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ASICS and Onitsuka Tiger are comparable to Nike and Jordan Brand. They are the same company, but they aren’t. There is one glaring difference in comparing these two businesses, while Jordan Brand has more of a lifestyle aesthetic in their retro releases, the Brand is rooted in sport. When any campaign is released there are elements that can cross from Nike to Jordan Brand seamlessly. ASICS and Onitsuka Tiger don’t feel the same way and in fact are treated as distinct brands. That isn’t more clear than in the latest lookbook from OT.
The lookbook is influenced by Berlin’s 90s club scene and titled Downtown Rave. The brand made sure to specify Berlin as the influence, but it is clear that the apparel launched just in time for the fall and winter also has in its core Hip-Hop’s adoption of outdoor wear; in particular puffy coats and shiny reflective colors. The brand even goes as far as to drop an ASICS inspired Walkman logo.
The question here is does the distinct line drawn by ASICS make sense? I initially thought the segmentation in their delivery of content was a bonus. In my book I discussed that the company had six different websites. I thought that this might improve search for the brand and allow for the company to rank higher when someone begins to look for the brand. What I’ve found is that four of the sites are updated consistently; a drawback for creating more than one channel to deliver product and content.
Onitsuka Tiger is rooted in sport. This is the brand that Blue Ribbon Sports sold before becoming Nike. The Tiger was a track & field staple. ASICS was formed in 1977 by joining three distinct companies together (ASICS). ASICS took on the mantle of sport by rolling out a catalog of incredible performance footwear. In 1987 the ASICS logo was redesigned, in 2002 Onitsuka Tiger was relaunched and then in 2015 a full launch of Tiger as a lifestyle brand was established.
I’m dying to see this sneaker in better pictures.
The distinction between ASICS and Onitsuka seems to be a logical decision, but it’s clear the multiple content delivery strategy is falling short. More important this lookbook was dropped on July 10th, 2019. Today is October 14th. The video above has been viewed 300+ times. The landing page on the Onitsuka site does not funnel the visitor to a shopping page for this collection. As a matter of fact, beyond the lookbook there isn’t an easily accessible shopping page to be found, on either the ASICS Tiger, Onitsuka Tiger or ASICS site. Even the link on the video goes to the landing page and after three months, I don’t know what the sneakers in the picture above are.
The collection is dope. The delivery is probably better in store, but it is definitely flawed online. If a brand as big as ASICS has a convoluted delivery system for product, how does a small company avoid these issues? Is the segmentation online of ASICS, ASICS Tiger and Onitsuka Tiger a problem? Here are more pics from the collection. You can use the source link to see the complete lookbook: