Dennie

Wendt /
971/263-1157
denniewendt@gmail.com
I learned how to be a brand
writer at a storytelling company.
So when brand storytelling
became fashionable, I was ready.
1997-2005
Writer in Nike
Brand Design
(The relaunch of Nike Soccer,
the proliferation of NikeTowns,
the birth of the “visual center”)
2005-2008
Writer in Converse
Brand Design
(the renaissance of the brand,
including its 100th
anniversary celebration)
2008-2011
VP, North America
Marketing/Content
Director @ Converse
(Execution of 100th anniversary
campaign, .com relaunch, oversaw
seasonal category stories)
2011-2014
Content Director, Nike
(Responsible for graphic T verbiage,
development of design storytelling curriculum,
editor of internal design website)
2014-2018
Freelance writer/
brand consultant
Consulted with Cole Haan on
brand development, freelanced
with Nike and Converse, amongst
others. Published “Hooper’s Revolution,”
a novel of soccer, America and the ’70s.
2018-2019
Writer/Magazine editor/
Boutique proprietor
Still writing, but: Took over as
editor-in-chief/co-owner of a beloved
soccer quarterly and opened a small
soccer shop/gallery in Portland.
Brand stories
Here’s a Story: Nike Free.
What’s the Story about?!
DISCOVERY.
 SO…
we had some explaining to do.
Here’s a Story: Nike World Cup 06.
What’s the Story about?!
PASSION.
 Despite an epic campaign about a secret soccer tournament
on an abandoned tanker, and despite having some of the best
players and teams in the Swoosh, the lasting impression Nike left
after the 2002 World Cup was of templatized uniforms.

In the name of disciplined marketing and design simplicity,

Nike had placed its brand above the mythologies contained
within the world’s greatest footballing nations.

SO…
in 2006, Nike embraced the storytelling soul
of the most beloved game on the planet.
Nike explored the deepest
legends of the game—
and revamped its
own storytelling culture.
 We traveled the world.
We did deep
and honest research.
When Nike introduced SHOX technology,
it was a major breakthrough. Materials and insights from NASA and
the automotive industry combined with years of athlete research.
There was nothing like it in the industry.

And it was wasn’t what runners were looking for.

We developed new
Barefoot running had taken hold at the sport’s highest levels. The top
waysupofearly
Olympic and collegiate teams were waking communicating
in the morning to
what
run barefoot on golf courses just as Nike hadwe learnedonetoofthe
introduced the
most structured, built-up running shoes ofteams.
design all time.

SO…
Along came Nike Free.
And we created relevant
product based on
powerful stories.
 And we developed
clear but soulful sales
tools to land the stories
in the market.
 And the stories land in the market as reflections of a brand as obsessed with the game as its consumers.
DW | Story is Everything | 2014
 Here’s a Story:
The Converse Century.
What’s the Story about?!
IDENTITY.
ons

Anniversary stories are complicated,

com especially for youth culture brands.

But anniversary stories don’t have to be history stories.

They can be IDENTITY STORIES,
and if what we are is what you are, then our identity story is your
identity story and if WE were there at the birth of basketball
and skateboarding and rock & roll and punk and
YOU’REONE
YOU’RE ON OFOFUS, US

then
this is a story anyone who loves Converse
is going to want to hear.

We ran an ad on the O’Reilly Factor

during the 2008 campaign in which the
M in ME slowly rotated to become the
W in WE to Bob Marley’s “One Love.”
 THIS MAN IS
CHASING A CHICKEN.
WOULDN’T YOU LIKE TO KNOW WHY?
We’ll tell you. In 2008. We’ll tell lots of stories.
They’ll be simple, easy to understand, and relevant.
THANK YOU. Stuff a kid could tell another kid about.
From our history, we really can create our future.
THANK YOU. THE CONVERSE
CENTURY PROJECT
The continuing

Story is
tale of a brand that
can’t stand the
status quo.

Everything.
STORY CURATION STORY CURATION

And everything is story.

Let’s not get caught up in telling people
HOW OLD WE ARE.
Let’s remind them
WE BUILT THE
THANK YOU. THANK YOU.
HOW NEW WE ARE.
We’ll do this by telling stories.
Good ones, surprising ones—
stories people have never heard before.
ENTIRE YEAR
ON OUR STORY.
We can do this better than any brand in the world.

STORY CURATION STORY CURATION

THANK YOU. THANK YOU.

