First, I’m writing this post only 24 hours after the collaboration rolled out on the Bricks & Wood website. I did a similar post after the New Balance collaboration with Bricks & Wood: Bricks & Wood Creates a Dope Campaign with New Balance with Jungle To Jungle | A Marketing Discussion – ARCH-USA Why is it important for me to discuss the New Balance Collab? For the same reason that I discussed the K-Swiss and Gary Vee collabs in the past. I have to look at all aspects of this discussion to gain insight into strategies and how these relationships/partnerships are the focus of brands although the outcomes are not major drivers of growth for the larger company involved.
There are a variety of aspects that have to be addressed here. The first is my commentary on a Black-Owned brand is always difficult. When I make a decision to bring up various touchpoints, it could lead to another brand or the brand I’m writing about not garnering other collaborative efforts. For instance, if by the end of this post I write that K-Swiss didn’t need to do this because it didn’t add up financially, K-Swiss may read that as don’t work with B&W or other small Black brands. The reality here is that every collaboration can’t be looked at through the same lens. Every marketing strategy is independent of other tactics. Let’s jump into some topics for you to consider.
K-Swiss pivoted after the company was acquired by XTEP in 2019. Prior to this acquisition the company had gone all in on their relationship with Gary Vee and positioned itself as the brand for entrepreneurs. The K-Swiss x Gary Vee 001 & 002 Sold Out | Is It The Shoes? – ARCH-USA was the company’s first collab with Gary Vee; the sneakers sold out. In the article I wrote this:
It’s still early and the Gary Vee K-Swiss was launched this morning, but pairs are already showing up on eBay. Here are the numbers using K-Swiss Gary Vee as the search criteria:
425 Shoes Listed This total includes random non Gary Vee items so there are probably about 300 pair of the Gary Vee releases on the platform. Which means that there were probably 3000 pair of shoes made. The 425 listings only 24 have sold on eBay. Of those 24 only 12 of the shoes sold are Gary Vee shoes. People aren’t really jumping at grabbing these shoes in the resell market and none of the shoes have watchers. What does this mean for K-Swiss? If you combine the lack of interest in the resell market with the comments on the website under the Gary Vee releases all talking about the influencer and not the shoe what you have is a situation where a brand with a great history targeted quick growth as opposed to a sustained marketing program and I really think that is a mistake.
Eventually K-Swiss’ collaborative effort with Gary Vee turned into a much different partnership. In 2017 they dropped the kicks and were focused on doing podcasts on entrepreneurship. I felt it was inauthentic. By 2018 K-Swiss in their partnership with Gary Vee moved to a Pre-Order strategy: K-Swiss Goes the Pre-Order Route on the Gary Vee 003 Clouds and Dirt – ARCH-USA . A pre-order limits the risk associated with a collaborative effort. How does this play into a discussion on Bricks & Wood x K-Swiss? Since 2019 K-Swiss made a hard turn away from being the company for entrepreneurs. The company’s U.S. office is based in Los Angeles. The brand has begun to conquer their region by aligning with L.A. based brands and influencers. They have focused heavy on relationships with Black-owned companies. I discussed this in the original post I wrote about this Bricks & Wood x K-Swiss launch. When brands are finding it difficult to create a new demographic, the return to the Black audience is always a go to strategy. I questioned if K-Swiss was sincere. My answer arrived in this collab with Bricks & Wood and in another collab with the Black Owned LEADERS1354 sneaker shop in Chicago: “K-Swiss” – Leaders 1354 (ldrs1354.com)
Why is my question about sincerity answered? K-Swiss has very little to gain working with Baron Davis, Venus Williams, YG, Bricks & Wood and Leaders. These are small, niche athletes, entertainers, brands and stores. They won’t move the needle, as evidence by the sneaker sales on both sites and the products still being available unlike the New Balance x Bricks & Wood sneakers which sold out immediately. The New Balance collab is more about New Balance than it was B&W. Sincerity is critical to K-Swiss’ goal to attract true fans vs people only interested in the hyped products. K-Swiss needs people who feel like they are being loved on. At the beginning of this post, I said I could write something that would alter or hinder the next Black brand from working with K-Swiss. That’s not going to happen. K-Swiss x Leaders1354 and K-Swiss x Bricks and Wood is a long-term strategy. In tennis an athlete plays to their opponent’s weakness. While other brands simply hire or make moves to capture the Black dollar, K-Swiss is catering to the communities. It’s a much slower burn. It’s the long game. The aim isn’t to simply use the collab for momentary heat, it’s to show love and support. Ultimately, that is what will win. NOTE: These drops with brands and boutiques is a strategy K-Swiss can utilize as a controlled distribution method which can be extended to a key city concept as opposed to adding more traditional wholesale partners.