Swoosh

A good brand has history and stories, and good stories have multiple layers. I came across this one over the week and can't stop thinking how rich and full of lessons this is.

In 1971, the Nike brand was born (transforming from the previous Blue Ribbon Sports). So, they decided they needed a logo, and Phil Knight (who was teaching accounting at a university) hired a design student (Davidson) to create one - "she needed the money". She developed several creatives, and Phil Knight reportedly chose the one "he hated the least", believing "it will grow on me" (this logo is nowadays called "The Swoosh"). For the work, the student was paid 35 usd (slightly more than 200 usd, nowadays), "I billed and was paid for the work".

The story doesn't end there, though. At the time of Nike's IPO, Nike decided to gift Davidson (the student) a golden swoosh ring with a diamond... and 500 shares of Nike's stock. Reportedly, Davidson never sold these shares, that, after several stock splits, they represent nowadays 32000 shares, with a market value of around 3M usd (she has retired a few years ago and does volunteering work).

The number of layers in this story is amazing. The decisions and implications. There are several lessons in it - you just have to pick the ones you need, I would say.