STORY CURATION STORY CURATION

 OUR
Storywas
is
product inspiration.
 Story
And OUR STORY wasis
our adad
brief.
brief.

Executive Offsite | Digital Strategy | p1

Brand plans
Cole Haan
 WHY WE WORK

To inspire
WHO WE ARE
EVERYONE
We are to live an
M E GA N FA I R C H I L D ADVOCATES EXTRAORDINARY
LIFE
Principal, New York City Ballet

for the
EXTRAORDINARY
J I M LOV E LL
Apollo 13 Astronaut

C O L E H A A N B R A N D P L A N 2 .0 C O N F I D E N T I A L 9 COLE HAAN BRAND PLAN 2.0 CONFIDENTIAL 10

TAV I G E V I N S O N J A M E S M A R S H A LL
Editor-in-Chief, Actor, Sophomore Motorcyclist, Storyteller, Entrepreneur
WHO WE SERVE: A MINDSET, NOT AN AGE

They are witty and well-dressed,

open-minded but traditional, WHAT WE SHARE

humble yet ambitious—and they Life is a RISK,

NEVER STAND STILL.
not a
REWARD.

COLE HAAN BRAND PLAN 2.0 CONFIDENTIAL 11 COLE HAAN BRAND PLAN 2.0 CONFIDENTIAL 12
 A S H L E Y DAV I S
Manager, Cole Haan Corporate Social
& Environmental Responsibility

H OW W E B E H AV E

We are
THOUGHTFUL
STEWARDS
of the
WHAT WE STAND FOR
BRAND
We are PROPONENTS
of ELEGANT INNOVATION
S COT T PAT T
Head of Innovation, Cole Haan
COLE HAAN BRAND PLAN 2.0 CONFIDENTIAL 20 C O L E H A A N B R A N D P L A N 2 .0 C O N F I D E N T I A L 41

HOW WE COMMUNICATE

We’re encouraging, optimistic,

confident and companionable.
We’re a stylish friend who knows
history, pop culture, a good book
and a decent joke. We don’t shy away
from being smart.
We share stories that are relevant
M AYA A N G E LO U to our customer, with respect for their
Poet Laureate
time and intelligence. We’re in
SHARON JONES
A N D TH E DA P K I N G S
an ongoing conversation that leaves
Soul Sisters & Brothers the extraordinary wanting more.
OUR WORDS, LIKE OUR
PRODUCTS, HAVE SOUL.
We bring
EXTRAORDINARY EXPERIENCES
to life across our channels around the world.

C O L E H A A N B R A N D P L A N 2 .0 C O N F I D E N T I A L 42 COLE HAAN BRAND PLAN 2.0 CONFIDENTIAL 43

 While we were founded in the heartland,
the company gained its character in the woods of Maine. There it was built by dedicated artisans, hard-driving entrepreneurs
and deep believers in a hard day’s work. It sounds like the stuff of American legend because it is.

We eventually made our way to New York, a place where the extraordinary have always come to make their mark.
New England craft, Manhattan hustle. Cole and Haan. Elegance and Innovation.

Extraordinary.
C OL E H AA N B R A N D P L A N 2 .0 C O N F I D E N T I A L 18
Bill Murray x
Cole Haan
(Almost happened, but didn’t)
 we l come

to the

Trafton Club

Story Collection
& Workbook

courtesy of

&
William James Murray
Converse
 Rise x
WeWork
T HE RI S E BY WE M A NIF E S T O
WHAT WE SE T OUT TO DO: WHAT IS RISE?

We created Rise
because you should love
your gym.
It should be an extension of your
home and an amplification of yourself. Rise is WeWork’s vision
of the The Ultimate
Wellness Experience.

WHAT IS THAT, YOU ASK?

The Wellness Experience

is the daily practice of
movement, kindness and
rejuvenation.
WHAT WE ME AN BY THAT:

Movement:
Do some sort of exercise every day
that gets your heart rate up, clears
your head, and gives you the high of
having pushed yourself.
Kindness:
Do something (or a lot of things)
that makes someone else feel good,
something that is good for the
planet, something that puts a smile
on your face.
Rejuvenation:
Allow yourself a good night’s sleep,
a timeout when you need it,
and a luxurious, restorative soak.
 OUR MISSION : OUR VISION :

To create a place where We will drive

people can reach a cultural shift towards
their greatest potential. greater well-being.

That’s a big claim, and it matches our big vision...

