Tuesday 12 April 2016
Tuesday 22 March 2016
Stephen Curry Deal With Under Armour
Stephen Curry is the best shooter in the National Basketball Association, bar none, and winner of the league’s Most Valuable Player award — and he could be worth $1 billion to athletic apparel maker Under Armour Inc.
At least, that’s what Chief Executive Kevin Plank is hoping.
During a call with investors following the company’s first-quarter earnings report in April, Plank said Under Armour’s goal is to build a $1 billion basketball brand centered around Curry.
Curry is the league’s MVP and led the Warriors to the NBA Finals, which opens Thursday night against LeBron James and the Cavaliers.
“I’m as proud, I think, of the quality of people we have,” Plank said, speaking about how Curry carries himself off the court. “But from the Curry One [basketball shoe] to the Curry Two, we’ve been modifying and chasing that a little bit where we had pretty limited expectations of what we really wanted to do with that product to begin with … It’s going to help elevate what was about a $100 million basketball business. And you know our goal is building a billion-dollar basketball brand.”
Under Armour said footwear revenue in the first quarter climbed 41 percent over a year ago to $161 million. It attributed the strong growth to the introduction of the Curry One signature basketball shoe, along with new offerings of the SpeedForm running shoe.
Rival Nike Inc.’s Jordan Brand is the premier basketball shoe, so much so that it’s outgrown the hardwood to become a style. But Poser points out that Jordan Brand, built around long-retired Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan, has been around for three decades. Poser said Under Armour has a huge opportunity in 27-year-old Curry, but the basketball star will have to develop appeal beyond his on-court performance.
“Stephen Curry is a great player,” Poser said. “But it’s about whether he’s able to gain that iconic status where wearing his shoes is cool.”
Under Armour is beating Nike in one area: the stock market. Its shares closed Wednesday up 15 percent so far this year, handily beating Nike’s 6.6 percent rise, according to FactSet data.
“Right now, Under Armour’s focus is all about performance, and for good reason,” Poser said. “But it has to morph into a lifestyle brand, and you can’t force that … It has to be organic.”
Kevin Durant Interview For KD9s
Kevin Durant sits in the hottest spot of an airplane-hangar-sized room—under the lights on a faux basketball court—and looks like the coolest one there. Everyone else is sweating, sucking down as many sample-sized bottles of water they can get their hands on, and Durant is, like, literally chilling, resplendent in the just-introduced home Team USA uniform, complete with matching brand-new Nike KD9s. He’s healthy, his Oklahoma City Thunder are playing well: What’s there to sweat?
It’s the second day of Nike’s 2016 innovation intros, and while the focus is on national team uniforms, we’re here to ask Durant—and designer Leo Chang—about the KD9, which won’t hit the market until late June, and the radical KD8 Elite, which Durant has just started wearing on court.
What’s the 8 Elite been like to play in? It’s definitely a radical-looking shoe.
Yeah, I mean, that’s what we tried to go for, man. I think when you try to tip the scale on being innovative, things might come off a little different and a little unusual. And that’s the feel that we wanted to go with. It’s definitely played well for me, I feel great in it. They’re different, obviously, but they’re cool.
Yeah, I mean, that’s what we tried to go for, man. I think when you try to tip the scale on being innovative, things might come off a little different and a little unusual. And that’s the feel that we wanted to go with. It’s definitely played well for me, I feel great in it. They’re different, obviously, but they’re cool.
Does it feel different for you even suiting up in them? Because normally it would be the tight and then the sock and then the shoe.
Yeah, I have a lot of time that I have to get ready for the games, like right before I walk out on the floor I gotta realize I need a couple more minutes extra to put my shoes on, ‘cause it takes a little while to get into the sock. But nah, it’s great, I think it’s a head-turner when you see ‘em, and everyone’s been asking me about ‘em. So hopefully we see some more guys wearing ‘em.
Yeah, I have a lot of time that I have to get ready for the games, like right before I walk out on the floor I gotta realize I need a couple more minutes extra to put my shoes on, ‘cause it takes a little while to get into the sock. But nah, it’s great, I think it’s a head-turner when you see ‘em, and everyone’s been asking me about ‘em. So hopefully we see some more guys wearing ‘em.
What did Russell Westbrook say when he first saw them?
He was actually shocked, he was trying to analyze the shoe and figure out how it works, but that’s the reaction we’re going for, man. It definitely plays well, that’s the most important thing, that it plays well, but the look is new and different for us.
He was actually shocked, he was trying to analyze the shoe and figure out how it works, but that’s the reaction we’re going for, man. It definitely plays well, that’s the most important thing, that it plays well, but the look is new and different for us.
Does this feel fast for you, going from the 8 to the Elite and now to the 9 already?
