The rise and fall of the G-Unit and S. Carter footwear from Reebok is an interesting approach to the current discussion on sponsorship and influencer marketing. In the early 2000’s before the Jordan Retro trend even began, Reebok still had some sway in the public eye. They had AI, MJ was a Wizard and Hip-Hop had the first genre of music to garner a signature shoe from a sportswear company. The problem was even at this time Nike was a 13 Billion dollar company and combined both Reebok and adidas were still at 12 Billion (NBC). In the U.S. the share of the market was even smaller. This was before sneaker culture turned into a phenomenon which led to sneakers becoming a part of casual wear. What the S. Carter and G-Unit shoes did for Reebok was keep them solvent. In 2005 the presence of the shoes began to wane and the brand launched the I Am What I Am campaign which was probably the first truly “influencer” driven ad campaign. The videos for the campaign looked more like music videos than sneaker spots. Even Allen Iverson’s commercial featuring Jadakiss of The Lox could have aired on Rap City and it did. The predecessor to that spot was this 50 Cent and Jay-Z video:
While times have changed considerably over the last 15 years, sneaker companies are still attempting to straddle the line of entertainers vs athletes in gaining brand recognition. The problem is brands should understand from the G-Unit and S.Carter era that entertainers are not athletes and that loyalty is simply a matter of dollars. Athletes however are often groomed and raised in a particular brand so the loyalty to that brand is a strategy that has more longevity and respect. It’s rare to find athletes wearing other brands once they’ve committed to a sportswear company. With entertainers it happens so often that to align with an entertainer is a hit or miss strategy. Actually is like a miss, miss, miss, hit strategy or in mathematical terms 25% of the time entertainers might remain loyal enough to drive brand engagement.
Reebok has Missandei, Michonne, and Diana Prince | Be More Human = Be More Powerful
I recently read an article on Reebok that discussed their long history with entertainment and fashion. The article celebrated the Freestyle and the aerobics movement of the 80s that placed Reebok on top of the sportswear world. The article however read like yellow journalism. It was only a celebration. I can imagine the post was written in conjunction with the brand as Reebok is making a push to women with their Be More Human campaign right now. Unfortunately articles that only analyze the good, fall short in being memorable and definitely fall short in actually aligning those who read the information, with the brand.
That article should have placed into perspective how the brand slid and was acquired by adidas. Surface articles leave out the struggle and basically equates to fluff. A more involved discussion on Reebok, such as this one (and I’m not even writing that much) builds legacy and allows for the brand to tell the story of how it is preparing to once again serve women athletes via brand endorsers from multiple walks of life. In the other article the brand introduces another rapper collaboration with Killa Cam and this time instead of utilizing the DMX as the canvas, the rapper will take his creativity to the only shoe that Reebok has in their arsenal that still has a cult following in basketball, The Question. The idea that another Dipset release is needed honestly doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. The DMX (although it was a nice shoe) at 200.00 dollars the shoe ended up in outlets. I was actually able to grab a ton of them at way under wholesale for a 200 dollar shoe:
(…and yes I intentionally made this the screen capture for the video. The brand has done a terrible job of managing their retro catalog. Hey, I’m not being paid and if I was being paid, I’d hope someone would want the truth.)
Reebok is still a subsidiary of adidas. Recently I began to look at the moves the brand is making. I absolutely love some of the recent signings to Reebok (Victoria Beckham, etc). I also like a lot of the work they are doing in video. I don’t like their lifestyle push at all. I feel that it hasn’t been authentic and has fallen short in inspiring any attachment with the intended market.
Reebok’s ‘Always Classic’ Campaign Aims For The Deceptive Power of Celebrity Influence | Marketing
The Vector has so many incredible stories to tell and so many opportunities to transition into lifestyle and basketball that it seems very shortsighted to look towards today’s artists in hope that they can be compelling enough to change things. If Kendrick Lamar couldn’t get people to ride with Reebok, and Rick Ross dissed the brand by wearing everything but Reebok, then there has to be a clear understanding of who and what would work in making Reebok authentic.
Allen Iverson just did a photoshoot with Kith and the apparel line sold out. If Kith, the epitome of streetwear, still recognizes the influence and style of Allen Iverson then Reebok should begin and end lifestyle with AI. Allow AI to curate lifestyle and start with an appearance at The Lox’s Juice Bar (remember the Jadakiss and AI video?) and create a series on the process of relaunching lifestyle and classics with authentic personalities not Lil Yachty and a bunch of people who rock Nike and adidas as soon as the camera turns off. Reebok has a history that if curated and approached in the same manner that the brand is approaching women athletes, the brand could have a resurgence akin to the one their parent brand had from 2016 to 2017 and I happen to think it would sustain. I also think that on a small level they could reenter basketball in a much more efficient and doper manner than Puma just did, especially with AI as the figurehead. Reebok’s history holds the keys to its future. The question is will they make it happen?
