https://twitter.com/germanotes/status/910379697158213635
Matt Powell is the sage of the sneaker industry. The amount of data the NPD Group accumulates is the primary source of information for news reporters around the world when it comes to footwear sales in the U.S.
Over the years Powell has utilized his platform to disseminate information on the rankings and growth of footwear companies. Want to know the top selling shoe at retail? Powell has that list. Want to know who made the greatest gains at retail in the last year? Powell has that list. In the sneakerhead world Powell is notorious for initiating “troll” sessions.
His catch all phrase when approached by fans of adidas and Yeezy is that “Kanye isn’t the reason for the success of adidas because the data doesn’t tell that story.” He doesn’t justify his statement because according to the data selling 10,000 means very little to shareholders. The obvious retort by fans of Yeezy and adidas is that Powell is a “hater” to keep it short.
Today something different happened. I have been saying for a long time that Powell can be proven wrong simply by analyzing articles where high level adidas execs had given credit to Kanye. I even took the time to write some of these articles on the site. I will post more links to the bottom of this page:
Why is Cristiano Ronaldo’s Social Media Presence Worth 1 Billion to Nike?
Like I said, today things changed. A highly respected Wall Street Journal reporter placed Matt Powell in check
Sara Germano responded to what was basically a veiled insult shot towards a Yeezy supporter who questioned Powell. Powell responded with the above statement and … well you can read above. She was dead right.
I took the time to search for Kanye’s appearance in the reports that Matt Powell claims Kanye never shows up in and the result is interesting:
From adidas’ Corporate Strategy:
recognising the influence, success and global brand power that began almost two years ago with YEEZY for adidas Originals, we announced an unprecedented new alliance in 2016 with adidas + Kanye West, a YEEZY branded entity creating footwear, apparel and accessories for both genders across street and sport. The partnership – the most significant collaboration between a non-athlete and an athletic brand so far – aims at redefining the future of sport by uniting the technical, innovative expertise and capabilities of the adidas brand with the visionary imagination of Kanye West.
From Kasper Rorsted on Kanye West:
- On West’s health: “From a business standpoint, we’re extremely happy with the relationship. To his health, I think you need to speak to his manager.”
- On West being “notoriously difficult” in his relationship with Nike: “He has brought a lot of innovation into our products and newness, and i actually think the line in front of the store has proven the value he’s provided our relationship so we haven’t seen it that way.”
From Herbert Hainer prior to Kasper Rorsted:
Adidas’ chief executive Herbert Hainer, speaking on an analyst call today (3 March), said: “The collaboration with Kanye has elevated our brand perception in the US and beyond. It has really set the stage for strong double digit growth for 2016.
To your second question, that refers to the US business: I think there is not only one specific
thing which is helping us to get this momentum in the US. It’s a variety of initiatives, which we
have taken, starting one and a half years ago with changing the management, with putting a
new strategy in place, then investing more in the market. You heard it during the last year when
we were talking about Aaron Rodgers, James Harden, and Kanye West as well as Pharrell
Williams.
Now there aren’t three dozen times that the quarterly reports mention Kanye West. The reality is that Matt Powell is right when he says there were a number of factors that don’t include Kanye. You can browse through three years of reports and only find Kanye mentioned as it relates to the US and only when questions are initiated. West really doesn’t factor into the incredible growth by adidas when you take into consideration the importance of BOOST and brand alliances abroad, but there is no doubt whatsoever that adidas brass finds West a valuable asset which is in complete contradiction to Matt Powell’s insistence that Kanye has not been influential.
This is a back and forth that doesn’t need to exist anymore, but it will because sneakerheads fail to understand that Matt Powell doesn’t work in marketing. He works with data as it relates to trends and predictions. Marketing can’t be quantified, but any reasonable person understands that without marketing a great product remains unknown in most instances.
damn is all i can say, an incredible read bro
There’s something disturbing about the way Matt’s profile looks when analyzing some of the things I’ve seen said in that tweet if true. Sounds like he’s in a dangerous position in his life, which usually happens with age, where one believes they are above and beyond any reproach or correction.
Sad place to be. Especially for an analyst. From a business standpoint, I would be very concerned as a paying client if I discovered that a well known analyst doing work for my brand is letting personal feelings and sentiment spill into the publics eye, especially if said sentiment is being proven to be derived from a fountain of hate vs reading back the pure data and leaving personal feelings aside.
Just not professional IF all is true and I see geese flying.
Damn, did you just go “dotard” on Matt Powell. JK… seriously I think part of his schtick is to agitate fanboys to garner coverage and increase the reach of the NPD Group and increase his following. When you consider a 60+ year old man is the voice of data on a product he doesn’t even wear, it’s working. GQ interviewed him. He was quoted extensively and has been and he is now at 22K followers. It’s a smart strategy to collect data on the fanaticism of footwear fans. This is me playing devil’s advocate. I do agree with you and more important I was speaking with a person who paid for the service which comes in at 10K per year and he said a lot of people are beginning to question the holes in the data that don’t account for the rapid growth of adidas in the last year.
