Whether Adidas Needs To Be Kanye West Becomes " Creative Director "

Adidas plans to sell more than 20 double Yeezy in 2019.

When I saw the news the other day, I could not believe my eyes.

Later, it was found not only accurate, but also confirmed by Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted herself in an interview with CNBC.

But everyone knows that if a shoe is large and casual, it will soon be forgotten. Only those limited to the top will stimulate your spending desire.

If it continues to increase, will adidas only have the gold lettered signboard of Yeezy at the moment? From the worry of Yeezy fans.

In February 23, 2015, the first dual Yeezy:Yeezy Boost 750 "LightBrown" designed by Kanye West and Adidas was finally released in the expectation of the whole world.

At that time, it seemed very strange that the design was naturally compared with Air Yeezy II. Some people asserted that the Kanye West character was smashed in the hands of Adidas, which even accounted for the overwhelming majority.

But it turns out that Kan is the kind of Super Icon that can change your aesthetics. After a succession of Yeezy Boost matches, the trend players gradually begin to accept and imitate the spread of Madness on the Internet, and the market price also rises sharply.

Subsequently, Yeezy Boost 350 "Turtle Dove" and YEEZYSEASON 1 dress series completely changed the trend of the trend of the world. In 2015, who had to go to Yeezy Boost, he must be the most beautiful child in the street.

Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted not only confirms that more than 20 pairs of Yeezy shoes will be on sale this year, but also says that the proportion of other shoe sales will be reduced for Yeezy.

If I go back to 4 years ago and tell myself, "buy Yeezy in the future," I will give you a visiting card from a psychiatrist.

The present situation is that the work before dreaming can start to make people feel a little tired of aesthetics.

In March 27th, Adidas announced its 2018 earnings report. Its annual sales increased by 8% to 21 billion 900 million euros, while its net profit increased by 19.5% to 17 billion euros.

However, making money on paper is not necessarily a glorious sight: in the fourth quarter of the Greater China region, sales increased by 13% over the same period, but we should know that for the 11 consecutive quarters, the growth rate could be more than 20%. Besides, Adidas also issued an early warning to investors, indicating that the group could not achieve the growth target of the 2019 fiscal year.

A large number of figures may be a bit far away from us. But from the most straightforward perspective, apart from the high discount of inventory clearance, the factor that pulls the pcript is the large number of Yeezy sold.

There is no doubt that Mr. Kan and his Yeezy are powerful drivers of Adidas's steady growth in the past 4 years. But when a character becomes the core, his mentality and expectations will change in essence.

Last month, "Interview" magazine published the conversation between ShayneOliver and Kan, although almost all of them were the story of Shayne Oliver and HBA, Helmut Lang, but what attracted more attention was what Kan said.

Mr. Kan wants to be the creative director of Adidas.

They even used strong words like fighting and struggling to express their inner desires.

Accustomed to the joke of Kan, many people may think he is talking crazy again.

But now let me ask you a question: when the project you are responsible for starts to become the company's money making machine, and even has become the golden key to change the future trend of the company, are you willing to "keep your mind" in order to continue to work hard, or strive for a bigger position and stage? The answer should be very simple.

It is true that the success of Yeezy is the result of the mutual success of Mr. Kan and Adidas. If not Nike did not give him a more free design of the right to speak and the separate income share, it would not turn it into a adidas; with the adidas technology of BOOST and the creative design of the Dio angle, there was a phenomenal Yeezy product line.

Mr. Kan uses Yeezy to pull adidas back from the dangerous edge of "squeezing out" by the North American market, and then expand the market by victory, and it is also logical to continue to lead the team to create a breakthrough.

How did 4 create its brilliance? Perhaps the following key stages will make you understand more clearly.

The cornerstone of Empire: Yeezy Boost

In December 3, 2013, Mr. Kan formally signed a cooperation agreement with Adidas, but at that time no one would have thought that the first pair of works would be released only in 2015, more than 1 years later.

The first Yeezy Boost 750 "Light Brown" only shipped 9000 pairs, and the Adidas Confirmed app sale also made it more fresh and topic oriented.

In the 4 months after the 750 sale, Yeezy Boost 350 "Turtle Dove" arrived, and began to accept the trend of Yeezy in the adidas era, and the fans began to rush to panic buying. There was hardly any rival in the two market.

Then came the era of Yeezy Boost 350 V2, which is still popular today. In September 24, 2016, the arrival of "Beluga" color matching was once again subverted. V2 exaggerated outsole contour and bright "SPLY-350" color bar became the new generation of trend belief; "three black", "black red", "zebra" and "all white"...

Until this month's "Clay", "True Form" and "Hyperspace", Yeezy Boost 350 V2 has become the most durable footwear in the Yeezy series so far.

In August 2017, Yeezy Boost 700, March 2018 Yeezy Boost 500, December 2018 Yeezy Boost 700 V2, and 2017 flash Yeezy Powerphase jointly built the 4 year Yeezy milestone.

Unconventional clothing attempts

In the autumn of 2015, Kan and Adidas used YEEZY SEASON 1 to test the water clothing market. From the show's form, the choice of models, and the collocation of Look, they adopted an unconventional approach, and everyone was full of expectation.

However, the 600 dollar pants and 3000 dollar jacket made such a sudden price seem a bit sudden, but it aroused everyone's interest.

Perhaps due to the price and design positioning is not in line with Adidas, YEEZY SEASON series has become an independent clothing brand.

