No laughing matter, MJ

Brand Jordan is a funny brand.

Funny, like, it makes me laugh? No, more like, it ‘s funny how it has so much potential but is still struggling to find it’s way.

There's a group of athletes that represent Brand Jordan. The athletes they’ve chosen for Team Jordan are an interesting lot. In the NBA, they have big stars like Ray Allen and Carmelo Anthony, but also aging players like Michael Finley. Most of the athletes are basketball players, with a couple of football (Ahman Green and Marvin Harrison) and baseball (Andruw Jones) players thrown in.

They have one female athlete: April Holmes, a paralympian sprinter.

The website makes clear that each of the athletes is valued for not just sports achievements, but for being active in community and charitable causes as well.

But it still seems like a fairly random collection to me. Even Nike always seemed to have a method to the way they picked athletes. Usually, it was the best and only best athletes at their jobs.

For what it's worth, Andruw Jones is still trying to find a job.

Then there’s the advertising. Some very good work, but not consistently great. Again, hard to figure out what ties it all together. Where’s the vision? What would the manifesto say?

I think above all else, it’s about inspiration. At least, I think that’s what it should be. It makes sense to me. If MJ isn’t on the court anymore, he can’t lead by example, so he’s trying to lead by metaphysical example. His spirit was always one of leadership and determination, and that’s what comes through in a lot of the BJ ads. Like this one.



The players are right. The message is right. What does it say about the brand overall? How does it connect to the rest of the brand communication? I’m just not sure. MJ, please help.