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Marketing Nerd

@Marketing_Nerd_

Dec 21, 2025

In 2018, Roger Federer walked away from a $100M Nike deal.

Not for Adidas. Not for Reebok.

He bet on a no-name Swiss startup making shoes out of garden hoses.

Everyone thought he was crazy, but that move made him a billionaire.

Here’s the wildest sports-business bet ever:

Federer had been with Nike since 1994.

His iconic “RF” logo was everywhere on hats, jackets, and shoes.

He had a 10-year, $100M Nike contract that expired in 2018.

Nike passed on renewing. They didn’t want to pay more.

So Federer walked away.

On was founded in 2010 by three Swiss athletes.

They weren’t a tennis brand.

They weren’t even mainstream.

Their shoes had weird hollow soles designed to mimic running on clouds.

In 2018, On had no celebrity deals & no performance line for tennis.

But Federer saw something.

Read 8 tweets

Marketing Nerd

@Marketing_Nerd_

Sep 30, 2025

In 2007, iPhone killed Nokia.

In 2012, Netflix killed Blockbuster.

In 2025, AI catalog ads will kill UGC ads.

$10M was raised to do it by a company called Marpipe.

Here's what Marpipe figured out: 🧵

The shift is already happening:

70% of Meta’s e-com spend goes to catalog ads.

But creative testing was impossible.

Millions of SKUs. Endless variations.

No way to brand or experiment at scale.

Billions spent blind.

Why has this been impossible until now?

Because scale breaks humans.

• Zara: +36,000 SKUs annually
• Shein: 1.3M SKUs live
• Gap: +12K new products a year

No design team can brand or test at that pace.

Read 9 tweets

Marketing Nerd

@Marketing_Nerd_

Aug 14, 2025

In 1996, Reebok paid $50M to sponsor the U.S. Olympic team.

Logos. Uniforms. TV rights.

But Nike, not even an Olympic sponsor, stole the spotlight.

Here’s the guerrilla play Nike used to humiliate Reebok at the Atlanta Games:

The 1996 Olympics were Reebok’s biggest bet ever.

They paid $50M to be the exclusive sponsor of Team USA.

They had full brand presence at events. And the Games were on American soil: Atlanta.

This was supposed to be Reebok’s ultimate victory.

But Nike had other plans.

Nike couldn’t advertise as an official sponsor.

So they did something smarter:

• They ran ambush-style ads all over Atlanta

• They released new athlete gear timed perfectly with the events

• They opened a massive Nike center right next to the Olympic village

Read 8 tweets

Marketing Nerd

@Marketing_Nerd_

Aug 7, 2025

This is Tommy Hilfiger.

He didn’t build a clothing brand, he built an illusion.

And the world bought it.

Before anyone knew his designs, he made himself a household name with one genius marketing stunt.

Here’s how he tricked the world into believing he was already famous:

In 1985, Tommy Hilfiger was unknown.

He wasn’t a fashion giant. He wasn’t a household name.

He was just a young designer launching his first men’s clothing line.

But he didn’t want to wait years to "earn" fame.

He wanted to create it.

Hilfiger and his marketing partner, George Lois (a legendary ad man), came up with a radical plan:

They would make the world believe Tommy Hilfiger was already one of the top designers before he had even proven it.

How? A single billboard.

Read 9 tweets

Marketing Nerd

@Marketing_Nerd_

Jul 29, 2025

Why does $9.99 feel way cheaper than $10?

One cent difference. Billions in profit.

William Poundstone uncovered the psychological tricks that make you spend more without realizing it.

Here’s how brands use pricing to control your decisions:

1. Anchoring

Anchoring is the psychological principle that people rely too heavily on the first piece of information they see.

When you see a luxury watch priced at $5,000 next to one priced at $1,000, the $1,000 option feels like a bargain even if it’s still expensive.

Why it works: The anchor sets your expectations.

The $5,000 watch makes $1,000 feel reasonable, even though it’s objectively a high price.

Lesson: Place premium-priced products alongside mid-tier options to make the latter appear more attractive.

Read 14 tweets

Marketing Nerd

@Marketing_Nerd_

Jul 27, 2025

Big budgets don’t win marketing wars. Guerrilla tactics do.

In 1984, Jay Conrad Levinson revealed how small brands could outsmart giants without spending millions.

Here’s the playbook that changed advertising forever:

Guerrilla marketing is all about using low-cost, high-impact strategies to capture attention.

Instead of relying on big budgets, the approach emphasizes creativity, innovation, and boldness.

Levinson drew inspiration from guerrilla warfare, where small groups use strategy and surprise to outmaneuver larger forces.

For businesses, this meant using unexpected tactics in unconventional spaces: streets, public events, or even social media.