Although YEEZY SEASON separates Adidas, it still brings great influence to adidas. Consumers can see that apart from shoes, more brands dare to break the guts of routine.

In the YEEZY SEASON 6 series, CALABASAS sports pants and a small number of Adidas products returned to the market. After watching Mr. Kan wearing CALABASAS pants and wearing Yeezy Boost, the sale became an inevitable result.

"Yeezy over Jumpman"

The market report released by market research firm NPD in 2017 showed that the market share of Adidas in the United States almost doubled, with a 11.3% share in the year and just 6.3% in the same period in 2016.

In this regard, the market share of sports shoes is even more incredible. Adidas's share in the US market has exceeded Jordan Brand for the first time in its history. It is clear that Yeezy was far from buying and buying at any time, and it is still in the limit sale level. But why Stan Smith and Superstar before Yeezy can help promote the recovery of adidas? The reason is, of course, Yeezy.

At that time, Yeezy was indeed a limited product, but consumers had a completely new understanding of the adidas behind it. Even though people could not buy Yeezy, they thought that the other styles of adidas were also "wet", plus the successful products such as Ultra Boost, so that Jordan Brand could be left behind in the big Nike camp of the United States.

Is it not surprising to think of the phrase "Yeezy over Jumpman" at this time?

BOOST pformation of fashion attributes

Now that we talk about Ultra Boost, you should all remember that in the early January 2015, after the Ultra Boost color matching, the sales performance was mediocre, but after the appearance of "kan Ye", it was then broken up and the price increased.

BOOST as Adidas is still the main technology to be promoted. The original function orientation is movement.

Mr. Kan's UB on the top can be sold in the same way. YeezyBoost is even more difficult because he has made BOOST surpass the basic functional attributes and become a representative element of the fashion trend.

Combining professional technology with cool two elements to create explosive funds, we can say that Kan is the founder.

In those days, Yeezy was probably only Sneakerhead understood. Nowadays, people who do not care about the trend know that the coconut is not fruit.

Topic maker

A very interesting assumption: if Yeezy Boost was originally a Adidas product with other names, would it burst? The answer is obvious HELL NO, because Kanye West itself is a topic maker.

His professional level in the field of music is obvious to all, and the ability to carry goods in fashion is not available. In addition, from time to time, on the social network, we have published some hot words, saying that his every move is the focus.

Adidas gives him the support of the product, but what he needs more is his own influence. Kanye West has broken through the geographical restrictions and become the role that can affect the global pop culture. This is the most desired result for adidas, which is also the product of the whole world.

The editor in chief of VOGUE and Anna Wintour of fashion devil once said: "in every historical stage, there are people who plan out the culture of the times and stir up hot topics. They depict the outline of the world with their own existence, and affect the way we view the world.

One of my pleasure as a VOGUE editor is to record their stories.

In my view, KanyeWest and Kim Kardashian have taken on this important role. "

Yeezy volume = Adidas pcript?

As mentioned above, Mr. Kan and his Yeezy have become the key factors that affect the direction of Adidas.

First, an example of authority: MattPowell, vice president and senior industry consultant of NPD group, said in 2017 that the cooperation between Adidas and Mr. Kan is likely to fail, because Yeezy was still in the super limited period, so Matt thought that her star halo was bound by the limited number of products sold and did not achieve the desired result at all.

However, Adidas announced the increase of Yeezy a few days ago. Matt also believes that the heat of Yeezy is no longer the same. The direct result of people's buying enthusiasm is the decline in sales and prices.

Combined with Adidas 2018 annual earnings report, the fourth quarter can continue to maintain a big rise is due to the large number of Yeezy Boost sale.

Have negative effects?

During the two sides' cooperation, there is another incident that reflects the importance of Mr. Kan for Adidas.

Last May, when Mr. Kan came to TMZ, he made an astonishing statement, calling 400's black slavery more like an option.

At the time, besides the condemnation of people from all walks of life, there were people wondering whether adidas would terminate cooperation under pressure.

The negative impact of public figures on brands is huge. The most direct way to boycott Kan is to boycott Yeezy, which is almost equivalent to boycott adidas.

However, after waiting for a few days, Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted said that although he did not recognize some remarks of Kan, his cooperation still had huge profits.

In this incident, the importance of Mr. Kan has been recognized most directly since the cooperation.

See here, everyone should be very clear.

From the product point of view, regardless of the frequency of increase in production, Yeezy is still the topic of discussion in the short term. In the field of shoes, n double is the next goal. From the market point of view, the sales volume of Yeezy directly affects Adidas's pcript. Simply speaking, it is to sell more and earn more. Even if there are several YeezyBoost below the original price in the two tier market, it will not affect Adidas's profit and growth.

But the future of sports giants can never be seen only in front of us. How can we break through from a new perspective? Obviously, there is no substitute for Kanye West at present.

Do you remember the previous question? If you and I are influenced by the position of the company in the real world, just like Mr. Kan can't be replaced by adidas, then it is reasonable and reasonable to seek a bigger stage.

Of course, adidas as a sports giant, the complexity of the entire company operation is not ordinary people can imagine, so the position of creative director has more requirements, but Kan wants to be creative director is not a crazy talk, he must have carefully thought and weigh.

The current trend is pressing for Mr. Kan and adidas to prepare for the next stage of the trial. Is it to make Mr. Kan become creative director or to create a new phenomenal product in the post Yeezy era?