Caught On Tape: Deb Friedman

mike lewis

• June 19 2009
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Deb Friedman knows marketing. After spending three years as Burton’s global director of women’s marketing, Deb swooshed to Oregon in November of 2008 to take on the role of U.S. brand manager, Nike 6.0, a position putting Friedman’s sizeable skill set to the test as the brand works to update its image and maintain growth. We caught up with Deb to find out what makes her and 6.0 tick.

Congrats on your new gig. Give us a brief description of the position.

Thanks. We support about 40 athletes across six sports—surf, snowboarding, BMX, moto, wake, and freeski—that represent Nike 6.0 through footwear and apparel.  First and foremost we are totally committed to each of the verticals through endemic marketing and grassroots events as well as reaching out to a broader audience through our sponsorship of the Dew Tour and other partnerships.

Before Burton you worked outside the industry for a variety of different companies. What have been the advantages and disadvantages of starting your career outside action sports?

Working outside of the industry allowed me to really understand all the aspects of traditional marketing.  Once you know marketing, you can apply it to anything.  My first job was marketing adult diapers. It showed me that even though I don’t pee in my pants I could still learn about and understand the audience and create marketing to address their needs. While a cultural connection goes a long way, especially in action sports, having the ability to listen and learn is huge.

What specific things in your professional background make you well equipped for this job?

Honestly, everything I have done up to this point has helped ready me for 6.0. All of my past experience is in marketing, but having the opportunities to work on packaged goods, beer, telecom, Web-based companies, Burton, all of it contributed to giving me the tools I needed.

What were some of the main objectives for the “first 100 days,” as they say in regard to the President?

I listen a lot.  I get to know the people.  I learn the rules—you need to know them before you decide if you want to break them. I actually have my list of priorities that my manager gave me when I started: Master The Process, Complete The Current Season’s Brand Efforts, and Plan for Next Year. I have a feeling this will be an ongoing list of priorities.

When joining a new company, how do you get up to speed quickly and tailor your approach to that brand versus recycling ideas and tactics from other brands that might not fit?

I study so hard for my interviews that I basically already have a plan in place before I get the job.  I think it is so important to approach interviewing as if the interviewer says, “what will you do during your first 30, 60, 90 days?”

I think there are three main ingredients to branding: knowing the consumer, retailer and end user; understanding the competitive landscape ,who are you going up against; and really digging into and defining the key elements and DNA of the brand.  When you combine all of that together, I think you would be hard-pressed to recycle ideas.

What did you tell Nike about the 6.0 brand when you interviewed for this job? Were you very positive about it, or did you bring specific suggestions/criticisms?

I had questions because the brand is so new, but overall I was really inspired.  The team here had identified an audience segment that was not being targeted. So much great brand and consumer work had been done and I was just so stoked to roll up my sleeves and join the team.

What was the most difficult part of the transition from managing a snow-specific brand to a multiple-sport brand?

Five more sports, 30 more athletes, and four seasons. I wouldn’t define it as difficult, but a totally new challenge.

What is your normal week like?

I don’t think I will ever have a normal week, which is exactly how I’d want it.  I spend the majority of my time in meetings.  Nike is a complex place and I report into a few different people, but there is genius in how it works.  I have traveled a little bit to some events like a Winter Dew Tour stop and the 6.0 Lowers Pro. I’ve been on a few market visits in SoCal and had the great opportunity to meet the team down at Hurley. We are collaborating on several things for the coming year.

Outside of meetings, we have so many plates spinning we are always finding new ways to support our vertical sports, develop new ways to distribute our content, [and] continue to build an infrastructure to keep up with the incredible growth of the brand.

How do you balance your schedule to make sure you’re focusing on the most important things?

Prioritization is kind of organic. As a crew, we make decisions about what we need to focus on. When my manager says, “This is due tomorrow,” that pretty much bumps that project to the top of the list.  Otherwise, it comes down to timing and when things need to deliver.

What are your top five objectives for the brand’s success? How about personal success?

Brand success comes from 1) continuing to communicate in unique, innovative and surprising ways, 2) owning the idea of being both an accessible multi-sport brand and being committed to the core of each sport, 3) representing the next generation of athletes and consumers in a compelling and authentic way, 4) creating a new generation of Nike Heroes, and 5) ensuring that everyone associated with Nike 6.0 is having a great time.

Personal success for me is making the most out of life, trying new things and having fun with great people. For me, there isn’t a line between professional and personal really. I get to do amazing things—sales meetings where riding is as important as the presentations [and] going to new events.  People do this stuff in their spare time and I get to do it for my job. In life you just never know how it’s going to turn out, so you have be able to enjoy the ride.

How do you handle giving people bad news?

First, I always try to recognize the work that might have gone into something—a sales pitch or a print ad—and then I just tell ’em. If you stay true to the strategy and focused on what’s right for the business, good news and bad news are just stepping-stones to the end result.

What is the most significant change happening with 6.0?

We are launching a new logo, which is a beacon for the evolution happening with our team. In a short time we went from a crew of up and comers to champions who are collecting title after title. The growth and evolution of our brand has also expanded to allow us to welcome new athletes to the team like Mason Aguirre. Because we are such a new brand, focused on the next generation of athletes and participants, we are always open to what’s coming next. We evolve as our athletes evolve, we innovate to support their performance and lifestyle needs.

Why’d you decide to update the logo, and what went into that?

One of the 6.0 brand mantras is to be open and evolve. The two-headed mutant wasn’t representing our matured athletes, and it took almost a year and hundreds of designs to settle on the new logo. Our friends at Nemo Design designed both our old and new logo. They basically stripped it down to four key requirements: Stay true to the creativity and freedom of action sports. Stay true to Nike and utilize the power of the Swoosh. Kids refer to the brand as 6.0, so keep the numerology prominent. Create a logo that will live for a long time as an icon for 6.0.

What are the most important marketing channels for reaching 6.0 customers?

We value every touch point whether that is a sticker at an event or a new digital or mobile opportunity. The 6.0 Brand Connections team at Nike is pushing the limits and constantly coming up with new ways to engage and entertain our audience in relevant and surprising ways.  We also host unique grassroots events that help bring together communities.

How do you measure the success of an event sponsorship like the Lowers Pro or the Dew Tour?

Industry response, athlete feedback, Web metrics/audience involvement, dealer feedback, and ultimately sales.

How do 6.0, SB, and Snowboarding work together?

SB is a huge anchor within the organization. That crew paid their dues, learned lessons, and just continues to push the envelope. Nike Snowboarding is similar—it has been super focused on traditional core distribution and audience.

6.0 is also focused on the core, but in a different way, with a different message, for a different audience. 6.0 brings both aspiration and accessibility in everything we do, which means multi-sport, a younger audience, and a wider distribution network.  We all sit together and are managed under the same leadership, but we have minimal overlap in sales force and accounts.

What are the pros and cons of having an industry giant like Nike backing you?

The advantages are the resources, talent, and total commitment to driving performance, innovation, and technology. Nike’s dedication to the athlete is the best in the world. As far as disadvantages, there aren’t many. Because we are a tight-knit group, we can really stay true to what the action industry needs and our athletes are as vital and as important to the process as the mainstream athletes.  Our reps are dedicated and come out of the action industry and on any given day the high jinks and tomfoolery is like any other endemic company.