Did you know that "just do it" recently turned 50?The mere fact I dropped that line and you knew EXACTLY what I was talking about is a modern testament to Nike's ubiquitous success as a brand. Worldwide.

What do you associate with the iconic slogan? Sports? Sportspeople? Athletes? All of the above? Probably the latter. Nike's mission statement is to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world, whereby all humans are or show the potential to be an athlete.

Sounds naturally inclusive, but at the same time a little exclusive - moving away from "classical branding", Nike seized the opportunity by pioneering a whole new set of branding ideals, namely

being "part of a tribe". The tribe of athletes, composed of the tribe of humans, lending distinction and a sense of merit to the name.

Nike believes in sports and sportspeople believe in Nike - what a nice tandem. Anyhows, what started out as a project for developing great shoes turned into the goliath we've come to known it today in just half a century. Impressive.

Nike sponsors all types of sports, being true to its ideals(whilst different from Red Bull, which specializes in extreme sports for instance) and sells their products at a considerable premium relative to most of the competition.

"Just do it" refers to the ease of engaging in sports, an area of activities that can be started and performed by everybody, in one way or the other (think Paralympics) - no hesitation, just sports. Sports as the universal denominator. No bullshit. No waiting. No amateurs. Simply pure and unaltered sports DNA.

I'll focus mostly on the verbal side here, but the logo alludes via its recognizable "swoosh" to moving parts/motion, dynamic character and evokes a positive connotation, sort of like "check off sports duty for the day." Nike, you're all class.

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