Honestly, data is great; but as I’ve said often in fashion data doesn’t really help to predict trends. Data only serves to keep you on trend. Fashion is much to fickle to utilize data for staying ahead of the curve. It simply keeps you neck and neck.
Wow. Dude is scary. Bravo for both you and Sara on checking him.
What’s up Mel!!!!!! He isn’t really scary. He’s utilizing an old marketing strategy in creating information that creates serious brand awareness for his group. His Twitter feed is explosive and he’s collecting every tweet to index and utilize in research when he presents to companies on how passionate fans of brands can stimulate or create brand loyalty. As far as how he ignored Sara, that was an eye opener for me. I’d seen him do this with guys like Josh Luber where he avoided the dialogue by not responding to “serious” players in footwear, but to see him do it to a respected WSJ reporter was incredible.
Hey CB! Yes, I follow you. I just don’t comment all the time. But I do visit. What makes this dude scary is – “disinformation”. Sure, it’s a strategy if lying to investors is the goal. But solid companies need statistics that aren’t manipulated to implement a solid marketing plan or they will miss their mark and throw good money for bad results. He’s dangerous – glad you two checked him.
Disinformation is correct and you are absolutely right. I think he might be the only party in the town so he is able to get away with being confrontational. Both you and Steve are saying the same thing and I had a DM from a person who uses the service or used the service who said people are starting to notice.
He is not the only party in town. In the investment community there is SportScan (where he worked before NPD) and also companies that provide credit card purchase data.
Matt is horrible. People fan out because he has cash register stats combined with a big mouth but he knows nothing about selling sneakers and he’s a racist.
And its worth repeating, he tracks stats of sneakers sold at U.S. stores only and is missing info from a ton of retailers including the brands’ direct sales. That’s why a lot of investors rely more on credit card scans.
Investment is a completely different ball game and his data is really useless in that realm because as you know Wall Street is about making the right short term decision and the correct long term guess. He is in a unique position because he has created the connection that gives him those clickbait stats and that makes him influential. Does it really help the brands? No. Any brand can look at their own data, but as a peer told me his information helps to fill in holes and alleviates the blame when a poor decision is made. I think a lot of people are really starting to see beyond the data with him.
That’s not accurate. Investors use his data as well as other tracking data provided by NPD. It’s not cheap data either but it does provide value in its ability to track trends over time. However, Matt is still horrible and gets away with his b.s. because most company leaders are white and either don’t know better or if they do, brush off his racist undertones. I would say there are a lot of people in the industry who dislike him for an array of reasons put up with his b.s.
Wow!!!!! Your insight is bananas. Thanks for coming and sharing the information. I haven’t seen the racist undertones, but I’ve never had to deal with him personally so I can’t make that connection. What I can see is that his information is incomplete and if investors are buying this data, they are really doing a bad job. You aren’t the first person to make this statement about people dealing with him. I just can’t understand why if there are secondary options why are the news papers and blogs interviewing him solely? I guess the industry is too lazy to research.
Well let me ask you, why do you think he lied about Kanye being mentioned positively by adidas? As for press reaching out to him, I think he is quoted quite a bit because his data is meaningful, he’s been around forever and he’s very accessible. Many people who work on the inside whether buyers or analysts don’t like to be quoted in the press for an array of different reasons.
Willful omission is definitely lying, but to what end does it benefit him to say Kanye isn’t the reason? I can’t speak for him at all, but I think his play is more about gaining favor with people in the company to remain on the payroll. Technically when he states that Kanye wasn’t “the” reason, he’s right. The problem is failing to acknowledge the marketing effect of Kanye, Pharrell and the athletes, flies in the face of adidas’s past, present and future. adidas has been lucky enough to experience two resurgences in the last 40 years. Both happened on the back of Hip-Hop and the culture associated with it. Run-DMC in the 80s and now Ye and Pharrell. His inability to discuss how marketing shapes growth is a serious problem. His ignorance crosses lines of color in my opinion. His utter dismissal of Sara by ignoring and creating a new thread makes him sexist along with your label of racist. He can’t last long with the attitude especially because he seems to be in love with the attention and attention shines lights on the cracks and exposes people. Longevity doesn’t account for the laziness of the media either. Every media outlet ignored Nike’s DTC for a soundbite. That is the world we live in now.
it’s possible he’s not racist and, as you said, simply doesn’t get the marketing aspect of collabos, which yes, is a serious issue. part of it is that the retailers whose numbers he has access to don’t get much collaborative product if any at all.
as long as he has those numbers and is willing to jaw he will probably stick around (not unlike a certain orange president).
I’m dying over here!!!! I really appreciate you taking the time to make the site more lively. I really value the info as it will shape my discussions in the future. If you have anything you want me to share here let me know. Stay dope!