There are many who claim GOAT, but there is only one ACE. The City of Chicago officially celebrates the extraordinary life achievements of basketball icon Candace Parker with a proclamation marking to
Source: THE CITY OF CHICAGO PROCLAIMS SEPTEMBER 16 “CANDACE PARKER DAY” AHEAD OF HER NEWEST COLLECTION
There isn’t any secret that I’ve longed lamented adidas’ underutilization of Candace Parker. I really go off on the brand in this 2018 post where adidas finally made a collection celebrating Candace, but they didn’t do it as well as I would have liked (who am I though?):
On September 16th, 2021, Chicago celebrated one of their own. The timing coincides with a launch of the Ace3 Collection. All of this makes for an exciting moment as the W enters the playoffs (a totally different discussion, I wish I had a writer to cover). Although this release has a perfect alignment of celebration and sport, this doesn’t mean that the collection will perform well. The video below gets you in the gut though. It’s the type of marketing adidas was doing from 2014 to 2017 before they seemingly thought they had control of the market and just kind of quit producing the amazing content and product and resorted to tried and true. SNS x adidas I-5923:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fl3c4GH8rI
Shivers right? Talk about masterful use of adidas sponsored athletes with ties to Chicago! So here is the paradox, it’s complex and will require discussion. adidas has moved basketball operations to Los Angeles. This means they have to build out staff there, but they hired Jerry Lorenzo a year ago. In this time Fear of God has dropped several collections of footwear and apparel. adidas basketball x Fear of God hasn’t really done anything. This absence should be a source of discussion, but there is considerable upheaval in adidas U.S. There are a lot of changes in staff taking place, but the lack of movement with adidas Basketball and Lorenzo feels strange since there are collections from F.O.G. being released and sold. I wonder if the new team was behind the Ace3 Collection?
This collection is timely and it looks incredible. Candace’s squad is settled in as the sixth seed, but they just came off of a tough loss to the Las Vegas Ace. The playoffs will be tough, but that doesn’t have any bearing on this collection and the celebration by the city of Chicago. My mentioning of Lorenzo and adidas basketball is almost a red herring, but it is a valid question because adidas with this Ace3 Collection did something very smart (but the timing is off). They collaborated with Dick’s Sporting Goods on the launch.
“Candace Parker exemplifies what it means to be the best,” said Carrie Guffey, Senior Vice President, Merchandising, DICK’S Sporting Goods. “We join the entire city of Chicago in congratulating her on all of her achievements. We are proud to be the exclusive retail partner for the Candace Parker Collection and to have product specifically designed for female athletes. We know that it will not only help female athletes perform their best, but also will inspire young athletes to pick up – and stay with – the game.”
I like that this collection is sold at DSG. The company is trending up with a lot of smart moves and as the leader in team sports, introducing a basketball collection with them makes perfect sense. The problem arrives in it’s high school volleyball and cross country season. Girl’s hoops doesn’t really jump off until October and November. The launch is perfect for the WNBA and Candace Parker Day, but it misses a critical time for the actual fans of the product and relies too heavily on the WNBA. The gear will be in stores when basketball practices ramp up officially, which could mean markdowns. BUUUTTTT I really like this collection and moment, which is part of the paradox. I see what is happening at retail for adidas.
This is not a good picture. Not because it isn’t clear or bright, but because it shows adidas as a brand in a slump. This is the back of a major retail store. The front of the store is Nike and Jordan Brand. The second space in the store has been shifted for about three years signaling a shift in sales for a brand. Vans has the second section of the store at four columns. adidas is buried in the back of the store. There is no sight line to adidas product from the front of the store and with only two columns it’s easy to overlook. There are also only two styles available in the NMD and what I think is the Swift Run. A peer in Europe stated on LinkedIn
I see the same here locally. I believe that in the old days these types of trends were harder to spot, or at least harder to reach everywhere at the same time. I guess nowadays with global social media the trends are truly global.
My response was that, a deeper look should be taking place, but the article being shared on LinkedIn discussed adidas’ loss of marketshare to Nike. I hate to put a damper on a celebration of Candace, but this is an interesting topic and worth getting into. A few questions:
- Is the lack of movement from the Jerry Lorenzo led adidas Basketball a reason for concern?
- Is the “back of store” an issue in your area for adidas?
- Do you like the decision to release exclusively with Dick’s Sporting Goods.
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