What is your big provocative question?
Great brands start with one provocative question. Calvin Ross Carl points to Nike’s what if every person is an athlete as proof of how powerful that question can be.
Summary
Calvin Ross Carl asks how brands can borrow sci-fi’s favorite move, the what-if question. His go-to example is Nike, which asked what if every person is an athlete. Believing that everyone is a champ who can overcome anything, Calvin says, is one of the most powerful ideas a brand can hold. He nods to Liquid Death as another brand built on a question like that.
Highlights
- Brands can build on a single what-if question, the way sci-fi does.
- Nike asked what if every person is an athlete.
- A belief that big becomes the brand’s whole identity.
Key insights
One question, a whole brand
Nike’s question gives every campaign, product, and message a center. A strong what-if does the work of a strategy.
Provocative beats safe
The question works because it’s bold. Believing that anyone can be an athlete is a stance, not a tagline.
Detailed analysis
Sci-fi starts with what if, then follows the idea to its end. Calvin’s argument is that brands can do the same, and Nike shows how far one question can carry a company. Finding your own question means asking what you believe the world could be.
Conclusion
Find your brand’s big, provocative question. Then build everything from it.
How do brands take that? The one that we all really know—they’ve maybe stepped away from it a little bit lately, but I think it’s still great—is Nike. Nike just asked, “What if every person is an athlete?” Believing that everyone is a champ and an athlete who can overcome anything is such a powerful idea for a brand. I think it’s great. Liquid Death, we’ve talked about a lot on here.