OUR COMMUNIT Y:

Rise is for: Anyone

who wants to unlock the
secret to feeling great.

(We know that’s not everyone, but we believe it’s close.)

IN CONCLUSION

That’s it.
We can’t do it for you (we would if we
could!), but we can help you get there.
And one more thing.

If you can get here,

you belong here.
Your potential awaits.
 A
Salvation
Army
campaign.
 make does
the world doing good
a better make you
place. feel better?

You may know us as Christmastime bellringers or as the people in uniforms you
recognize but don’t really recognize, but let us tell you who we really are: We do
good in the world. Every day. If you want to join us, you can. Like, for an hour, a
whole week or more, and right now. You can volunteer full or part time, become a
homework tutor, stock a food pantry, or even ring a bell. Call or visit us online now
to explore volunteering with The Salvation Army.
You know that feeling…you wake up in the morning in one of those moods:
You want to change things, and you want to do it now. But by lunch it fades—
you didn’t know who to call or what to do, and fixing things alone is just too hard.
You could’ve called us. In fact, you can call us right now. And start out on your task
now. Like, really—now. Call or visit us online now to explore volunteering with
The Salvation Army.

1-800-SAL-ARMY or peermag.org 1-800-SAL-ARMY or peermag.org

 go on want to
vacation help people
for good. for a living?

No—not forever…for good. Work at a Salvation Army Summer Camp. Help a

child from a low-income family have the week of their lives in the great outdoors, If you do, we’ve got great news: It’s a growing field. And we’re hiring. That’s
playing sports, making music and art, swimming, scouting, and generally having a right: One of the world’s biggest, most reliable brands—one that has withstood
good time. With you—who is also having a good time. There is no downside here. financial, political and, yes, global upheaval—has jobs (good ones, too) for people
Call or visit us online now. who’d like to make a difference for a living. Call or visit us online now.

1-800-SAL-ARMY or peermag.org/workatcamp 1-800-SAL-ARMY or salvationarmyusa.org

 WANT TO BIG
CHANGE THINKERS
We’re always We’re always
looking for people looking for people
who are passionate who are passionate
about doing good about doing good
in the world. The in the world. The
work we do can’t work we do can’t
happen without happen without
selfless people selfless people

THE WORLD? NEEDED.

willing to help willing to help
wherever there’s wherever there’s
a need. Seriously: a need. Seriously:
if you care about if you care about
making a difference making a difference
and want to be and want to be
empowered to empowered to
serve others, we serve others, we
just might have a just might have a
place for you. place for you.

WE DO. IMMEDIATELY.

Call or visit us online now to explore serving as an officer with The Salvation Army. Call or visit us online now to explore serving as an officer with The Salvation Army.
1-800-SAL-ARMY or peermag.org/aboutthesalvationarmy 1-800-SAL-ARMY or peermag.org/aboutthesalvationarmy
 LOOKING ARE YOU
FOR GOOD AT
If you want to join It’s a talent,
The Salvation just like coding or
Army, you can. painting or nursing
Like, full-time, and or playing football.
right now. There’s And if you’re good
some sacrifice at it, you’re in luck:
involved, but it’s It’s in demand.
a privilege, and We’re a team of

COURAGEOUS OPTIMISM?
more than a job—it people who know
might just change how to use it, live it,
your life. and spread it. And
we’re optimistic
enough to be pretty
sure we need you
on it too.

PEOPLE.

Call or visit us online now to explore serving as an officer with The Salvation Army. Call or visit us online now to explore serving as an officer with The Salvation Army.
1-800-SAL-ARMY or peermag.org/aboutthesalvationarmy 1-800-SAL-ARMY or peermag.org/aboutthesalvationarmy
 A shop, a
book and a
magazine.
We made a shop/gallery near Portland’s stadium full of unusual items
for soccer people to wear, read, discover and admire.
“‘HOOPER’S REVOLUTION
is an eclectic mix of
creative alternative history,
unruly fiction, and a massive
passion for the beautiful game.
Simply put, it feels like
‘The Man in the High Castle,’
‘Once in a Lifetime,’ and a
Hunter Thompson novel
rolled together. It’s really an
awesome experience.”

