The name Delta is appearing across multiple brands. Under Armour’s Delta shoe comes to mind immediately and of course the Nike Delta Force is another reference.
Brandblack is a brand that is best known for it’s connection to Jamal Crawford. Which makes some think they are only built for hoops. The truth is the company has a series of lifestyle shoes that rival the style of adidas and Nike.
The latest drop to release (October 6th) is The Delta. The Delta first appeared around August 4th on Facebook. The shoe, pictured above, is a welcomed addition to the performance casual arena. The problem is… this one picture via Facebook and the description shown below reads available October 6th with a link to the site. This is where the problem lies in marketing. Brands have become so enamored with social media that they forego controlling their own platforms and building concise campaigns to reach the customer. Then again many brands participate more on some platforms than they do on others (Brandblack seems more active on IG but they make the same mistake on each platform. They don’t respond to anyone.)
You can see clearly from the picture that the shoe features a Vibram outsole which gives the shoe a rugged fall feature perfect for walking the trails or wearing the pairs in cold weather. The lacing system extends to the medial for a lockdown fit and the mid cut gives a sneakerboot quality that is on trend. The “oreo” themed black and white pairs, with an olive and/khaki and a triple black option screams winter. I definitely understand letting the picture do the talking, but everyone doesn’t see pictures the way I do. That reinforced stitching gives me the impression that this is a more reinforced mesh or knit upper which means it could be Scotchgard protected and it appears to have a layer inside of the shoe.
Could there be more to it? Definitely, but when I click on the link I’m transported to the Brandblack site and the shoe doesn’t have a splash page/landing page. There isn’t an option for a pre-order. There isn’t any storytelling. There isn’t additional imagery or photos and without these things I see a lost opportunity. The Brandblack site also too streamlined. The site isn’t dynamic at all and for a company creating footwear that has such edgy design I don’t have a reason to click and read more or visit more of the site. I understand that branding is becoming less important in the eyes of many, but the Brandblack logo doesn’t appear anywhere in the header unless the word Brandblack is now the logo. On IG there is this graphic posted a day ago so maybe I’m complaining too soon and they are doing their marketing push a week before. Whatever the plan is Brandblack is a company that could easily push into Under Armour’s territory with the right small moves. Right now they are playing like a bigger company by ignoring the small stuff.
This fall every brand is dropping a “sneakerboot” styled release. I’ve stated thus far that Under Armour’s Delta 2 appears to be the best based on price and design, but this Delta if priced correctly at 130 would easily jump to the front of the line as my favorite design this fall. I’m assuming the shoe will be 160 based on the design elements and Vibram, but it would be great if I knew this info when I clicked the link… but again the marketing here is not quite on point and that’s a shame. Brandblack’s slogan is “We are the exception to the expected”. By failing to respond to questions on social and delivering incomplete links to a site without a splash page or pre-order, they are acting like the big boys. The cool and concise approach is perfect when you already reach everyone. For a smaller brand, it’s not doing what is exceptional. The Delta looks dope though… real dope.
PS: The shoe actually shows up as early as July so this is not a slow roll out.