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Cross-MediaCase StudyIndustryWatch

But the sneaker industry, thanks

to a phenomenon not entirely

of its own making, has migratedaway from the court, track and

field and onto the street, where

authenticity, credibility and, yes,

originality, matter more than slam

dunks and world records. FromKeds canvas low-tops paired with

pom-pom socks and poodle skirts

to the rock ’n’ roll rebellion that

Converse epitomized, and the ’90s

birth of the “sneaker pimp” — col-lectors who keep the tags on and

panic at the sight of a smudge

— sneakers have evolved from a

functional piece of athletic wear to

the epitome of a lifestyle brand.Fearing that its brand would

fade into the collective memory

as the shoe that our mothers wore

when they were children, Keds

launched a campaign in March to

re-establish relevance by, accord-

ing to Darren Paul, a partner at

Night Agency (which did thework), “telling the story of the

brand.” That story begins in 1916,

when the u.s. Rubber Companyintroduced the first pair of Keds.

The Original Sneaker campaign

“draws a line in the sand,” says

Paul, with the brand staking a

claim: “Where everyone is trying

to be original; we are the first.”On the campaign’s microsite,

originalsneaker.com, created by

Night Agency, the original tag line

was “Keds: the first shoes to becalled sneakers.” But thanks to the

investigative journalism skills of 

one New York Times reporter, Keds

conceded that the word “sneaker”

(from “to sneak” — as in one who

sneaks around in rubber-soled shoes)

had in fact been used as slang

for tennis shoes as early as 1887

(thank you, Times, for reaching new

heights of pedantry). Paul says “westand behind our claim” that Keds

is the first company to use the

word sneaker as a part of its brand

— thus it is the first sneaker.

Moving past such geeky ety-mological concerns, Paul says

that “what people are really

interested in is the style and

the design of the shoe,” which

is the true focus of the cam-

paign. The Century Collectionreleases a new limited-edition

Web-exclusive shoe inspired by

a different decade each month,

and features collaborations withdesigners like Steven Alan and

Alice + Olivia to appeal to fashion-

conscious consumers who shop at

Neiman Marcus and probably don’t

think of Keds when they needsome new kicks. For creative types,

The Keds Collective uses a net-

SSneaker marketing has always been about makingoutrageous claims. From pf Flyers’ 1950s promise thatits “posture foundation” technology will make you “runfaster, jump higher,” to the image of an outer-space-bound Michael Jordan that had young boys everywherechanting “Be like Mike,” brands have gone to ridiculouslengths to establish themselves as the shoe that could turnanyone into a professional athlete (or just look like one).

Get Your KicksSneaker-makers chase the coveted “Original”

label, but in the end, do consumers evencare who was first? by Courtney Humiston

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work of independent designers andartists — chosen by the brand —

whose unique designs are featured

in the “design of the day.” Orders

are manufactured on demand and

the designer receives a royaltyfrom each sale. The Style Gallery

— where anyone can upload pic-

tures of themselves wearing Keds

— celebrates “real people” and is

also prominently displayed on theshopping site Chictopia, where the

shoes on those real people can be

purchased. Of course, in the end,

that line in the sand is just a line in

the sand and the word “original” isstill up for grabs.

Other OriginalsAdidas (founded in 1923 by Adi

Dassler and his brother Rudolf,

who broke off in the 1940s to

start Puma) launched its own

“Originals” campaign in Februaryof this year with the site adidas.

com/originals. The site, created

by augmented reality agencyMetaio and Sid Lee, allows users

access to a virtual neighbor-hood — the “Adidas Originals

Neighborhood”— using an aug-

mented reality code printed on

the tongue of each shoe in the

“Originals” collection. “Comeback and play on the street where

originality lives. It’s your turn to

be the first,” it entices. On the

same site, viewers can read sto-

ries, enter contests and watch

videos by brand ambassadors

like dmc, Def Jam, pro skater

Dennis Busenitz, who designed a

skateboarding specific shoe avail-

able for purchase, Missy Elliott,the spokesperson for “Respect

ME,” a campaign targeted at

young women, and beloved-

by-all part-time soccer super-

star and and full-time underwearmodel David Beckham, just in

case they missed anyone.

While Adidas may not be the

“first” sneaker ever made, by asso-

ciating its brand with groups andindividuals widely accepted to

be “authentic,”Adidas seeks to

establish its cred-

ibility from thesoccer field to the

streets of Brooklyn.

Even if you grew

up in a suburb in

Ohio (ok, especial-

ly if you grew up in

a suburb in Ohio),

Adidas gives youaccess to a neigh-

borhood where

skateboarder Tim

O’Connor practic-

es his Melon Grabson a homemade halfpipe (and

invites you to join) and R&B artist

Ryan Leslie spontaneously breaks

out in song. And all you have to

do to be a part of this ’hood is buya pair of Adidas.

Converse has been making

its Chuck Taylors since 1917.

Originally marketed as a bas-ketball shoe, the canvas high-toptook on a life of its own in the

’60s and has since become the

shoe of countercultures — every

moody teenager in America has

sported a pair at some point. Forits 2008 “Connectivity” campaign,

the brand celebrated its 100-year

anniversary with an original track

by Pharrell Williams, Santigold

and Julian Casablancas from The

Strokes. The campaign “connected”

early icons (Hunter S. Thompson,Sid Vicious, James Dean) with cur-

rent idols such as m.i.a., nba star

Dwyane Wade and Karen O from

the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.While the campaign was gen-

erally considered a success, espe-

cially for a brand like Converse

that appeals to an audience averse

to advertising, such a massiveadvertising presence can be risky

(“I’m sure Hunter S. Thompson

and Sid Vicious are puking in

their graves” wrote ProHipHop),

so the next campaign, by thesame agency, Anomaly, was less

obvious, and exclusively online.“Domaination” sought to estab-

lish relevance in the lives of young

consumers — consumers that is,who both buy sneakers and look

to the Web for answers to life’s

many mysteries. Rather than

running traditional ads based on

Google searches, Domainationcreated microsites where, for

example, a young man nervous

about his first kiss would receive

humorous but not condescend-

ing video instructions preparinghim for the big event.

The Converse Web site is divided

into Buy, Make and Play, creating

both a shopping destination (off-

the-shelf or customized) and acultural hub providing everything

you need to define your Converse

lifestyle. Visitors can read inter-

views with photographers, writ-

ers and artists that Converse“likes” (borrowing vocab from

Facebook, and hoping kids postits content there), watch videos

of professional athletes and

bands, and download songs orentire playlists curated by djs

and record labels. For Converse

(now owned by Nike), the “origi-

nality” of its brand relies strongly

on a cultural heritage that haslittle to do with its own market-

ing efforts. But they are certainly

running with it.

Industry Watch

At least thisclaim isprobably true:Adidas is thefirst sneakercompany toturn to theDark Sideand make aDarth Vaderpull over.