SOLE COLLECTOR: Sneakers

Words_Jeremy Ripley

“It was a great allusion to the footwear wars,” says Larry Eder, who runs Running Network after the Men’s 100 Meter Sprint at the ’08 Beijing Olympics.  The race assembled the three fastest men in the world, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell, plus Tyson Gay of the United States.  PUMA sponsors Bolt, Powell wears Nike and Gay consorts with adidas–—a race for the cosmos became a tense reflection of sport advertising.

With adidas inking a guarantor deal with the big wigs of the I.O.C., they have been afforded infinite opportunities to release official or authentic ’08 Olympics product with the familiar Three Stripes branding. But many wonder—does this official sponsorship translate into dollars?  Dwight Howard is the only Men’s Basketball participant wearing the brand. His colleagues all sport Nike, Converse, or Jordan, not to mention the extremely slick Swoosh-lasered uniforms the team rolls with.

And then there is Bolt.  With most of his counterparts jetting for the comfort of the Nike Zoom Victory Spike, the sprinter chose to stick with PUMA, wearing the Theseus II. And with the man being dubbed “Fastest Cat on Earth”, (and deservedly so) audiences the world over are certainly taking notice. Bolt’s cocksure braggadocio has translated into distress for both Nike and adidas, who have already endured the marketing blow that was Li Ning wearing Li-Ning floating around the Bird’s Nest on 8-8-08.

While final sales numbers will be unknown for quite some time, it’s hard not to contemplate PUMA’s brand direction. Joerg Sobel, PUMA General Manager, Asia-Pacific Region explains, “You don’t have to have the biggest number of athletes, you have to have the right ones.” And Bolt is so right he’s wrong.

Source: www.sportsbusinessdaily.com