ASICS: BRINGING DAD SHOES TO THE METAVERSE

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On Tuesday this week, I made $1607 selling an NFT.

No, I’m not an NFT guy.

It was down to pure luck.

10 months ago I bought a “Crypto Skull” for $75 when NFT’s started hitting the news.

Why not right?

I completely forgot I owned it. I wrote off the $75.

Until Tuesday morning this week when I received a flurry of emails with offers.

It took me exactly 6 hours and 43 minutes to figure out how to sell the damn thing.

Let me tell you, for 6 hours and 43 minutes my heart rate was at an unhealthy pace.

But once the dust settled it really got me thinking about how crazy all this metaverse stuff is and more importantly...Which companies could be utilising it?How could they utilise it?Why would they utilise it?How big of a part will the Metaverse play in the business world?Turns out Asics has already answered those questions.Yep, dad shoes are already in the metaverse.You’re going to be surprised at how successful they were.

Company Overview

Market Cap: $3.8 Billion (Source)

Revenue: $1.4 Billion (Source)

Asics is a Japanese multinational corporation that produces sports equipment designed for a wide range of sports.

They are most well known for their running shoes.

They can often be referred to as “dad shoes”.

Truth be told I am wearing the above shoes on my feet as I type this (no judgements please) and I must say they feel like clouds - no wonder people love them. 

Essentially they are certainly not known for being a “trendy” shoe company. They certainly aren’t known for being on the front line of innovation. This is why I found it so intriguing that Asics was one of the first sportswear brands to leap on the NFT bandwagon.

“Asics making NFT’s surely not.”

They didn’t just make NFT’s…

Their NFT’s killed it.

Breaking Down The Strategy

Firstly, if you don’t know what an NFT is…

Well, I’m not sure many people understand them fully.

Here’s how BooHoo Man explained them:

What’s the Metaverse you ask?

Well, that’s a story for a whole other day. So to dumb it down to its simplest form - it’s a virtual world (like a video game).

In the case of Asics, the NFT’s were essentially digital Asics shoes that can be worn by your avatar in the virtual world known as the Metaverse.

The collection released by Asics had two different types of products.

They had a 1/20 collection:

Which meant there were 20 “pairs” of each shoe available.

Each pair was priced at 0.2 ETH ($675)

Their second collection was a 1/1 collection. Meaning there would be one of each NFT or pair of virtual shoes ever made.

They are essentially the same shoes put in all gold (as you can probably see).

These shoes were sold to the highest bidder with prices ranging from 0.95 ETH ($3195) for the gold ‘Flip Flops’ all the way up to 1.65 ETH ($5540) for the ‘Gel-Lyte III’

Yes, someone paid over $5000 for some virtual Asics shoes.

Now, you might think the world has gone mad - which it honestly has.

But in this case, you have to see that if the world does follow the trend of going more and more digital and we did all become heavily involved in the Metaverse - working from home (in the Metaverse), meetings in the Metaverse, catching up with friends. It could quickly become a second world for us.

If that’s the case having a limited edition pair of 1/1 Asics from the first-of-its-kind footwear release is going to be quite the flex.

What’s in it for Asics and why is it such a great marketing play?

1. Evolution of footwear - The world is evolving - rapidly - and the future is looking more and more digital. Right now fashion and footwear are all about the physical product. But who’s to say in 10 years the fashion market won’t be 50/50 physical and digital. You never know, but Asics has ensured that if it does happen, they won’t be left behind. They dipped their toes in the water and they can quickly pivot if needs be.

2. Public image - I have joked in this article about Asics being “dad shoes” - they aren’t - but the truth is they certainly aren’t a popular shoe with the younger generations. However, bringing out an NFT collection was a super cool way to slap Asics right in front of that younger audience. It’s a huge show that they aren’t just for the older generations, they are down with the kids too. A great play for their public image.

3. Exposure - I’m sure exposure wasn’t the main aim of this collection. However, the drop of this collection got a huge amount of media coverage for the brand - some even naming it the collection of the year. Whether it was their main goal or not, the collection certainly put the company in the news, which certainly isn’t a negative.

4. Valued - Again, I’m sure this wasn’t the main focus of the drop. Being one of the first (if not the first) companies to drop an NFT collection like this, the Asics NFT’s were given a high valuation by purchases. This put’s a high floor price of Asics trainers in the Metaverse essentially meaning that Asics could quickly pivot to being an exclusive shoe company in the digital world. This would of course all depend on future releases and supply and demand etc. However, it does open that avenue to be selling (virtual) trainers for thousands of dollars.

The Louboutin of the Metaverse? You never know.

Asics aren’t the only ones dabbling with digital wearables in the form of NFT’s. Here are some of my other favourite NFT collections released by brands:

Adidas Originals:

Adidas teamed up with some of the biggest projects in the NFT space: gmoney, Bored Ape Yacht Club and PUNKS to bring Adidas Originals to the Metaverse. The project followed a similar concept to Asics with the items being available to wear in the Metaverse once the NFT was purchased.

Coca-Cola:

This one “came out of left field” as the Americans say. This project from Coca-Cola took a different approach with your item coming from a “loot box”. Although, the items had the same use case as Asics and Adidas - being able to be worn in the Metaverse.

Nike - Acquired RTFKT Studios:

Although Nike is yet to make true strides into the NFT space, they recently acquired RTFT Studios which has become infamous for their NFT shoes (seen below). My two cents? You’ll see a whole lot of Airforce’s in the Metaverse by the end of 2022

BooHoo Man:

Working with the infamous Rise at 7, BooHoo Man also dropped an NFT collection ready to be worn in the Metaverse. The collection included a range of items from a T-shirt to a full tracksuit.

The Lesson

The biggest takeaway from this is to embrace evolution and embrace the new.

Take Kodak, the perfect example of a company that didn’t embrace or anticipate the evolution of its industry.

The market they dominated exploded and it was the cause of Kodak’s downfall. It was the perfect recipe for them to be one of the biggest companies in the world. Instead, Kodak didn’t embrace the oncoming of the digital age and slowly diminished and in January 2012 they filed for bankruptcy.

Evolve with the times, or disappear as they change.

The lesson: be Asics; not Kodak.

How To Implement It

You don’t have to suddenly jump headfirst into NFT’s to be like Asics. Instead, be open and prepared to become involved in the new evolutions of the world.

Dip your toe in the water when you see a trend forming. Don’t be against it.

For example, there is a big push for bringing products to the Metaverse. How could your company be of use in the Metaverse? Maybe it’s time to jump on a call with a 3D designer and understand the ins and outs of making it happen.

Maybe you run a marketing agency? Try to upskill yourself and begin to understand how you could provide a similar service to people within the Metaverse. How could you adapt your service for the Metaverse?

You don’t have to dive headfirst into these new technologies and take huge risks.

Just dip your toe, ensure that if the change happens quicker than expected you’ll be prepared to pivot comfortably.

Not just with the Metaverse, but with any new technology or innovation.

Don’t get left behind!

This has been a breakdown of Asics’ NFT marketing strategy. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy into your business!

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I’ll see you next Sunday!