“I know I’m the most influential / That Time cover was just confirmation” —Kanye West, “Saint Pablo”
“Tell adidas that we need a million in production / I done told y’all, all I needed was the infrastructure” —Kanye West, “Facts”
In 1984, Nike executives made a decision that would change the way sneakers were viewed and valued, propel Nike’s sales and status to dizzying new heights and shake up the entire footwear industry. All that was in the future though, obvious only in hindsight. That summer, all they did was decide to put the entire force of their marketing might behind a single basketball player—a 21-year-old guard from North Carolina by the name of Michael Jordan.
Nearly everything that’s happened in sneakers since then has been a direct result of that single deal and the ensuing (and ongoing) Air Jordan phenomenon. Star athletes became coveted pitchmen, basketball shoes became de rigeur style pieces. Nike rode the Jordan wave—which they eventually spun off into its own billion-dollar business—to become one of the most valuable companies in the world. The paradigm shifted, and everyone followed suit. But the thing is, when trying to top someone, the answer is not to try to become them. You can try and outshoot the Golden State Warriors all you want, but good luck if you don’t have Steph Curry. By following Nike, all the other brands—adidas, Reebok, even Under Armour—ensured that they would be just that: Followers.
Thirty-plus years after the birth of Air Jordan, the sneaker landscape is quite different from the pre-Jordan period. Nike is the global juggernaut. Converse is a division of Nike. Reebok, who in the early 2000s boasted a roster of Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal and Shawn Kemp, no longer even has a basketball division. Under Armour is the frisky up-and-comer, established on athletic gear and expanding rapidly behind two-time MVP Stephen Curry. Then there’s adidas.
This week adidas announced an unprecedented expansion of their relationship with Kanye West, one that will see his adidas + KANYE WEST brand stretch into athletics and eventually have their own standalone stores. Look back at adidas’s messaging over the past year or so, and it’s been obvious that something like this was coming. Both James Harden and Damian Lillard ads have been built around the “Creators Never Follow” tagline. The Kanye deal, one he was asking for, is the ultimate expression of this. “Our industry is so ready for disruption,” Adidas Chief Marketing Officer Eric Liedtke told The Wall Street Journal. “The same signature lines have X player, Y player, Z player, so of course we’re going to have Kanye work with our guys to challenge that as well.”
Make no mistake, this is potentially a paradigm shift on the scale of a Jordan, refocusing the direction and drive of a major brand. More importantly, it’s a huge step for adidas in fully engaging the American market, something they’ve always had difficulties with. West is a polarizing figure, to be sure, but so was Jordan in his younger days. What matters isn’t how people see Kanye as much as how much people see Kanye. Which is, well, a lot.
Entertainers have long been part of the sneaker world, and adidas was an early adopter, signing Run DMC to a then-enormous deal 30 years ago last month. In the 2000s, Reebok revved things back up with their RBK line, inking Jay Z, 50 Cent, and Daddy Yankee to deals. Jay Z’s S. Carter line even expanded into sports, as NBA players including Jamal Crawford and Kenyon Martin wore S. Carters on court. But Reebok never merged the two at the highest level, never had Jay Z do anything for Allen Iverson. Maybe if they had, Reebok would still be active in basketball today. We’ll never know. Nike did two wildly successful—if super-limited—shoes with Kanye West before letting him walk.
What adidas is trying here is commendable whether it works or not, scaling YEEZY out to signature athlete levels. After all, they weren’t going to catch Nike by trying to turn James Harden into LeBron James, let alone Michael Jordan. Athletes get hurt, or don’t win titles, or play laughable defense. And even the most brilliant ad campaigns can only do so much. You need the right athlete, the right product, the right message, all at the same time, and have all of those come together in a 24-7 social media driven environment that is quick to pounce on any mistakes. Even Air Jordan would have had a tough time becoming Air Jordan now.
According to Forbes, Nike has double adidas’s revenue and four times their valuation. They’re still the undisputed king. But competitors have made inroads of late, as their once invincible basketball business has struggled and Under Armour’s has taken off. Meanwhile, adidas has created buzz with YEEZY and sales with Ultra Boost and NMD. Their stock is rising, literally. What better time to try and make an even bigger splash?
Back in September of 2014, Nike re-signed Kevin Durant, keeping the 2012 MVP from making the jump to Under Armour. That deal is expected to cost Nike somewhere around $300 million. In December of 2015, LeBron James re-upped with Nike for life, a deal that could pay James in excess of a billion dollars. These were huge deals, keys for Nike maintaining their dominance. Unless, that is, dominance starts to be measured by a different standard.
When Nike first put all their marketing might behind Michael Jordan, they didn’t know that he’d become a six-time champion and (perhaps) the greatest basketball player of all time. They didn’t know that a former architect named Tinker Hatfield would become a game-changing sneaker designer, or that a young filmmaker and actor named Spike Lee would become a household name. They didn’t know what Air Jordan would become, not exactly. They just did what they thought they needed to do to survive, and succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.
Adidas has a better sense of what Kanye West can do, behind the strength of numerous YEEZY releases, adidas Confirmed app crashes, and shockingly high resale values. They know there is a larger market to be served—demand most definitely exceeds supply—but it’s yet to be seen whether YEEZY will still be YEEZY on a much larger scale. There are certainly those who remain skeptical. But if adidas is ever to surpass Nike—or at least make it a fairer fight—they need to take chances and try something new. They need a Jordan of their own. They think they found him.