—INTERNATIONAL
SOCCER NETWORK

LALIGA
IS BACK
Visit www.beINSPORTS.com for listings and schedules
88 B O O K S F O R K I C K S
G I V I N G has nothing to say about music, but it’s
a fascinating ride through a century
T H E B A L L
of speculative efforts at landing the
world’s game on these shores. The book
opens with a quote that could almost
A W A Y have come from any year within America’s
sporting history: “…just when it appears
that the game was booming, petty quar-
rels…” etc., etc. It’s from 1904.
Wangerin, who died in 2012 at just 50
years of age, enumerates a few of those
boom times in this excellent book: An
English team’s American tour that drew
good crowds and media attention in the
early 1900s; the primal years of the
U.S. Open Cup, which occasioned numerous
five-figure attendances (a sell-out crowd
of 5,000 attended a 1914 semifinal in
Pawtucket; during the ’20s, “10,000 was
not uncommon for finals”); the develop-
ment of the American Soccer League in the
’20s and ’30s; a mid-century effort at
promoting college soccer, including the
establishment of a New Year’s Day “soccer
bowl” at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis
in 1950, the first of which drew 4,600
to see Penn State play San Francisco—not
bad considering the cold weather and that
average major-league baseball crowd that
year was around 10,000); and, of course,
the desperate efforts of the 1960s-’70s-
COVER ART COURTESY OF TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS
’80s at creating a pro league. While most
of America’s soccer peaks and valleys are
familiar territory, Wangerin wanders down
some paths that were new to me:
➞ In 1946, the owners of the Dodgers
and the Cubs were on the verge of
offering their stadiums as venues
for a pro soccer league. Incredibly,
according to the St. Louis Globe-
Democrat, “operators of soccer fran-
chises in various cities, instead
of lending all the support possi-
ble, upped the sale price of their
franchises or demanded to be cut in
one the operations in the big ball
parks,” causing the Dodgers’ Branch
Rickey to pull out, and leading pro
soccer’s greatest advocate at the
time, one Tom Cahill, to lament that
“everyone in soccer has known, that
DISTANT CORNERS: AMERICAN until there are adequate stadium
SOCCER’S HISTORY OF facilities, the game will never be a
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES financial success.”
A N D L O S T C A U S E S  soccer at all levels and in the day-to-
B Y  D A V I D W A N G E R I N ➞ In 1950, the collegiate game
“Distant replaced throw-ins with kick-ins.
Corners: When I was a kid, my two greatest passions In the late ’40s, the New England
American were soccer and the Beatles. I once got Intercollegiate League autho-
Soccer’s “caught” on the school bus with a “Wings rized one-handed, baseball-style
History Greatest Hits” cassette, which led to an throw-ins. In 1952, the Midwestern
of Missed argument with a small army of Van Halen Conference did away with offsides
Opportunities fans over the relative quality of each (only to change back in 1953). From
and Lost band. Defending the Beatles got easier; 1925 to 1972, NCAA soccer was played
Causes” the years have proven anyone who disputes in four 22-minute quarters.
by David their primacy an oddball crank, like a
Wangerin. flat-earther or moon-landing disbeliever. ➞ The photos in the middle are a soc-
Temple But with soccer, especially in the ’80s, cer history journey unto themselves:
University it did not get better. It got worse. One shows the New York Americans
Press, 2011. In 1984, our league died, rendering against the St. Louis Shamrocks
American pro soccer just another failed playing 1937’s Cup final at an
sports experiment, like roller derby, packed Starlight Park in the Bronx.
“The Battle of the Network Stars.” Trying Another shows Penn State’s 1934 team
to convince anyone that soccer had any en route to their “landmark tour”
kind of future in the United States was of Scotland. And finally, a smil-
as futile in the mid-’80s as campaigning ing NASL commissioner Phil Woosnam,
against Reagan. standing in front of 1977’s NASL
David Wangerin’s book, Distant pennants, proclaiming, according to
Corners: American Soccer’s History the caption, “There is absolutely
of Missed Opportunities and Lost no way that [soccer] will not bypass
Causes (Temple University Press, 2011), everything else.”  match fitness, personal understanding/
Four times a year, Howler’s pages bleed with original storytelling and artwork that illuminate and examine the game like no other publicationFeature writing, reportage, essays, interviews,
infographics, retrospectives, humor, and commentary combine with striking illustration and photography for a product both timely and enduring that appeals to dedicated and casual fans alike.
Since its introduction in 2012, Howler has developed a passionate following amid the growing culture of the game in the United States and grown to live in print, audio, and digital.
