Introduction
The Air Brow is a new sub-brand of Nike that will be released as a signature shoe line of Anthony Davis-made recyclable materials. This sub-brand has a high chance to become popular, recognizable, and profitable for the company since it has unique features that are not used by other brands and companies. For this reason, this paper will present the rationale for launching the Air Brow sub-brand, its identity, values, and tactics for launching to justify the creation of the new product.
The Rationale of the Air Brow
The creation of any sub-brand requires reasons for its launch and justifications for its success since an idea that does not have rational support is doomed to failure. A convenient theory for this justification is the concept of brand equity, which consists of the fact that the brand allows the company to create added value due to its popularity (Farjam and Hongyi, 2017, p. 4). The advantage of creating a sub-brand in contrast to an entirely new product is the recognition of the original brand; therefore, the sub-brand of The Air Brow sneakers by Nike can be justified on the basis of customer-based equity.
The Air Brow will be the signature shoe line of the Los Angeles Lakers NBA superstar, Anthony Davis, and made from recycling materials. Therefore, based on these features, one can assume the building blocks of customer-based equity, which are the reason for its launch (Keller, 1993). The Air Brow will be a unique, prestigious, environmental-friendly sports brand. The rational side of customer recall will reflect on the fact that Nike is known for the quality and comfort of its products. The peculiarity of the production of footwear from recyclable materials will only enhance the company’s reputation as environmentally friendly.
At the same time, the emotional response of buyers lies in two aspects. Firstly, sports shoes from a basketball star allow their owners to feel confident in their abilities, such as playing sports or everyday activities. It seems to some people that sneakers can give them a “superpower” that they don’t have in regular shoes. In addition, the environmental friendliness of shoes enables the buyer to contribute to the protection of the environment. The combination of these features will make the sub-brand sellable and recognizable as it combines the high status of belonging to a basketball superstar Anthony Davis, environmental friendliness, and the quality of the Nike brand.
The Brand Identity of the Air Brow
The new sub-brand must have its identity, which will partially coincide with the concept of the main brand. The Air Brow brand identity will be introduced through a prism developed by Kapferer (2006) to display its core elements (p. 188). New sneakers will have a basic white color, a purple sole, as well as a yellow Nike logo. The logo with the initials of Anthony Davis (AD) and his number in the team (23) will also be yellow.
This design is also universal for male and female, which expand the target audience. The tagline will be “Become the best with the best” written with Sans Serif font. This design choice justifies by the fact that it refers to the basketball career of one of the best players Anthony Davis, whose signature shoe line is launched by the sub-brand. Therefore, buyers will associate sneakers with Davis’s success, as well as feel more confident in shoes from a famous athlete. The sneakers also will be made from recyclable materials, which give each customer feelings of his or her contribution to environmental protection.
These features also apply to the relationship between the brand and the buyer, which will be exclusive and unique. Reflection, or the target audience, will be active young people with ambitions and the desire to benefit society and the environment. At the same time, although the sneakers are designed for basketball, many young people prefer to wear them in everyday life, so the exclusive bright design and the personality of Davis that they represent will only expand the target audience.
Consequently, such a design and image of the new line of sneakers will form the idea of ​​buyers about the brand and person who wears it. The buyer of The Air Brow will present himself or herself as an active, eco-conscious, and successful person who wants to be the best. The personality will be expressed in athleticism, modernity, innovativeness, and environmental friendliness, and the culture is associated with sports, basketball, and an active lifestyle. Consequently, the position statement can be defined as: “For young people, The Air Brow is the best shoes for sport and everyday activities that give comfort and confidence in the moves and care about the environment. The sneakers are designed in cooperation with one of the best basketball players, Anthony Davis, and created from recyclable material to care about people and sustainable development.
The Value Proposition
The value proposition is an essential part of the analysis for launching a sub-brand as it helps to highlight the main features and accents of the product. A user profile will be used to compile the value propositof ion The Air Brow, and features such as customer’s job, pains, and gains will be defined (Osterwalder et al., 2014). Based on these features, the advantages of the new sub-brand will also be highlighted.
