Celebrate your style and showcase your creativity this Air Max Day.
Source: Air Max Day 2020 Releases
Currently all Nike stores are closed. As the country adjusts to life with Corona-19 the brand was the first to understand the power of perception for sportswear brands. Nike closed its doors before anyone else in the biz. In doing so it was a strategy that allowed Nike to show that it’s not only a leader in sales, but in thoughtfulness for its employees and consumers. With a tentative reopening date of March 27th, the brand has in its arsenal an array of sneaker releases that have become a celebration of technology and style. One of those days is 3-26, or Air Max Day. The annual celebration of the technology synonymous with the brand features an annual roll-out of sneakers that capture the attention and the heart of fans of the brand.
Past efforts for Air Max Day featured shoes designed by fans of the brand with a regional flair. This year the brand is delivering a look at the future while maintaining a connection to the past. The Air Max 90 and the new Air Max 2090 will allow Nike to play around with classic colors on new silhouettes.
Unfortunately, Americans haven’t taken heed to the warnings and suggestions for social distancing so in the U.S. Nike stores probably won’t reopen, but Nike has built its Nike Direct program in a manner that allows the company to capitalize on digital in a way that the company can miss shipment to retailers due to the virus, but release product through their digital channels to a waiting audience who is well aware of the models they have in the pipeline.
In contrast Under Armour, who also closed their doors quickly, lacks the product to adjust to the current ‘new’ normal. I had a conversation with an industry veteran who posed the question to me, “Nike has Air Max Day to celebrate, Jordan x Dior and a host of releases that sneakerheads are waiting for, you’re in the industry; what does Under Armour and adidas have that has the culture excited?”
adidas can utilize Kanye and Pharrell to offset the issues created by the virus. New Balance could have generated brand interest via Kawhi and the NBA, but the games are postponed. Under Armour is in the same boat with their only option resting with Steph Curry. Nike has built a narrative rooted in their history and they’ve made sure to connect all product from the past to a lineage. The brand spends 8 billion in marketing to ensure that the hypebeast and the everyday person is aware of their products. In sportswear, Nike is the only company that has created a machine that can operate with a decreased staff based at Swoosh that can pull and process orders. With Memphis as their hub they can expedite shipping in a way that other brands simply can’t match as they aren’t rooted in the distribution center of America.
Corona-19 may prove to be the undoing of sportswear as we know it, or the moment where brands learned to be more creative and concise in the creation of product and storytelling. Right now… Nike appears to be the most ready to bounce back once the market returns to ‘normal’.