picture via NBA Stats
This morning I fully expected to find a black and white video on YouTube from adidas correcting a wrong that I’ve been writing about for a few years. I know the guy has trouble off the court. When Tiger Woods was Drunk Santa Daddy, Nike stood by him. D Rose is a complex character. Anyone who understands how Paulina and the area around Simeon H.S. works, the world of GDs and the fact that D Rose grew from that ‘soil’ knows just how wrong everything could have turned out for Rose.
When he was injured, I explained in detail that his body was worn down. After playing 80 games a year since he was a kid it was only a matter of time before his body broke. When adidas was having problems selling D Rose shoes, I was selling the kicks for above retail, because I told stories in my descriptions. I sold the shoes until I couldn’t find them anywhere anymore. I knew D Rose would come back. I knew he would have to be more of Isaiah Thomas than the explosive force going up and over everyone. I said over and over, if he can learn to land and learn to keep his balance he would be an All Star again. Then last season with the T’Wolves I saw it. I wrote my final words on the matter hoping adidas would see it and begin creating something around him.
I knew that even if he got hurt again, he would create a sports moment that would resonate throughout basketball.
https://twitter.com/SInow/status/1057971093640765440
and he did. I know it’s early in the season. I know this game doesn’t mean anything, but just this week I wrote that adidas doesn’t have any current sports moments.
Anta has Klay’s 14 threes
Under Armour has Steph’s 50 point outburst.
Nike has everything
adidas now has D Rose… but if you take the time to browse through Twitter what’s being shared is the imagery of last night’s dream of a game without a peep from the Three Stripes. All adidas Basketball posted was a retweet with three roses?
dafuq
What does LeBron and by default Nike do? They co-opt the moment with words from Nike’s “Superhero” ad campaign. The same moment that Nike created when Serena was roaring back and the tennis association said she couldn’t wear her catsuit. LeBron’s quote is being shared by Sports Illustrated and everyone and this moment has become as much about LeBron’s words as it is about D Rose’s moment.
When something this powerful is co-opted by another basketball brand, it’s time to reconsider who you have running your campaigns and marketing around basketball.
This morning a copywriter on LinkedIn wrote, “Happy for him. Truly. But having already OK’d ‘The Return’ campaign from 2012/13, how much more storylines around redemption could Adidas squeeze from Rose?”
I responded, “We live in world that requires constant reinforcement. No one remembers that campaign; no one… and it’s not squeezing when it’s true. So right now where Nike would have posted and ran something, adidas has missed this moment. adidas lacks emotional connection in sport and pure sports moments. This was a moment.”
I’d like to add to that, if you’re in marketing and storytelling and you worked for me and we didn’t have something in celebration of this moment except three roses… and a James Harden Vol. 2 shoe in the header of your Twitter feed, although Vol. 3 already released and is available, maannnnnnnn – a retweet from ESPN?
— adidas Basketball (@adidasHoops) November 1, 2018
