By: Jeff Jensen and Alice Z. Cuneo
As Nike plots the marketing and ad strategies it needs to reinvent itself, the company and its longtime agency Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, Ore., are making the personnel changes to accomplish that.
Nike last week named Mike Wilskey VP-U.S. brand marketing, succeeding Bob Wood, who has been promoted to president of Nike Golf, a new standalone unit.
CONTINUES TREND
The move continues Nike's new strategy of spinning out various facets of its business into separate units, such as Jordan Brand; Nike ACG, the company's outdoor brand; and Nike Hockey.
Mr. Wilskey reports to Andy Mooney, VP-global brand management. Mr. Wilskey's previous Nike title, VP-global brand marketing, is being eliminated. It's also uncertain whether Nike will fill the role of director of global advertising following the Sept. 30 resignation of Geoffrey Frost.
WIEDEN ADJUSTMENTS
Wieden also has made adjustments on its Nike account, part of a larger restructuring of the agency. In addition to the appointment of Jim Riswold as creative director of the Portland office (AA, Oct. 5), Ben Kline, previously global account director on Nike, has added the title of director of account service.
Other changes included the naming of creative directors Chuck McBride and Hal Curtis to head up U.S. creative on Nike, replacing Jamie Barrett, who left, and John Jay, who moved to the shop's Tokyo office.
CEO Dan Wieden is heading up a global leadership team to oversee the five independently managed regional offices -- Amsterdam, London and New York are the other three. Dave Luhr, formerly director of account service, now has the new post of chief operating officer.
Chris Zimmerman, Nike's director of U.S. advertising, supports the moves by Wieden.
``Both Nike and Wieden are all about reinventing themselves,'' Mr. Zimmerman said, adding that the changes are concurrent with efforts by Nike to re-create itself.
`NOT STAY IN ONE PLACE'
``Our consumer keeps changing so it's important for us to stay on top of our consumers and not stay in one place for too long,'' he said.
With Nike under intense pressure and scrutiny to reverse its decline and re-energize its industry, Mr. Zimmerman has one of marketing's pressure jobs. He oversees all of Nike's U.S. ad communications, including those of Nike's newly formed sub-units.
Mr. Zimmerman, 38, came to Nike in 1995 from Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, recruited by Joe McCarthy, then Nike's global ad director (and who is now leading the team at Leo Burnett USA, Chicago, handling Nike rival Fila USA).
``We'll kick his ass,'' Mr. Zimmerman joked, referring to his friend and fellow hockey enthusiast.
Nike's early 1999 advertising will mark an aggressive return to the cutting edge, with an issues-oriented women's fitness initiative and a lavishly quirky push for the new Nike Alpha project.
RELYING ON GUT INSTINCT
Mr. Zimmerman wouldn't comment on future work, but said Nike must not let size and corporate mechanics stultify the creative process. He said that Nike doesn't research the 150 commercials it produces every year but relies more on gut instinct, input from athletes, and watching kids play and consume culture.
``The priority for everyone is not about structure and organization but creating great work. As our business has become more challenging, we've had to become sharper,'' Mr. Zimmerman said. ``We don't govern ourselves by what does and doesn't test well. We're not backing away from risky.''