ANTA’S DIVERSE LA DESIGN TEAM 3yrs ago ANTA (China’s #1 Footwear Brand) allowed me to compile the most diverse footwear design team in the industry. … 10 comments on LinkedIn
I’m in the process of taking questions to speak with the design team at NinetyNine Products footwear. My goal is to dig into how and why a startup, that doesn’t have the funding a company like Allbirds (with a limited design and product offering) or KOIO (without having any real proof of concept), was and is able to operate with a young diverse group of new talent at the heart of the company. I hope that makes sense…
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I was tagged in a post on LinkedIn by marketing guru Drew Greer that showed the picture at the head of this post. Sean OShea shared the picture with this tag:
3yrs ago ANTA (China’s #1 Footwear Brand) allowed me to compile the most diverse footwear design team in the industry. Best team I have ever worked with. They are more talented, work harder, and are more in touch with sneaker culture than any other team I have worked with. I would argue ANTA has the most diverse footwear design team in the industry.
We also have the best intern in the industry Tommy Oleson.
David Bond, Cheryl Bond, and Robbie Fuller made this happen.
Now the majority of people in the U.S. have no idea of who ANTA is. They don’t realize that the brand had Kevin Garnett as a signature athlete. People don’t even realize that Klay Thompson is currently their premier signature athlete.
The basketball division also touts Rajon Rondo and Gordon Hayward as endorsers. In sneaker culture there is a working knowledge of the brand, but overall ANTA is an unknown.
An unintentional challenge
Typically I would dive into the website development, lack of grassroots investment and story telling around the brand in the U.S. I would also state that the reliance on YouTubers to generate interest leaves the brand in the awkward position of not having a YouTube channel or growing their own content to begin building the brand seriously in the U.S. Without working knowledge of sales, I can’t really do a breakdown of the brand’s business aspects, but I just mentioned these few things I see when I visit the site because this wouldn’t be an ARCH article if I didn’t, lol.
What I will dive into is that the brand has done something unique in the post by Head of Office in Los Angeles, Sean Oshea. I’ve been writing for years about the importance of the designer in this new era of marketing. In the post below I explained that kids today can’t participate in hoops the way my generation did. Like most sports, the neighborhood isn’t as vital anymore. Sports have become professionalized, which limits the wear of performance basketball shoes in daily wear.
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What kids are connected to is the creative aspect of the creation of footwear. This can be seen in the rise of PENSOLE and programs like SOLEcial Studies. It can be seen in the programs at Yellowbrick. Kids today are more interested in the how and why than they are the players. The designer is now a part of the narrative.
The problem is brands don’t highlight their designers. Even ANTA falls short because there isn’t a page on their website with this picture of their design team. As I said their website needs considerable work; but highlighting this design team which is one of the first times I’ve seen a group this diverse, could be the start of a dialogue with the consumer in the U.S. Sean OShea has unintentionally created a challenge for the rest of the industry and it will be interesting to see who is brave enough to follow his lead.
Kudos to Sean and the squad at Anta L.A.
Updated 6-18-2020 11:30 pm
Filling Pieces Stepped up to the challenge:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBjBq-OAfMN/