WHO
A MAGAZINE ABOUT SOCCER
CARES?
Who Cares?
We do.
ISSUE 16_WINTER 2018/2019
ISSUE 16_WINTER 2018/2019_$15
What happened to Starlight Park, and
to the Americans and the Shamrocks? What
made Penn State’s Scottish tour “land-
mark”? Why did Phil Woosnam, may he rest
in much-deserved peace, talk like that?
The answer to most of those questions—or
at least to the questions they lead to—is
the familiar roster of reasons for soc-
cer’s century of American frustration:
Mismanagament, internecine squabbles,
other sports in the way, more mismanage-
ment. But the reason Woosnam talked like
that was the same reason I tried to con-
vince other kids that Van Halen’s “Jump”
sucked compared with anything on “Wings
Greatest”: He was a true believer and
true believers are usually at least
slightly batshit. Of course, Woosnam was
a highly-paid executive, a former U.S.
national team coach and Welsh interna-
tional…and I was thirteen, but still—
over-enthusiasm and blind faith comprise
some portion of any decent existence,
even if they can also lead to a lot of
trouble. —By Dennie Wendt
A NATURAL
ROSS RAISIN
Yes, read this book. You like soccer,
you like reading—you’re reading Howler,
after all—so, yeah, read Ross Raisin’s
A Natural. Here’s one reason: It’s the
novel equivalent to watching a game. Not
a hyperbolic, romanticized recounting of
an epic match with iconic moments, like
Liverpool v AC Milan (2005), Portland v
Sporting KC (2013) or Croatia v England
(2018). Rather, A Natural works tire-
lessly between the 18s, with ebbs and
flows toward goal(s), variety in pace and
reward, and—ultimately—toward a finish,
justly, within the run of play.
A Natural starts with Raisin’s 19-year-
old protagonist, Tom Pearman, getting
let go from his Premier League youth club
and signing on with lower-tiered but
recently promoted Town. From there, Tom’s
journey moves fastest in the midfield of
daily activity, in the fleeting moments
of connection and misses as he navigates
How is Spain What is Georgia Is anything
still producing Cloepfil doing in happening in St.
superstars? South Korea? Louis these days?
30 62 74
A group of American soccer fans is together somewhere. Could be a bar, but it CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
89
“A Natural”
by Ross
Raisin.
Random
House, 2017.
realization/frustration/permission,
and a tapestry of soccer- and coming-
of-age-related experiences that shape
his actions, both in swift moments and
as a protracted, holistic sum total. And
mostly, as in soccer, the ultimate payoff
is elusive and more fitting as motivation
for the means than it is cathartic end,
making even the promise of realization
motivation (or, by some perspective, jus-
tification) enough to keep going.
As a gay soccer player—something Tom
is reticent about acknowledging not just
around others but in the private moments
when he’s alone with time to process or
obfuscate (often the latter) for both
himself and the reader—Tom takes a jour-
ney through the heteronormative world of
professional men’s soccer that’s often
not neat or overt, but is ever-present.
And that’s the beauty of the novel: All
the components to tell this story are
there from the start, but the novel is
artfully layered and patient in revealing
in a way that resists reductive summary;
it’s to be read then reflected upon, with
each passing examination of evidence
and experience, without realizing any
conventional plot terminus as one might
expect from a novel with this kind of
dynamic access(es). The effect was like
being a fan. I found myself wanting more
instant gratification, something that,
because the reader feels close to Tom,
I felt entitled to on my terms. I wanted
something that would go longer, that
would let me in more to the enormity of
the moments: in the soccer (both English
day preparation of the players), in Tom’s
thoughts and feelings, and how Tom is
directly processing, compartmentaliz-
ing, and building on his own narrative. I
wanted something immediate.
But Raisin’s coyness is intentional; he
gives only enough—enough soccer, enough
literary narrative woven through omni-
scient but restrained perspective, enough
of the pastoral landscape, to make it a
static but contributing character, enough
plot from the story that the reader can
put the world together completely—without
lingering any one place so that the novel
becomes, like a soccer game, the sum
total of everything that happens, explic-
itly and tangentially.
So, yeah, read this book. Read it as
you would go to a game—with anticipation,
anxiety, impatience, but, ultimately,
with the full investment in the whole 90
and the catharsis that comes at the final
whistle. At that point, you’ll see it’s
all there—all the minutiae that brings
you (and brings you back) to sport, to
reading, to life. —By Billy Merck
Thank you