This past week at the US Tennis Open Nike debuted this video of their client, Serena Williams. What makes it brilliant marketing is that Nike used actual home video footage of 9 year old Serena being coached by her father. He is encouraging her to do it as if she is at the US Open. As she hits the ball as a 9 year old, the video is interspersed with cuts of her as an adult hitting the ball at the US Open. You can hear her father's voice coaching her, "This is You at he US Open. "Good follow-through," Richard says as she smacks a ball over the net and, "Nice try!" She has won 6 US Open titles and may win another one this coming week.
What makes it brilliant branding is a subtle difference in the way Nike marketed their taking the focus of themselves and putting the focus on their star. It is not all about Nike, it is all about Serena. That subtlety is what many real estate companies miss in their branding guidelines. They forget who their focus should be on! Instead of focusing on their brand, they would be so much more successful if they focused on their agents!