Haven’t done this for a long time. This week it is Wieden+Kennedy New York. Why? Because Michael Jordan is the narrator. And, more important, for the last sentence:
“I will become what I know I am.”
This entry was written by , posted on Februar 21, 2008 at 5:28 pm, filed under Advertising. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
I have to tell you a story. It’s about something most of you won’t be able to follow by heart because you need a spleen to understand it. My spleen is called sneaker. I love them. Their smell when you open the box for the first time and the moment when you do your own lacing. I am not that kind of a sneaker freaker that collects kicks he doesn’t wear. I do. That’s what they were made for. Now for years I loved only one brand. I have dozens of kicks made by this brand. Interestingly I guess all of you would bet on the wrong brand. Because in the category section you only find NIKE. Until today. Because a feeling a had burried years ago returned.
I lost this special feeling for adidas some time ago. Without being exaggerative I would say we had a bad time in our relationship. For years adidas had done the beautiful re-issues of their most brilliant shoes. In new splendid designs. Unfortunately money got in the way and with the increasing demand for this, let’s call it, retro shoes there was a slowly but dangerously growing lack of good design and taste. As every time when you try to satisfy everyone you lose a certain attitude and can’t keep up being sophisticated. I was disappointed and opened myself for a new, hot affair.
Now NIKE had everything I wanted. Culture, a brilliant attitude and great advertising. So I started to get to know them a bit more. Before that time I owned only two pairs of NIKE. The Mach Runner and the Waffle Racer. For years NIKE for me was mainstream without attitude. The absolute opposite to adidas. But now things turned. I found everything I missed with adidas. Great designs, splendid colourways. From oldschool like the Tennis Classic to new era like the Vengeance and the Vector.
As with every new and hot affair our love was rampant. I felt “Just do it” more than I ever felt “The brand with the 3 stripes”. They had attitude. And showed it. So I didn’t just fell for sneakers but tees as well. When adidas tried to get me back with “Impossible is nothing” I laughed out loud. What a lousy copy of my new love. The old lady gets on the top and skirt of the young wild love without noticing her own ridiculousness.
During my time at Wieden+Kennedy I got into NIKE even more. Not only becaue of the 40% off at NIKE Town and the “no adidas in the office” policy. I tried my first Air Max 1 and it got me. From now on I would be a NIKEhead. A disciple of Beaverton, Oregon. Forever. Forever, ever?
Now from this week you will find adidas back in the category list. They made it back. Not because their products got better or their attitude. No, they showed something I have missed. Finally they did something good and right. They returned without the big bang but slowly on their tiptoes. They did not try to copy the attitude of NIKE. No, they reclaim what has always made them special: their heritage. In person of Adi Dassler they show us what took them where they are now. The constant effort to make things better. Working with the right people, doing the right things. Maybe succeed, maybe fail but always keep on trying to do things better. It’s a little Hondaness. But it feels so, so good. Here it is.
This won’t stop me in my NIKEness. But adidas got back and it feels good, it feels familiar. Now they only need to let good products and the right attitude follow this feeling. I hope they do. Just for the sake of the good times we had.
This entry was written by , posted on Februar 13, 2008 at 11:25 am, filed under Brands. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Hopefully.
This entry was written by , posted on Februar 11, 2008 at 4:01 pm, filed under Think. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.