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Brands matter. More than ever.

Some brands finding themselves in bankruptcy, like Pier 1 Imports, are being purchased at fire sale prices and reinvented for modern commerce. Pier 1 was bought by Tai Lopez, an internet marketer turned brand rebuilder. In fact, he's part of the rise of fake gurus that give internet marketing it's slimy reputation. Yet he and his partner saw value in the brand as well as Linen 'N Things and Dressbarn. They've identified brands with high customer awareness and affinity along with quality assets. Then bought them to relaunch online.

I find his (and others) appoach to internet marketing predatory and dismissed him initially, but there's much to learn through observation. Even by sources counter to our own. While his personal brand values aren't exactly aligned with my own, he clearly knows how to create and build successful businesses. I mention him here both to highlight the value of a brand, and also an example of someone who has built his own personal brand. He's polarizing. People either like him. Or hate him. There's little middle ground. What's your take?

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Let's shift to true legends Galileo and Einstein

I geek out on how our brains work and how we make decisions. Particularly as I want to make better decisions and learn from my mistakes. As I go into the rabbit hole that is mindset and how we think, I'm spending time exploring mental models which can help us become better thinkers.

Shane Parish of The Knowledge Project has written extensively about mental models. I'm currently reading his second book on the subject. The first entry is on the theory of relativity. The key take away for you is that perspective influences how you perceive reality.

Galileo idea that there are differences of perception was dismissed until Einstein proved that the same event is observed differently by who and where we are. Both ahttps://own-the-cow.ghost.io/ghost/#/posts/re valid which makes our perspective subjective. That's why it's so beneficial to consider perspectives very different than our own. They may not be right for us, but they help us understand how to understand others. And how to articulate a point of view.

Shane writes:

"When you see someone doing something that doesn't make sense to you, ask yourself what the world would have to look like to you for those actions to make sense. . . .the goal is to enlarge our perspective to be a closer representation of reality by removing some of the factors that cloud our judgment."

The next time you're questioning how someone could come to a particular conclusion, consider that you nor they see everything. There isn't a definitive right way in most cases. Empathy and emotional intelligence go a long way to helping you in this area. And considering how you think what you do. How you see things the way you do is uniquely yours, and can help you make better decisions.

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I'll cover additional mental models I find useful in future letters. Part of my desire in writing to you each week is to force me to expand my perspective while I'm creating my own cow live. It's a journey and I've certainly not arrived! Thanks for reading this far. Let's do this together.