What the GOP Can Learn from Nike

The Republican Party can learn a great deal from Nike. American support for core Republican principles-like individual freedom, personal responsibility, innovation, entrepreneurship, and self-reliance-is at an all-time high. Yet the Republican brand has been badly damaged. According to a recent College Republican National Committee report, the GOP is now seen as old-fashioned, anti-women, anti-Hispanic, anti-gay, anti-middle class, and anti-environment.

Based on their core principles, Republicans should comprise two-thirds of all voters, yet only 28 to 33 percent of young voters have a favorable view of the party. Over 50 percent have a negative view. To survive, the Republican Party needs to take a good hard look at why.

In the mid-1990s, Nike suffered a blow to their brand when they were held responsible for using child labor to stitch soccer balls. As a result, their share of the footwear market dropped from 55 percent in 1996 to 39 percent in 2000. Nike could have slid into oblivion; instead, they transformed their reputation, reinvigorated their brand, and won over the next generation.

Nike didn't change what they stood for. Instead, they sharpened their appeal, championing the same "Just Do It" values that the Republican Party does. Nike didn't adopt a "liberal" agenda that people are victims, that they have no personal power, that they need to be coddled. They celebrated the power in every individual; the self-discipline it takes to discover and harness the power in every woman, and every man, of every ethnicity.

American politics is in the beginning stages of an historic realignment that will transform both major parties. The Republican Party can reinvigorate its brand by following the example of Nike.