Did anyone notice a colossal push by Nike to promote the AF1’s 25th Anniversary? Of course you did. It was ‘cool’ as we know it: limited edition versions, parties with cool DJs, art stuff, underground designers, cool blogs with exclusive announcements going ‘ape’ (as they say), art stuff, limited edition stuff, stuff. But was the campaign ‘cool by numbers’? Did the worldwide orgasm-of-cool campaign have any effect on sales though? We’re not too sure. Have you seen the kids in your office been standing around a freshly opened box of AF1s recently in amazement?
We doubt it.
If you think about the parties, the designers, the exclusives, you start to wonder if the the whole thing was dreamt up by Nathan Barley. Lots of execs at Nike and their ad agencies finger clapping themselves about how in touch they are with youth culture.
One of the main problems could have been because they knew how to do it rather than why they should do it. Nike has developed a strong relationship with underground artists, designers and party makers - getting these guys to be involved with the 25th Anniversary campaign was so easy, all they had to do was email them all. Which is what they probably did. And if you’re a designer or an artist or a party maker and Nike comes to you with some cash, you’ll probably say yes.
There was nothing from the heart about the campaign, it was all about ‘cashing in’ from the Nike execs to the limited edition designers.
But of course, we might just be a little blind to what’s going on. So fearing that, we asked a couple of our contributors to submit their thoughts anonymously. They said:
HP: “I haven’t noticed too many kids wearing them. and ive been thinking about the same question myself… i think this new AF1 has shifted way too far away from the original AF1, and im sure nike did that on purpose. the original started out as a bball performance shoe, but as sneakers evolved, better performing sneakers came along, and took the place of what the original AF1 was used for, thus pushing it into a lifestyle market instead of basketball. this new AF1 is not a lifestyle shoe. its a basketball performance shoe. as i do not play basketball, i havent noticed any changes on the court if there have been, but as far as on the street, people are still wearing the original AF1 they have always worn, and i dont think there will be any shifts in the street. if you know anyone who plays basketball you should ask them, because that is the real place a change will take place. and im sure this huge push of the AF1 25 was done in response to nike’s poor sales of bball shoes.”
AH: “According to Mr. Jeff Staple, sales were pretty bad. Personally I thought marketing around the shoes were well executed. I went to the HK event as it was cool. The new 1thology site is awesome. Strategy is good too: Present the sneaker as an object coveted throughout hip-hop history. As important a part of the culture as anything else. Within the Sneakerhead community, the buzz was huge. Every street lifestyle blog has something abt an AF1 event. Maybe it was the shoes themselves (the anniversary series). or that the sneaker trend is dying. or that when you try to make something “cool” it just isn’t cool anymore. I’d like to know what happened too.”
Here’s the Jeff Staple clip. Skip through to about 2m10s:
So what happened and who made the mistake? W+K recently got fired as Nike’s ad agency - was it because of the poor sales of AF1s? Maybe Nike shouldn’t be looking to blame external suppliers for the way they react to their brief but take a look at what’s happening in their hearts too.
What do you guys think?
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Great post. Sneaker trends are strongly tied in with music. The rise of new wave guitar bands and the fashion linked to them means people are more inclined to buy low profile shoes as opposed to the higher profile shoes such as the AF1 that are more closely linked to electronic music and hip hop. Interesting article here http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20061012/market-spotlight-athletic-shoes.htm
April 13th, 2007 at 10:18 am
me thinks this campaign was done already. adidas explosive scene stealer last year was the adicolor campaign. also if you walk into any hipster sneak place you’ll see all kinds of new adidas that cater to the lifestyle sector. they don’t come with any campaign hype either, they are there for self discovery. along with that i’d say adidas has always tied into the street a little more than nike. nike has always been about the pro athlete. adidas started it’s re-growth with the great run d.m.c. nike needs to get out of the lifestyle game and stick to the glam of pro sports. it’s what they know best.
April 13th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
This has to be the most ill-informed post I’ve ever read from a respectable blog. Did you bother researching this? I saw you asked some random people. But perhaps if you checked some of the numerous sites on the net that cater for sneaker collectors, you would realise that AF1’s are one of the most popular shoes around. They have actaully got so popular people have turned against them. And that is because they have reached an amount of popularity unbeffiting to one shoe. Next time do a google search before posting.
Also the point of the campaign seemed a homage to AF1’s rather than trying to push them to a new audience. Having said this, I’m not for the campaign that was run, but questioning it’s relevance seems redundant for people who are informed, as it seemed like only a matter of time till a campaign of this type was launched.
April 14th, 2007 at 5:48 am
The whole point of the AF1 campaign was to celebrate the shoes and raise awareness of the brand. Sales of course are a bonus but Nike were investing in long term advocacy of the AF1 brand. The campaign excited the sneaker community so much, myself included, that every body was talking about going to see the hand made shoes in Nike Town. This is a strong position to be in.
If a brand focuses solely on the sales pitch they will put people off. This campaign was simply about positioning AF1’s as an integral part of basketball and hip hop culture. Lets enjoy the history, the craftmanship and the back story.
Smart move in my mind.
April 27th, 2007 at 9:05 am