Mr. Kan And Adi Will Have A Tacit Understanding Or Usher In "Little Spring".

When Adidas finds itself unable to shake Nike's leading position in the pure sports field, even when young brands like Under Armour can challenge themselves, it starts to re establish a new development path, that is, expand their sports and leisure lines.

At this point, Adidas has found out a problem, that is, how to embody its own characteristics and how to foster strengths and circumvent weaknesses.

Herbert Heiner, a veteran meritorious minister who is stepping down as Adidas CEO, also openly stated before the opening of the Rio Olympic Games that the momentum of Adidas's rapid growth will not slow down.

Adidas and Kanye West launch Yeezy

The success achieved is obvious to all. Analysts believe that since the introduction of Boost running shoes, Adidas has overturned the understanding of sports shoes by consumers, not only in the sports field, but also in the high-end fashion circles.

Behind this, Kanye is a natural achievement.

For Adidas, cooperation with Kanye can enrich its brand DNA, promote the diversification of its own brand development, and there is such a "entertainment" industry leader to endorse for himself, it is indeed a great deal.

But for Kanye himself, he wants more than a couple of shoes with his own label, and he has bigger ambitions.

Take a simple example. When you look at the newly concluded Olympic Games track and field stadium and find out all the shining Nike running shoes, what are the opportunities for other brands? Of course, including Adidas.

We certainly do not need to exaggerate the strength of Nike, but it has the most abundant sports resources. This is an indisputable fact.

This is behind the historical accumulation of reasons, and also closely related to brand positioning.

Someone has asked such a question, who is the most successful signing in Adidas history? How many people have the first answer in their minds is Messi, Real Madrid or the German men's football team? Of course, they can not be counted, but if Adidas executives choose, I'm afraid they will add the names of Kanye West and Pharrell Williams.

Indeed, the reason why Adidas can become a "big black horse" in the first half of the year is attributed to the hot selling of these shoes such as Stan Smith, Superstar and NMD, all of which are the trump card products of Adidas Originals series.

Stan Smith and Superstar are the backbone of Adidas's Retro shoe, and Stan Smith always seems to be at the forefront of the trend. Superstar, after the polish of Pharrell Williams, achieved a major explosion last year, and this market influence can still play a role in this year.

In short, just in the first quarter of this year, the profits of the Adidas Originals series rose by nearly 50%.

Let the clover return to the mainstream, which is more like an unexpected joy for Adidas.

According to the results, the popularity of these shoes is only because they look fashionable.

More fashionable marketing methods.

Sports brands inevitably give people a stereotyped and low-key impression, but in the world of Adidas Originals, they need an alternative flavor.

This breath should follow the fashion trend and be creative. Pharrell Williams can bring it, and Kanye West is also natural.

Now speaking of Kanye West, besides Kim Kardashian and his music, shoes are also an unavoidable topic.

Kanye and Yeezy shoes may not be able to contribute much to Adidas's financial statements. After all, this high-end product will not be as close to public taste as Stan Smith, but no one can deny the importance of Kanye West to Adidas now.

At the end of 2013, Kanye West was pferred from Nike to Adidas.

In cooperation with sports brands, Kanye is more of a designer, and to enlarge it, he wants to build an independent product line with his own label.

However, Nike will not offer him such an opportunity. In fact, Kanye has launched two sports shoes with Nike, but Nike has refused to pay royalties on the grounds of its non athletes. This has contributed to the departure of Kanye.

Money is one reason, and more importantly, Kanye is afraid to live under Nike's aura, which is different from his original intention.

And Adidas gives Kanye a lot of freedom, so that it can display its own design talent.

Yeezy shoes are almost impossible to connect with Adidas on the surface. That's why.

But this freedom is not absolute. After all, Kanye also needs to rely on Adidas's production line and marketing strategy.

Adidas has been working with Adidas for nearly three years. During the period, the two sides have launched many kinds of shoes, and almost every item can become an explosive product.

Among them, Yeezy Boost 350 and Yeezy 750 Boost are the most classic, sports shoes enthusiasts and collectors are rushing to rush to buy, and always maintain high heat in social media.

Because of the limited sale, Yeezy shoes have also been touted in the two shoe market. Data show that Adidas's share of the two hand shoe market has soared several times since the launch of the Yeezy series.

Yeezy in Adidas is very natural with Jordan in Nike, although now the two can not be mentioned in the same breath.

At the end of June, Adidas launched a deeper cooperation with Kanye West.

The two sides co founded the independent sports brand Adidas+Kanye West to consolidate the growth momentum in the North American market.

The brand is not limited to footwear products, but also to clothing, accessories and other categories.

Adidas group will also set up a dedicated staff team and set up a physical retail store for the brand in the US headquarters. The whole operation mode seems to have nothing to do with Nike's Jordan Brand.

This initiative is called Adidas's pioneering history, and for Kanye West himself, he is sure to enjoy it.

Will Yeezy become the next Jordan? It is too early to discuss this issue. Of course, we can not rule out that the seeds have been planted in Kanye's heart.

Now the Yeezy series has certainly not challenged Jordan's capital.

From the first quarter of this year's list of sports shoes sales, Jordan still can be proud of the group, four kinds of shoes can be ranked the top ten, of which Air Jordan 12 The Master sales more than 1 million 500 thousand U.S. dollars, far away from other shoes.

In contrast, the Yeezy series is not so popular in this list, and a Yeezy Boost 350 sales volume is only $400 thousand.

However, we should not underestimate the energy of Kanye West and put aside his influence in fashion circles. He has never defined his identity as a designer, but he is more like a product manager.

He has great ideas in the market operation, such as speeding up the whole brand's product iteration, and making himself behave more like a fast fashion brand.

Like Yeezy Boost 350 V2 listing date pushed and pushed again, it has lifted the appetite of consumers.

Recently, Kanye has officially launched the children's shoes of Yeezy Boost 350. Let's see, he starts to think about making money for her parents.

Adidas is also strengthening the brand position of Adidas Originals series, such as re opening flagship stores in the United States, and will set up specialized studios.

Under the guidance of this theme, the role of Kanye and Pharrell is still important.

This will also play an important role in promoting Kanye's independent brand.

Neil Schwartz, director of market insight and development department at SportsOneSource, once said that cooperation with Kanye West is one of the best decisions made in Adidas history.

Maybe in the next five or ten years, we can expect the Yeezy series to break the wrist with Jordan Brand.