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Loading ...I am too deep in online brand promotion. When I read a story in the Wall Street Journal about a professional basketball player dissing his yet unreleased signature shoe on his blog, all I can think is that this sort of antisocial behavior is an amazing stealth marketing strategy. From “I hate this ballerina shoe” to “check out my cool shoe“ in no time! Coincidence? I think not!
Hell, I don’t even assume that the blog is 100% authentic, initially. I know how hard it is to maintain a blog when you’re busy. Could you imaging how hard it is to maintain if you’re busy, rich, young, popular, and a celebrity? Well, let’s read the following excepts from this morning’s Wall Street Journal, Companies Try to Score With Athletes Who Blog, and see if we can read between the lines…
Companies Try to Score With Athletes Who Blog
Last month executives at shoemaker Adidas AG got a shock when they read the latest blog entry from their star endorser, pro basketball player Gilbert Arenas. He had seen the design of his second Adidas signature shoe — which had yet to be revealed to the public — and he wasn’t impressed.
“I’m sitting there looking at the shoe like ‘I hope you guys aren’t serious. Because I’m not going to wear this shoe. … Nobody is going to wear this shoe,” said the blog post from the Washington Wizards guard. He said parts of it reminded him of a “ballerina.”
Okay, Mr. Arenas thinks the shoe isn’t cool — before it comes out. His comments are the first leak. Arenas thinks the shoe looks like a ballerina shoe. That’s terrible! Who would want their signature shoe to be that sissy? Nobody! Good thing Mr. Arenas is unfiltered… or is he?
Adidas executives learned that day what an increasing number of marketers have found — that pitchmen armed with a blog can be tricky. Blog posts are typically candid and breezy, not the kind of safe, stock answers that athletes are often advised to give in postgame interviews, says David Carter, executive director of the USC Sports Business Institute in Los Angeles. Blogs “can either help elevate the status of the companies or it can wreak havoc on the brands they work with,” he says.
Well, it looks legit so far… this rogue sports players can be tricky — they’re wild, they’re unpredictable — they’re tough alpha-males who do what they want, as alpha males tend to do. So, how is this drama going to end?
In the end, Adidas says it benefited from Mr. Arenas’s commentary. The company reworked the design with Mr. Arenas, who blogged “I think people are going to like the colors, but they’re also going to like the shoe.” Starting in November, Adidas is releasing 20 different versions of the shoe, which is dubbed the GilIIZero after one of Mr. Arenas’s nicknames, “Agent Zero.”
Wow, isn’t that a lovely ending? So, while Adidas might be making ballerina shoes for its Nancy-assed Euro customers, Mr. Arenas is demanding that Adidas keep it real and offer the kind of basketball shoes that both kicks-kollectors, basketball players, and kids alike want to own — something personally endorsed by pro basketball player Gilbert Arenas himself and not just as part of a marketing, sponsorship package.
Man, have I become callous. I think this entire fiasco was manufactured so that it would end up in the press as part of a marketing campaign. In my opinion, this is another example of how marketing companies are using social media to help promote talent and product virally and via word-of-mouth a la the Marié Digby Conspiracy.
Excerpts via Companies Try to Score With Athletes Who Blog from the Wall Street Journal
Filed under: Branded Entertainment, Celebrity, Celebrity Bloggers, Corporate Blog, Corporate Blogging, Product Placement, Professional Blogging, Promotional Blog, Sponsored Blog, Sponsored Blogging, Sports Bloggers, Stealth Marketing
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I’m thinking that a good shoe from a big company really doesn’t need stealth marketing to reach the target audience, but it isn’t my area of expertise.
However I would like to mention something that I do have a little experience in that might make give you a new audience. You have no tag for ‘art’ or ‘fine art’ in your list of many things. Surely the art world is a resource for marketing, as well as a topic in many blogs.
Well, of course they do! Sneakers — kicks — are a huge huge huge deal, called “shoeheads ” and when it comes down to selling on cred and cool and so forth, if the sports figure endorses it explicitly, then it might be even cooler… it is all recommendations and referrals and cool… Hell, this shoe actually has a bloody release schedule (wow, so many different-crazy releases):
GilIIZero Release Dates
1 Scores for Schools Foundation Kickoff Event
That’s my foundation that I have in D.C. I give $100 for every point I score at home.
2 Cust0mize vs. Warriors Nov. 23, 2007
B Diddy will like these.
3 Agent Zero vs. Cavs Dec. 5, 2007
When LeBron comes to town, my feet will be ready.
4 Vote for Gilbert vs. Suns Dec. 7, 2007
That’s for Vitamin Water. It’s a whole little campaign we’re doing.
5 NBA LIVE 08 @ Heat Dec. 13, 2007
This is my first away shoe. Coming out right in time for the holidays. I might push the release date up though because the game comes out on October 2.
6 DC Football vs. Heat Dec. 29, 2007
That shoe is coming out on a Saturday, and it’s inspired by the Redskins. That’s for all the Redskins fans because they play the Cowboys on the following day, a Sunday.
7 Coke Zero @ Hawks Jan. 11, 2008
Visit Coke Rewards for details.
8 Halo @ Nuggets Feb. 8, 2008
The game is coming out on September 25, so maybe we’ll move this release date up.
9 Black President @ Suns Feb. 10, 2008
I got 54 against Steve Nash last year, so you know I’m going to come out with a shoe in Phoenix.
10 Looney Tunes - BUGS @ Warriors Feb. 11, 2008
This is coming out only in kids sizes. So all infants and boys under the age of 10, this is for you. This one is for my son.
11 Looney Tunes - TWEETY @ Clippers Feb. 13, 2008
This one is also only in kids sizes and is for my daughter and other little girls.
12 SLAM Magazine @ Knicks Feb. 19, 2008
New York Citaayyy.
13 THREEZERO @ Rockets Feb. 26, 2008
This is a company that’s in Asia that makes toys. So they’re going to have a a 24″ vinyl figure toy of me with the shoe and it’s going to be released in China. So this shoe is going to come out in Houston vs. Yao.
14 Cuba @ Heat Mar. 21, 2008
I know a lot of people don’t know, but I’m mixed with a little bit of Cuban, so this is for all the Cubanos. I’ll also wear it in Chicago, because there are a lot of Cubans in Chicago. I don’t know how, but trust me, there are.
15 Channel Zero @ Blazers Mar. 25, 2008
This is the “Don’t watch me, watch TV” shoe. Greg Oden is out, so Portland might get that taken away from them. They might get it taken away, I’m not sure. Portland fans, that’s a question mark. I’m sorry. It’s a nice-looking shoe too. I might have to switch it. That might become Denver with A.I. and Carmelo. We’ll see.
16 Gilwood @ Lakers Mar. 30, 2008
This is the first time I’m going back to L.A. since that 60-pointer. So those colors are the Lakers colors.
17 UNDRCRWN vs. Heat April 4, 2008
Wow, four releases against the Heat. Damn. Somebody likes the Heat at adidas. Check out UNDRCRWN’s home page.
18 Hibachi ??? ???
This is the Benihana collab. Time for you all to decide. Should I drop this shoe in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Memphis, Orlando or Philadelphia? Tell me what city should get it.