One night after Nike unveiled the Kyrie1, its first signature shoe for Cleveland Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving, the point guard dropped a season-high 37 points at Madison Square Garden and led Cleveland to a three-point win over the Knicks. It was the kind of Jordan-esque moment—-a merging of performance, location and marketing—-that undoubtedly had Nike marketers giddy.

“That’s what we do at Nike,” said LeBron James who, like the rest of Irving’s teammates, played second fiddle to Kyrie. For at least one night, the King turned the game over to the Kid.

Nike certainly hopes it was a portent of things to come. Sneaker industry watchers believe the company is banking on Irving’s future potential as much as his present-day talent.

“They’re definitely betting on [Irving] taking the next step,” says Yu-Ming Wu, co-founder and publisher of Sneaker News magazine and website. “The consumer is very young. Some consumers grew up with LeBron and [Thunder star] KD [Kevin Durant], but we also have a brand new generation of teens who are growing up learning about basketball and sneakers.”

“I still don’t think he’s a global athlete,” says sneaker marketer and consultant Tyler Blake. “I think [Knicks star] ‘Melo [Anthony] is more of a global athlete. I think Chris Paul is more of a global athlete. It’s not to say he can’t turn into something bigger than he already is.”

Irving is the first player to get his own Nike signature line since Durant in 2007 and the 20th basketball player, joining an elite list of current stars and all-time legends like James, Durant, Penny Hardaway, Charles Barkley and, of course, His Airness Michael Jordan.

When it comes to basketball sneakers, the Air Jordan brand is clearly in a class by itself, even after all these years.

“Jordan was definitely and still to this day is the most successful of all the signature lines,” says Wu.

Retail sales for the brand surpassed $2.25 billion last year, according to Forbes, and commanded a 54 percent share of the market.

For current NBA players, King James and KD command the biggest swath of the consumer market. James’ shoes reaped $300 million in revenue last year with the Nike LeBron 11’s released last year and retailing at $200 (the LeBron 12’s dropped this fall). Durant-branded shoes did $175 million in sales for 2013, up exponentially from the $15 million they sold just three years ago.

The market in general for basketball shoes is soaring, thanks in part to the popularity of the NBA and the marketability of its stars. Forbes, citing SportsOneSource, says total sneaker sales rose 20% in the U.S. last year, to $4.5 billion.

So where might Irving’s shoe fall in the pantheon of sneaker success? While it’s very early to make any predictions, it can’t hurt that he plays alongside James, the league’s most lucrative individual property. Irving also has long-term potential, seeing that he’s only 22 years old and already boasts two All-Star Game appearances, an All-Star MVP Award and a Rookie of the Year trophy.

He’s also yet to appear in a post-season game, something that looks like it will change this year. Some say Durant’s sneaker sales began to grow after he repeatedly took the Thunder deep into the playoffs. Longer playoff runs mean more national TV exposure and more visibility.

The shoe’s price-point is also a potentially attractive quality to younger consumers. While James and Kobe Bryant’s shoes generally retail well north of $200 and Durant’s are up to around $150, the Kyrie 1’s will go on sale Dec. 23 at $110.

“The price-point is certainly attractive,” says Blake, who believes it could garner sales among a more economical younger audience. “You might get the consumer who is younger and mom and dad can’t afford LeBron’s at $200, but they can get the Kyrie, which is still going to be a cool sneaker.”

Nike will certainly be looking to do its part to sell Irving to that audience. The company is known for so-called “moment marketing,” taking advantage of elite individual performances to release a product. The company released a special edition of Kobe Bryant’s Kobe 9 Elite Low called “Mamba Moment” in conjunction with Bryant passing Jordan on the all-time scoring list earlier this week.

“Any opportunity they can get to give Kyrie his moment, they’ll do that,” says Blake. If Irving’s 37-point throwdown at Madison Square Garden was any indication, they’ll be more than a few.

Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, USA Today Sports

Tags:


  Save as PDF