Yeah, this is the first time we’ve done this, I think this is the first time Nike has moved this quickly on unveiling a shoe. So I’m grateful that I’m a part of it. I sat down and talked to Kobe one day and I asked him, I said, what made him design—the one that looked like a boxing shoe, the 9, I asked him, “What were you thinking?” And he just said, “It’s all about innovation, finding new innovation.” And I want to be a part of that. So with the Zoom bag and then the Flyknit on a basketball shoe, along with the new bag. I felt like I wanted to step into that space as well, I wanted to be the guy that started off new innovation.
Yeah, this is the first time we’ve done this, I think this is the first time Nike has moved this quickly on unveiling a shoe. So I’m grateful that I’m a part of it. I sat down and talked to Kobe one day and I asked him, I said, what made him design—the one that looked like a boxing shoe, the 9, I asked him, “What were you thinking?” And he just said, “It’s all about innovation, finding new innovation.” And I want to be a part of that. So with the Zoom bag and then the Flyknit on a basketball shoe, along with the new bag. I felt like I wanted to step into that space as well, I wanted to be the guy that started off new innovation.
They were talking about with the Flyknit that you were into that since the Flyknit running shoe. So it’s been a while for you.
I’ve been a huge fan of Flyknit since it was on the running shoe, and I wondered if anybody would ever take it to a basketball shoe and how it would work. When Kobe dropped it I was a little jealous, because I wanted to be the first, but now that I’m a part of it, man, it’s just amazing.
I’ve been a huge fan of Flyknit since it was on the running shoe, and I wondered if anybody would ever take it to a basketball shoe and how it would work. When Kobe dropped it I was a little jealous, because I wanted to be the first, but now that I’m a part of it, man, it’s just amazing.
The Overall Best Basketball Shoes- Nike LeBron 12
Nike LeBron 12 Performance Test Review Introduction
The Nike Lebron 12 Performance Test Reviews are upon us and looks ready to up the performance from the Lebron 11, a shoe that LeBron himself wore only a hand full of times throughout the 2014/2015 NBA season. It seems that Nike has definitely fixed all the issues that plagued Lebron that kept him from wearing the 11s. TheLebron 12 has made court appearances every night so far. Let’s recap the technology behind the new Lebron 12 in the performance review roundup, and let’s find out what performance testers are saying about the new model.
Nike LeBron 12 Performance Technology
Nike really wanted to make the Lebron 12 perform at a very high level. Some of the performance additions include a Mega Fuse upper and hyperposite wings on either side of the ankles for added support. Dynamic Flywire makes an appearance to provide lockdown for quick moving players. Nike also added Five hexagonally-shaped Nike Zoom Air bags in the outsole to enhance natural motion while providing accelerated explosiveness with each step. Overall it seems that the Nike Lebron 12 might be one of the best basketball performance shoes currently available on the market but at a steep USD200. Let’s take a look below and see what other performance reviews are saying about the new Lebron 12.
Kobe Latest Signature Shoes THE KOBE 11
Following Kobe Bryant announcing that he will retire at the end of the 2015/2016 NBA season, Nike has unveiled Bryant’s latest shoe KOBE 11 via its social media platforms.
Originally launching in 2004, the key to Bryant’s signature line with Nike was that the shoe consistently introduced technological breakthroughs to basketball including Flywire, Nike Free-inspired natural motion, advanced proprioception and Flyknit. For each new line, the athlete worked closely with Nike’s Innovation Director, Eric Avar.
The KOBE 11 shoe will represent the end of a sports innovation story but it will do so with a bang in introducing a new Flyknit technology that includes thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) threads for superior strength, a steady sign of progression for the popular Nike Flyknit line.
Kobe Bryant said that the introduction of the shoe is an appropriate way to end his career on the court, introducing something new whilst saying goodbye.
“Throughout my time with Nike, I’ve obsessed over the details of my shoes. For the KOBE 11, we worked to perfect Flyknit for basketball”, he said.
While KOBE 11 will be officially available across the world on 9 January, Kobe Bryant and Nike will launch a competition with 20 pairs of autographed shoes hidden in 20 cities across the world with the hunt starting on 22 December.
What is also different about the KOBE 11 is the way the shoe has been unveiled. Following on trends by a number of huge brands who’ve chosen to launch their products via social media, the unveiling of the shoe was broadcast live via growing social media platform Periscope (live streaming video app owned by Twitter). In the stream from the brand lab in Los Angeles which featured Bryant and host Kevin Frazier, they revealed to fans the story behind KOBE 11.
Tomorrow, the #KOBE11 comes to life on @periscopeco live with @KobeBryant & host @KevinFrazier. pic.twitter.com/dHhOSe4Q6T— Nike Basketball (@nikebasketball) December 14, 2015
In doing this, Nike have made clear their ambition to produce more real-time content around the KOBE product. With the brand being very active on Snapchat, Nike’s basketball account rolled out a Snapchat story featuring a collection of contents: historic Bryant pictures, KOBE 11 introduction, Kevin Frazier (event host) and Bryant reaction.
Once again, this is an ideal example of brands continuing their endeavours to explore social media in a way in which they can further their reach and exposure to their product.
