Adidas, Anthony Edwards, and What the Game's Been Missing

Song of the week: 50 Cent (feat. Joe) - Big Rich Town

Power Ghost is officially back on TV for its last season. What better way to kick off Friday than the theme song? Usually theme songs aren’t that great, but this one is one of the best I’ve heard. That said, let’s get into today’s piece…

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Anthony Edwards has been having a stellar year, to say the least.

The Timberwolves had a deep playoff run, and he’s partnered with a ton of brands, including Popeyes, and Bose.

But this past year, a social-first campaign he’s doing with Adidas has taken the culture by storm. It’s a campaign that, according to Ad Age, has no paid support behind it.

Despite that, each piece of content has performed well, and the most recent content piece, “This is only the beginning,” dominated the chatter on social media last weekend.

It was so good that people shared sentiments underscoring something that marketers are reminded of almost every year during the Super Bowl:

It’s the idea that consumers don’t mind commercials. In fact, they want to like commercials.

But, the thing is…

If you’re going to ask consumers to pay attention to them, they have to be compelling — it’s the least a brand could do.

The AE content works so well because each release is simple yet compelling.

Each vignette reminds consumers of what the game's been missing. Shit, they should remind marketers of what the game’s been missing.

So, let’s talk about it.

The Game’s been Missing… Frequency

So far, Adidas has released about 5 content pieces as part of the Believe That campaign for AE.

When you think about that in the context of brand work today, a lot of brands zero in on one big yearly campaign that’s accompanied by digital, experiential activations, and maybe a few pieces of social content (BTS of the commercial, still shots, etc.)

But in today’s world, is that really the only move worth making?

It can be said definitively, that attention spans are shorter than they used to.

Conversations that would dominate culture for month’s prior to the birth of social media are lucky to last longer than a weekend these days. Brand work comes and goes quickly.

That said, one of the only ways to stay in consumers minds is to increase the amount of times they engage with you; it’s the consistent brands that win.

The Believe That campaign is reminding us of the importance of frequency because the content drops are constant (and timely).

Adidas has been pulsing out the campaign over the course of this year, so just when your attention is diverted they have another piece of content in the clip to reel you back in.

The setup and scripts are simple enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if they were done in the same day.

I also wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Adidas has a stash of high quality content to drip out over an entire NBA season.

No wonder these shoes are selling out.

The Game’s been Missing An Iconic Duo

It’s a bonafide fact that duos make really great commercials (argue with somebody else about it).

Whether it’s Lebron and Bugs Bunny, or Snoop Dogg and Martha stewart, duos add an extra layer of excitement to any work they’re featured in.

As for this campaign, next to Anthony Edwards, you’ll notice his real life homie Nick Maddox is the co-star.

See below, for example:

Basketball and sneaker marketing hasn’t seen an iconic duo like this in a long time.

AE & Nick are a winning combination, and they work really well together in the commercials because their interactions give us a good Dose of newstalgia.

Each content piece has just enough new storytelling components layered with the nostalgic elements of the old commercials that made basketball marketing great.

As a duo, they reminds you of a better time when things were simpler — life was easier, and all you needed was a good friend to shoot around with.

Their friendship reminds us of the 90s when Jordan and Spike Lee got together for their iconic work.

The Game’s been Missing Candor.

Authenticity is an overused buzzword in marketing, but REAL authenticity is appreciated by consumers.

In a world of overly politicized PR statements and politically correct pressers where players are encouraged not to curse, be cocky, or say unsavory things, Anthony Edwards is 100% himself.

In the first piece of social content promoting the AE 1’s, Anthony and Nick are opening up a sack containing the competitors shoes.

Although the name of each shoe is bleeped out, you can tell what brands he’s referring to — and again, none of the responses seem overly scripted.

Because of that, the ad can effectively serve as a soft pitch for why you should support the shoe.

The spots reach a deeper level because now it means that you’re not really supporting the Adidas brand, you’re supporting AE being his most authentic self.

And if you want Ant-Man to be able to do that, you have to make sure his ventures are successful.

In this case, the shoes also happen to be very good. That just takes everything up a notch.

The Game’s been Missing tension.

Dawg. They let AE say “F**K Buddy” in an official piece of brand work.

Regardless of how you feel about Cam’ron or AE that’s a massive deal in 2024 when every word or tonality in an ad can face intense scrutiny.

In this case, it also creates a bit of tension for audience to witness.

Again, consumers know that everything a brand does has to pass through meetings, legal teams, etc.

They truly WANT dope creative, but rarely receive it because of corporate politics. However, this piece of content performed well because it subverted that air of corporate politics. It felt real.

FINALLY. A star responded to a (perceived) critic the way we KNOW stars want to respond to who criticize them. And seemingly, AE did so without fear of repercussions.

That move also paid dividends for the Adidas team because, in less than 72 hours, Cam’ron (who Ant was responding to in the commercial) put out a freestyle responding to Adidas and Anthony Edwards.

Is it a lil negative in the long run? Yea, probably.

But is it great entertainment for consumers? 100000% and that’s what matters (at least, at the moment, as long as it stays on wax).

It also translates into more earned media for the brand which they couldn’t have planned for. Cam & Mase likely saw a boost in viewership too, so everyone won.

If only we were candid more often.

WHAT NOW?

Boardroom reported that the AE 1’s have become the fastest-selling sneaker franchise at Foot Locker. Moreover, if you go on the Adidas website, they’re sold out. You can only grab a pair on resale sites.

My long-term prediction is that if Adidas can continue the level of marketing they’ve been doing, and if AE continues his path to superstardom his signature shoe line could be on a trajectory similar to Nike’s within the next decade.

It seems like Nike is still figuring a few things out, and the number 2 shoe brand might be poised to overtake them if things continue.

Might have to pick me up a pair this week. Do the same if you can.

One.