Viewed in this way, the poster does far more than showcase another great athlete; it distills the very purpose of Nike—the core of its brand—into an image: You too are an athlete capable of greatness.

But perhaps product design’s biggest source of inspiration is Nature itself, through the practice of biomimicry, which is the art of drawing inspiration from nature and applying it to design solutions for people. Sometimes this calls for taking design cues found in plants, animals, even insects. Other times it’s drawing directly from the human body

The Product Is the Hero

When Jeff translated that to the brand and business world, it meant if you want to be an innovator, you need to defy the conventional tactics, and take the lead from the start and let the competition react.

Throughout this book, we’re going to be talking a lot about the process by which we do this: How do we tell the most effective story to connect with our consumers? Where do we start? What are we looking for? But before we get to those stories, we first need to lay the foundation.

3. MAKE THE MOVIE POSTER What’s the movie poster of your idea? How can you tell your story within an image in an instant? Talking about an idea can only go so far. Get visual, sooner, to bring the team into your idea, and the idea to the consumer.

Good brands create memorable moments; great brands create movements. But any movement needs to begin with an aspirational vision: What do we want to achieve? Put another way, since brand movements are tied to products, the better question is: What do we want this product to achieve? Not do, but achieve. What can it facilitate? How can it improve

This is how a product becomes a cultural icon: by becoming the canvas for a much deeper, and personalized experience.

When introducing a new innovation to the world, the goal is always to make the benefit of that innovation both intuitive and meaningful.