Emotion By Design: Lessons From Greg Hoffman Former CMO of Nike...
I just finished reading "Emotion by Design: Creative Leadership Lessons from a Life at Nike" by Greg Hoffman, here are my key takeaways...
Happy new week,
I just finished reading "Emotion by Design: Creative Leadership Lessons from a Life at Nike" by Greg Hoffman. Greg joined Nike as a design intern in 1992, he rose through the ranks and retired as Chief Marketing Officer in 2020. The book shares Greg’s personal experiences and insights into how he used emotional design to create successful campaigns, build effective teams, and lead with empathy.
Greg describes emotion by design as the ability to create stories, images, and experiences that inspire emotion. The emotion Greg wanted to inspire at Nike was making people feel that even their most audacious dreams are possible to achieve. Brands gain a competitive advantage when they are able to create powerful emotional bonds with their customers. Greg constantly emphasises the importance of understanding the emotional needs and desires of consumers and designing products that can connect with them on a deeper level.
In my opinion, Nike is the best brand in the world at inspiring emotion. Greg was involved in Nike’s most ground-breaking innovations and communications that took place in the last 30 years. He was also responsible for the teams that created them. It was under his leadership that game-changing ideas such as the Nike Fuelband, Nike+ running app, and the 2014 Fifa World Cup “Risk Everything” campaign came to life.
Curiosity is a skill mentioned throughout the book. Curiosity is the catalyst for creativity. It’s what allows you to see opportunities and harness the inspiration to seize them. Curiosity allows you to dig deeper and discover new possibilities. Greg cultivated an environment that encouraged curiosity. He and his team constantly asked difficult questions and had difficult discussions in order to problem-solve, and gain a rich and broad understanding of the world around them, while taking into account multiple diverse perspectives. Curiosity is a muscle and muscles need to be trained.
Finding inspiration can be difficult, rather than waiting for it to find you, create ways that allow it to flow naturally through you and your work. The best way to do this is by opening yourself up to experience new things. Be it through reading, traveling, visiting exhibitions, speaking with different people, etc.
“The creative process is not a linear path, and often moments of inspiration come upon you in unlikely places - if you’re open to them.” Greg Hoffman
Empathy is also a huge ingredient in inspiring emotion by design, empathy allows us to see the world through someone else’s eyes. This provides us insights that we might otherwise miss, and these insights are what power solutions. Empathy alone isn’t enough to maintain a competitive advantage. We must constantly put ourselves in the position to see something we never have before. This is the purpose of curiosity, the willingness to ask what’s beyond the horizon of our own narrow view.
You have to value both empathy and curiosity. A story without heart, passion, and purpose doesn’t make a good brand any better than it makes a good person. The best stories have one thing in common: they touch on human imagination and elicit an emotional response.
Effective leadership also requires empathy and a willingness to listen to others. Greg shares his own experiences of being a young, inexperienced designer, and how he was mentored by senior designers who took the time to listen to his ideas and guide him. He stresses the importance of creating a culture of collaboration and openness, where everyone's ideas are valued and respected.
Nike has been able to last the test of time because they are constantly finding ways to build their connection with their consumers, they’re bigger than their products. They are a lifestyle brand, they’ve created a brand that reflects a lifestyle their consumers strive to live, which is never playing it safe, pushing boundaries, and playing to win. Nike has been able to build a very personable and emotionally connected brand by asking ‘How do we want people to actually feel about themselves when they interact with us?’. Reading about Greg’s involvement in guiding Nike to this stage was very insightful and inspiring.
I highly recommend this book to any creative, not just those in marketing or design. As society evolves, people don’t want to participate in purely transactional dealings, especially from brands. They want to build meaningful bonds and relationships with colleagues, friends, and brands.
Have a great week!
Subomi