Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Adidas Trends North, But Not Just Because Of West

Investors.com put out the above tweet almost a week and a half ago with a corresponding link to an article reporting on the slide of the Swoosh and the climb of the Three Stripes. And while a great percentage of the Sneaker Community probably missed Investors.com’s tweet, they certainly didn’t miss it when it came out via Hypebeast.

The Sneaker Community has looked for empirical data like this in order to prove it’s theory that Kanye West is directly responsible for the shift in numbers.

The data prompted an incredible amount of discussion on social channels with users pounding their collective chests in an “I TOLD YOU SO!” type manner.

The Sneaker Community’s resident “man they love to hate”, Matt Powell, a man notorious for his stance that Sneakerheads aren’t the ones who move the needle took notice to the momentum on social and tweeted the following:

I think a lot of people misunderstood the reasoning behind the tweet as it, too, created a firestorm of responses.

As I read it, Powell was calling to light the fact that a portion of the community was crowning Kanye West with lion’s share of adidas’ rise and Nike’s slide, without recognizing the people in design, marketing, and strategy for completely restructuring their marketing and endorsement strategies, re-imagining their design focus in the lifestyle market, as well as re-positioning themselves in the performance market with technology and design.

I get it. Powell will forever have a target on his back because of his view towards West and how he impacts (or doesn’t impact) the brand and the market.

Not that I ever agree or disagree completely with his reports, it’s hard to disagree because, let’s face it, it’s numbers. It’s data. And he reports the data.

Is West an influencer? Yep. He and the halo effect around him is of great influence. In music, in fashion, in footwear.

Does he influence me? Nope. I am of the generation where I was influenced by Michael Jordan. Everything he ate, drank, drove, wore, played in, I bought. EVERYTHING. He influenced my buying.

I’m not denying his influence, I’m just saying that I am of the age where I am not making purchases based on what another is promoting. I buy what I like.

A few months ago I wrote about how I was held captive by a brand. It was the Jordan influence. I allowed it to control me for 30 years.

So why has my eye shifted to the Three Stripes? Not because of West, but because over the last 2+ years, their product has just been better than anything else out there.

They have given their “Originals” a rebirth with colorways and have allowed those in the entertainment field and boutiques license to create within the arm of the brand. Aesthetically, their silhouettes have been visually better than any other brand in their Running family. Their basketball collection is improving and their lifestyle silhouettes have no equal at the moment.

The-Pharrell-x-adidas-Originals-Superstar

 

ADIDAS ULTRA BOOST 1

adidas Originals Tubular Nova 4

I’m not gonna lie, do I like West’s 350 and 750? Absolutely I do. If they were released as part of their “Boost” or “Tubular” families without the West endorsement, I’d still like them.

While I feel that West has had an impact on the younger generation buying adidas, I’m not going to sit here and completely give him the credit. There is an entire family of people working their asses off who are nameless to the masses who have put in the hours turning the brand around over the last few years.

And while I’ve just sat and wrote about how why adidas has become better, I can’t wait to see what the minds of Dekovic, Dolce and Miner do to weave their web within the brand.

Adidas rebirth has been ongoing for a while, and will continue, but it’s not all due to West.

The post Adidas Trends North, But Not Just Because Of West appeared first on KicksOnFire.com.

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