Nike announces quarterly results, earns grudging approval of skateboarders

Nike released their quarterly financial statements last week, but what's more interesting to me is this comment on the evolution of Nike's presence in the action sports world (the excellent Jeff Harbaugh for Transworld):

As I read the press release, I was struck by the fact that a few years ago, I wouldn’t have bothered. I mean, who cared about Nike in the surf, skate and snowboard businesses? They weren’t a factor and they played in a market that just didn’t seem relevant to us. Every time they tried to get into the industry, we went to their parties, drank their beer and that was it. What’s changed? They bought Hurley and did skate shoes right is the obvious answer, but I want to suggest it’s more than that.

My take
One of the toughest parts of lifestyle marketing is earning your place in a new market, one that isn't in your brand's original DNA. Harbaugh goes into more detail on the dynamics of Nike's business, but what I loved was his description of the industry attitude toward non-endemic players. In Nike's case, their DNA is in traditional sports (what some call "ball and stick sports"), and they had all the credibility in the world there. But it meant absolutely nothing when they wanted to become an action sports brand- in fact, it may have been a liability.

The lesson here is that it takes a long time and a lot of money and energy to build a lifestyle brand. It doesn't happen overnight, even if you're doing everything right. Be prepared for lots of cynical dismissals and cold shoulders, but stick with it and you'll eventually earn their trust.