14.41s, a Briefcase and an adidas F1 Inspired Suit: Can Noah Lyles Make Track and Field a Vibe?

Men’s Running Clothes & Shoes: Extra 30% Off Sale | adidas US  This link is how the url is shown when pasted into an article or post.

adidas US Running| Three Times the Motivation for your Run is an item of copy I took 5 seconds to write, and I would have used it for that title. I get it, a sale could inspire engagement. People love a deal. Sales become races to the lowest points, but motivation is evergreen.

The search for the perfect combination of athlete + sports moment + product = an emotional connection to drive engagement or sales, is almost akin to blindly reaching into a barrel for one Pink Lady apple when the tub is filled with Granny Smiths. Inevitably brands make huge investments, and smaller ones, into each aspect of this search. Marketing budgets soar, product is created, and entire divisions await the result. The hope is something clicks.

When a brand is constantly working to deliver the perfect combo, the likelihood of landing on a successful opportunity improves exponentially when the athlete is engaged and has a lot to gain or lose. adidas is in a moment where the marketing team isn’t wildly pushing buttons on the controller while playing Mortal Kombat. The brand appears to be in lockstep throughout divisions, but a consistent investment combined with a perfect Down to Back + Press X created the adidas AE1 as Anthony Edwards has elevated to “Next Up” status in the NBA.

What happens when the sport isn’t as prominent, and an investment is being made? Track and Field isn’t an easily digestible sport, but the sneakers the athletes train in are the best-selling product in performance categories. Running shoes sell more than basketball shoes, but the NBA and its college and high school equivalents are more visible. This is why adidas sponsors high school basketball televised on Amazon Prime (Overtime Elite). This is why adidas sponsors NCAA basketball teams like Louisville and Miami. Shifting from sport, it’s why adidas has partnered with designers like Wales Bonner, Edison Chen and Jerry Lorenzo. It’s the root of the Yeezy partnership.

Enter Noah Lyles

Puma sponsored the fastest man in the world for almost ten years. Yet Usain Bolt never had an exclusive Player Exclusive. Bolt was highly visible, but only in Olympic years. Puma never delivered imagery or merchandising to retail partners and the underutilization of Bolt wasn’t really discussed. Track and Field as a running component of the perfect combo is a distant cousin to marathons and distance running. The everyday person can jog and train, but they aspire to the Boston Marathon, not the Diamond League or Olympics. The most recognizable name in track and field remains Bolt but a year ago something changed.

During the Track and Field World Championships an elite sprinter who truly conquered the world made a statement, “World Champion of What?” After becoming the first athlete to win 3 medals at the World Championships since Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, Lyles dropped a statement about the NBA’s branding as a world championship. Talking heads on ESPN and media outlets flashed Noah’s interview across screens. Hyper famous NBA players responded with anger, but ultimately a reality was understood about track and field moments. The World Championships and Olympics, even the Diamond League place track and field athletes against the best in the world. The NBA, NFL, MLB, the most prominent and rich sports in the world are national moments with international flavor.

14.41s

The 150m race isn’t run very often. When the event does take place, it can be a spectacle but at under 15 seconds how does a brand capitalize on a moment? In the recent adidas Atlanta Games Noah Lyles tied the American Record. It was an incredible feat. In a recent post I explained that adidas had failed to capitalize on the 2023 Atlanta Games:

The adidas ATLANTA CITY GAMES 2024 Offers Entertainment and a Solution to an Impending Problem

Noah’s 14.41s record tying performance is buried in the long livestream video. Last year the host Atlanta Track Club didn’t create digital chunks. adidas hasn’t created digital chunks. There are breakout, smaller videos on other channels, but nothing to the level of Peacock/NBC Sports’ model of track and field coverage. What’s the point here? adidas made an investment into Noah Lyles. Noah’s team over the last year took a formerly introverted young athlete with considerable depression and utilized the support of the brand and Noah’s family to create an athlete who has transformed into the soul of the sport.

Noah’s digital chunk, his breakout moment featuring his 14.41s is shared in the first video in this post. It’s a 15-minute highlight reel of fashion, sport and a plotline. He shows a fashion walk with an F1 inspired adidas track suit. The clear reference to speed is created as Noah makes his way to the 150m event.

Allow me to deviate for a moment, the 2023 ATL Games has generated 70,000 streams since last year. This year’s Games have already earned 63,000 streams in 4 days. In the above article I wrote that adidas has created a solution, the year over year comp makes it evident, the brand is on to something if they can nail down the follow-up.

Noah Lyles, with his performance, stage presence and openness has become the face of track and field in a sport where it’s extremely hard to be visible. The biggest events happen in the international arena. Noah’s races last under a minute. It’s difficult to build a brand, create product and connect in a minute, but Lyles is unlike any other track and field athlete. He’s ramped up his business and social media presence after a new contract with the Three Stripes. Unlike NBA, NFL and MLB athletes, Noah can’t disclose his salary.

Interestingly, the interest in major sports can be tied directly to the size of the contracts of the athletes.  Those huge contracts have empowered NBA athletes and in turn those athletes have become a part of the media with podcasts and YouTube shows.

Track athletes can’t disclose their contracts. They are often under non-disclosure agreements. This happens because track has considerable disparities. The pay isn’t consistent and often track and field athletes hold jobs and have to pursue sponsorships to compete. Every four years they might have a marketable moment for the Olympics, but the length of most professional careers is less than 5 years.

Noah, since he landed in the forefront of the convo on what is a world champion, has parlayed his moment into a burgeoning media business. His YouTube is now at 130,000 subscribers. His IG is at 591,000. These numbers pale when looking at the major sports athletes, but for track Noah’s presence and growing business savvy is impressive.

Noah’s digital breakout video is at 150,000 views. In the video Noah shares time with a fan who won a contest on his YouTube. Noah also carries a briefcase. Noah wears adidas Fear of God sneakers with his F1 inspired suit. No one knows what’s in the briefcase. Like Jules and Vincent in Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, Noah took a sports moment, shifted it into an artistic short film and has created a throughline to Paris 24. Can Noah Lyles make track and field a vibe? No.

The unfortunate reality is the perfect combo requires a cohesiveness beyond the combination of athlete + sports moment + product. The ending place of a funnel is the digital platform where a transaction can be completed. Visit the adidas site and type in Noah Lyles. Here is the result, “OOPS – NO RESULTS FOR “NOAH LYLES”.” Type in Anthony Edwards and the result is “Anthony Edwards Shoes | adidas US”

Noah doesn’t have a signature sneaker. His deal isn’t disclosed because it would create tension among other athletes. Track and Field doesn’t have a true team league. Every athlete is a franchise, but every athlete, even Noah, isn’t in sync with a brand. Noah’s IG has an adidas tag, but no link to adidas product. Noah’s YouTube, and this video that’s at 150K, doesn’t have an end of funnel to product for adidas. adidas Grassroots in basketball extends to their Gauntlet series, but there isn’t a Gauntlet for adidas high school track and field.

Track and Field Could Be the Next Driver of Sportswear | Part 1

I documented track and field on YouTube in the article above. In it I gave a list of prominent athletes. Only 4 of them had channels. Today, many of the names on the list aren’t launching media brands, but they are all featured in more content and Noah has even brought them onto his channel in engaging interviews. Kenny Bednarek (Nike) has become very active on the platform. Track and field, however, remains a difficult game with a combo that requires the user to hit Down to Forward to Back + the X button and R1 perfectly timed to land one move which is only 10% effective. Noah is a part of the solution and adidas could tie everything together, but no brand has done so… yet.