Tag Archives: Adidas Signs Wiggins

Andrew Wiggins Signs With Adidas But More Changes Are Needed

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Andrew Wiggins has signed with Adidas. This is a good sign for Adidas because they actually got a number one pick to sign with them. The three stripes also got Dante Exum to sign with them. Both signings are shocking because its Adidas.

The people over at Adidas are probably chest bumping and popping bottles because no one signs with them any more. Adidas has decided that non athletes and ugly colors and patterns are a better place to spend their money than design. It is refreshing to see them go after and get some top NBA Draft talent. The sad reality is that Adidas will do nothing with this opportunity just as they have done nothing with Damian Lillard even after his great Rookie and Soph seasons.

Nike signed Durant and then paired him with Leo Chang to produce a line that for the most part as been a success even I am less than thrilled with a few models including the newest.

Lillard should have followed the same path but the brand pushed him to wear the shoes of D Rose and 10 year old Kobe’s with his name sharpied out. I am sure Lillard will have his own shoe now that he has signed up for another tour with the three stripes but recent basketball releases insure a reveal as successful as the Titanic.

Dwight Howard is a blackhole for money. His shoes are ugly and I can honestly say in the last 4 years I have never seen a pair of his signature shoes on the feet of anyone in the year they were new.

The New RGIII trainer was debuted in colors that would make just about anyone question their eye sight. I will admit that there is a place for special shoes, crazy colors, etc.. but a brand should release a signature shoe that is either in a base color set or in a color set that the player would wear on game day. These traditional release ideas need to be brought back. Nike, Adidas, UA, Puman, & all the rest need to put down the crayons for a second.

The brand as a whole in the basketball market has lost its way. In my mind a complete house cleaning needs to take place sooner than later. I have had dealings with the Adidas Basketball and the only good thing to come out of it was free gear. The brand as a whole still thinks they are relavant but at the same time they are very worried about being seen as copying Nike. Even when a young designer like myself presents something new they automatically start with saying lets not be too much like Nike. The real fact is that the design was nothing like Nike other than being different and new.. Something that Adidas struggles with

Adidas has nothing to lose in the basketball arena because Nike is killing them with 95% of the market. They have waisted decent designs of the D Rose line with color parings that Stevie Wonder would question, patterns that make your grandmothers closet look hip and a price point that is well above what the consumer will pay.

The only press Adidas has gotten in the last 5 years is bad press. The Twitter world laughs at almost every shoe release. The uniform designs have become the butt of every meme on the net. A cookie cutter design mold has killed all of their branded uniforms. Forcing historic teams into these stock looking JV uniforms. The brand has no connection with the product they make and thus no connection with the market they are struggling to keep.

I have talked with designers and marketing managers and the problem doesn’t start with them. Most of the people I talked are excited about the project once it starts but are less than happy with the final product they are forced to send to market. The other thing I will say is that brand needs to admit that they are no longer a valued brand in American Basketball. They are not on the same level as Nike and they need to start acting like it or they will be number 3 or 4 in the market.

The brand needs an shot of of outside thought and design. The current model of hiring singers and actors to push ugly product needs to end. The brand needs to focus on the look of the product before they start marketing it. The brand needs to take a risk. New raw talent needs to be brought in and allowed to right the ship in a new direction. The cost of hiring a few unknown designers and letting them do whatever they want would cost a fraction of signing some shooting star rapper or actress. The crazy thing is that it might produce a shoe that doesn’t need a hype man or $50 million in marketing to sell it.

Adidas needs to go about developing talent before it hits the game if they want to get out of the shadow of Nike. The current brand is a follower not a leader. The only way to lead is to take chances on flashes of talent just like Wiggins and Exum.

This is why I have no hope for a good Exum or Wiggins shoe. I already know it will be a generic Cavs and Jazz colored team shoe that has as much design appeal as a ’89 Buick. Adidas needs to find it’s new voices of design. Hint you won’t hear them if you are on vacation.