My summary of the latest news in the sports and outdoor industry.
Happy Friday!
I'm excited to bring you all my third newsletter. This week, there are wide a range of topics from unique brand partnerships to astronomical selling prices for sneakers.
Enjoy the sun today... spring is (somewhat) here!
Jacob
LATEST NEWS IN THE INDUSTRY
A summary of recent events happening in the sports and outdoor industry.
My Takeaways on This Week's News
Brands are breaking the traditional norms of collaboration in order to make lasting impacts in the community & society. Cross-brand collaboration is extremely important to enact change versus cutting out competitors in order to cover a company's bottom line.
We live in a digital world and brands must find new ways to reach consumers. Information overload is altering how we digest marketing communications and content. Brands that are able to create a humanized approach and offer personalized content to consumers that wish to feel unique will succeed.
Jill Abbott, Head of Consumer and Athlete Engagement at Gatorade, recently announced the formation of an advisory board focused on increasing sports participation among young women. The board consists of female leaders in both business and professional sports. You can see the full list of board members here.
"Collaboration is so much more important than competition." This is the shared feeling between two footwear leaders in the industry who set out to create a sustainable future. The partnership was originally announced back in May 2020 but has hit a recent stride as both companies have now released tools to track sustainability.
ESPN and Marvel, two brands within Disney's family of networks, teamed up on Monday night to bring a new viewing experience to professional basketball. This is a powerful way to bring in a new target consumer to the world of sport by leveraging the influence that fictional superheroes hold in people's lives. Similar partnerships have happened with the NFL and MLB as well.
WGSN recently released a few of their 2023 trend reports. Big Ideas 2023: Fashion was my favorite read (linked above). Each of the five core ideas is worth recognizing in our world today but will be influential for brands to survive in 2 years from now. My biggest takeaway from the report is how brands must innovate to address new value mindsets (frugality + scarcity).
Under Armour and Dwayne Johnson continue their apparel and footwear partnership with the latest collection from the Project Rock line. The "Iron Paradise Tour" collection fuses the gym-inspired aesthetic of The Rock with his love for Rock & Roll music. What started as a highly technical workout line is expanding towards streetwear and trend-forward silhouettes.
The auction price of the original Nike Air Yeezy 1 pair that Kanye West performed in at the 2008 Grammys.
To truly understand how astronomical this selling price is at auction, a pair of game-worn Air Jordan 1 shoes that MJ wore during his rookie season sold earlier this year for what was then a record $560,000.
News Subscriptions
For those that have enjoyed reading the articles in my newsletters, I am listing a few of the places where I get my daily news specific to the sport/outdoor industry:
