I’ve written several posts on the problems with influencer marketing. I’ve even said that I wouldn’t write anything about K-Swiss and Gary Vee anymore, but I’m signed up to Gary’s e-mail list. I also happen to run a sneaker website that discusses marketing, so when things come into my inbox I have to write something. The picture above and below dropped into my e-mail today. Which means that at the same time Gary is pushing his latest Clouds & Dirt K-Swiss, he’s sending his audience, the audience that pays attention to this type of thing, a completely different message. Then again, I’m a sneaker guy who runs a site so maybe out of the millions of people on his e-mail list, I may be the only one to notice his kicks.
I literally just landed back in NYC from my trip to Dubai and wanted to send an email out to my list to simply say ‘hey’ and wish the VaynerNation community an incredible Thanksgiving (and also make sure they had their wine selections in order! 😉 i hope you all have an amazing day tomorrow with family and friends <3
In the last post I wrote about K-Swiss and Gary Vee:
It’s an interesting case study and shows the difficult line a brand has to straddle when utilizing an influencer to generate interest. In this video I discuss that K-Swiss’ goal of being the shoe for the next generations of leaders and entrepreneurs would have been better served by the brand actually doing its homework and aligning themselves with 50-100 actual entrepreneurs and creating a connection with communities doing the work as opposed to a larger than life personality.
In other posts I wrote that Gary is kind of a sneaker enthusiast who leans towards Nike when he isn’t “ON”. I recognized this because I’ve been following and buying the guys books for a while. When he was playing basketball it was Nike. When he was doing speeches he rocked Air Force 1s. Obviously when he’s relaxing and coming back into the country from Dubai he rocks one of the most expensive and hard to get Nike Air Max 1s, the Parras. Which leads us to the same discussion on authenticity and how brands can sign people who have real loyalty to the company and not just a love of the dollars that arrive with a sponsorship.
When I ran my company ARCH, I still operated an online sneaker shop. As a sneaker guy I wanted to get a pair of every shoe I sold, but I couldn’t. How would it look for me to wear a pair of Jordans when I had my own shoes? That is a different situation than an endorser. Gary doesn’t own K-Swiss. He is a collaborator.
Does a collaborator have a responsibility to the brand that they are working with to only wear that brand?
It’s an honest question and I’d really like to know. Gary if you’re reading this, dope ass sneakers fam… I’ve never said that about the Clouds & Dirt or the Icon Knit… I would have said it if you rocked the SI-2018. That shoe is actually really nice.
