Clay — As you say a key benefit of platforms is you can benefit from earned media, both in the sense that people keep using it after the campaign is over, and people can share their activity with their friends (both properties of Nike+ for example). However both brand-owned and 3rd party platform communities such as those on Facebook definitely see a big boost in membership and usage from a well-run campaign. Facebook is probably the most transparent example of this, where you can see fan numbers and participation rates sky rocketing after a paid media campaign. This ultimately translates into more earned media from the fans that stay on.

Peter — half my day job is strategizing/conceptualizing/planning and the other half is building things and making them work, and definitely appreciate the sentiment that a nice-looking model does not a good plan or product necessarily make. However I find it useful for getting my head around concepts and frame potential approaches, to make it easier to turn them into a plan of action, as long as we don’t confuse the two! Your milage may vary though.

Is it the case now that the brand is the platform?

Therefore, all marketing tactics feed into that branded platform.

And Nike+ is a product. And Men vs. Women a campaign for that product.