The Air Brow are basketball sneakers that have advantages under regular shoes, such as elasticity, sturdiness, and less gliding. Consequently, the main task that the consumers perform when buying these sneakers is to provide themselves with more comfortable shoes that will help improve the quality of their sports activities. However, customers can also satisfy the emotional need, since the association of the sneakers with the name of Anthony Davis adds to their appearance higher status and “coolness” even in casual style. The fact that the sneakers are made of their recyclable materials also satisfies their need for environmental care.
The pain of the customer also emerges from these tasks, since the buying of a new pair of sneakers just for the sake of style and fashion trends means irresponsible consumption. Nevertheless, Air Brow’s gain expresses in their quality because the shoes can be used for years, and after that, they can be easily recycled. Consequently, the advantages of The Air Brow are high quality and stylish design, exclusivity, and status due to association with Anthony Davis, as well as their innovativeness and rationality because of the recyclable materials.
The focus of the entire advertising campaign of The Air Brow will be on the participation of Anthony Davis. Features of the launch of the sub-brand The Air Brow will be built on the target audience, which is young people. Modern youth are more likely to use social networks from which they receive information that affects their purchasing behavior. However, at the same time, many people still watch television, so this channel of influence should also not be missed (Adgate, 2018, para.2). Therefore, a commercial video with Anthony Davis to launch the product will be a convenient solution, since it can be easily distributed on social networks and television
However, the company should make a stir around the new line of shoes to create a buzz before launch. For example, Anthony Davis, as the maim influencer, wears new sneakers for a match, and after the gamcommentsto journalists in which it talks about sneakers as a prototype. Further, the company distributes the news about the imminent release of The Air Brow, tweets from Anthony Davis and repre,sentatives of Nike in the social networks with the hashtag #playwiththebest, and #responsibleconsuption, or #savetheplanet.
The example of a simple photo can be used for the posts in media one can see on the advertisement of Air Jordans that also a signature line of sneakers (Figure 5). The company can also attract influencers from their social media. For example, Professor Live makes various reviews, the reaction on basketball games, or shoots videos with amateur, and his YouTube channel has more than 5 million subscribers, which gives an excellent opportunity to disseminate information (Professor Live, 2017). Thus, in addition to the primary influencer Anthony Davis, the participation of other vloggers will help to create a buzz.
Another possibility of using social networks is the distribution of posts with photos that show not only the convenience, quality, or status of new sneakers but also the concern of the new sub-brand for the environment. For this purpose, it is enough to take a series of photos that figuratively show the advantage of The Air Brow made from recyclable materials, and post them with the hashtags described above. Therefore, the demonstration of this feature will attract additional attention to the sub-brand. All these methods are closely interconnected, since they are aimed at the same target audience and channels, and differ mostly in the form.
Conclusion
Therefore, the Air Brow is the signature shoe line of Anthony Davis that has a chance to become a popular and best-selling sub-brand from Nike. Such values ​​ as quality, comfortable design, style, high status, and eco-friendliness coincide with the desires of the target audience. Recyclable materials, as well as the involvement of one of the best athletes and basketball superstars Anthony Davis, are unique and distinctive features of the line. Consequently, the new sub-brand has its own identity, which is reinforced by the reputation of Nike and therefore is attractive to customers.
References
- Adgate, B. (2018) ‘As adults 18-34 get older, will they watch traditional television?‘ Forbes. Web.
- Farjam, S. and Hongyi, X. (2015)’ Reviewing the concept of brand equity and evaluating consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) models,’ International Journal of Management Science and Business Administration, 1(8), pp. 14-29.
- Kapferer, J.N. (2008) The new strategic brand management. 4th edn. London: Rogan Page.
- Keller, K. L. (1993) ‘Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity,‘ Journal of Marketing, 57(1), pp. 1-22.
- Osterwalder, A., et al. (2014) Value Proposition design: how to create products and services customers want. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
- Professor Live (2017) The professor reacts to Mac McClung.