adidas’ basketball landing page has been updated. I, like many others, expected a Fear of God x adidas showing at All-Star Weekend after the Innersect launch/teaser, but a year and half into the relationship, with offices moved to L.A., the footwear and apparel side of FOG has been over the top secretive. The brand has been working to build community and one of my primary discussions around brand activations is that they should serve community first. Grassroot connections are about building people. They also endear the community to the brand, but schools in LA are not going to drive engagement in Philly. It seems adidas understands this and after a long time of a static basketball homepage, the brand has used James Harden’s resurgence in Philly as a moment to highlight the Beard.
In a rollout of unlisted videos, you can only discover them by engaging on the site, adidas has pulled a Pharoahe Monch and they’ve decided to turn the tables on triskaidekaphobia. The Three Stripes has been very good about capturing niche moments and developing those in the past. It’s hard for me to expect someone inside to connect the dots to an incredible media opportunity, that would create the type of aura around Harden and 13, while also allowing for social commentary. The question is would the group th1rt3en be willing to connect? It’s difficult to conflate the serious nature of the group’s music to Harden’s struggles and decision making in a game, but some things are too good to pass up, even when the audience won’t be very big for it.
Imagine, the current adidas landing page with Harden sitting on the court discussing why he chose 13. Consider the group playing in the shadows. The song Cult45 speaks to the ills of the world, but the darkness of the actual song triskaidekaphobia has a moment that uses a basketball reference in the first verse. The song is horrifying, edgy, and to be honest it is just the type of thing brands should avoid, but prior to Nike recapturing its momentum in 2017 adidas was doing work that was dark, compelling, and unafraid.
The company has since gone all in on Ivy Park, Yeezy and returned to its fashion core. This has delivered results internationally, but in the U.S. adidas is a forgotten brand outside of Yeezy. The company has a hot new sneaker in the NMD S1, a revitalized Harden and with just the right push, they could add some serious texture to the basketball canvas. Although the sport doesn’t sell shoes like it once did, in sport, imagery is everything and the sound of th1rt3en could make for a rebirth in the stark advertising that delivered adidas a Grand Prix in marketing and had Nike reeling prior to their adjustment during their Scale of Sport.
Just a thought…