When I was growing up, Reebok was a worthy adversary to the almighty Nike when it came to sneakers and apparel. They found ways to keep up with Nike in terms of innovation (Pump, Hexalite, DMX) and style (Kamikaze, Shaq Attaq, Questions, etc).
However, since the turn of the century, Reebok has had quite the fall from sneaker grace. I never expect any brand to go toe to toe with Nike/Jordan forever, but I do expect competitors to find their niche and maintain a level of success the way Adidas and New Balance have. Reebok has tried gimmick after gimmick in trying to out do Nike and now they've dug themselves a hole that they may never climb out of.
Reebok is a struggle brand. Here are six reasons why:
6. Bad Storytelling/Execution
Pictured above is the Reebok Kamikaze retro in the Sonics and Thunder colorways. I get that Shawn Kemp played for the Sonics and that the Sonics moved to Seattle and became the Thunder. I like the effort to tell a story, much like the way Nike/Jordan does with countless releases. Memories and stories sell shoes more than the shoes do themselves in today's sneaker world. However, the execution on these non OG colorways is FUCKING ATROCIOUS.
(Update: 3/23/13: I take back everything I said about the Sonics colorway above being trash. This pic doesn't do the shoe justice. You can't tell that there is a rain drop effect on the green portions of the upper that looks insane in person. You also can't really see the yellow speckles on the midsole or the nice texture of the white leather on the upper. This is a great shoe. That Thunder colorway is still absolute trash though.)
They butchered the Shaqnosis with a "Orlando vs. Miami" pack as well:
The stories are lazy, at best, and the execution is just awful. Enough about these, on to the next issue.
5. The ZigTech Bust
John Wall was a huge signing for Reebok when he came out of Kentucky as the top pick in the NBA draft. They had plans for a signature line but for his rookie season they had him be the face for Reebok Basketball and their new ZigTech basketball line. These shoes were not only hideous, but many suspect that they've helped cause some of the injuries that have hindered Wall's promising, career.
Reebok went all in with the ZigTech. The brand also had Chad Ochocinco as the face of the ZigTech training shoe...
The ZigTech hoops shoe was such a colossal bust that Reebok has rebooted their entire performance basketball line and let Wall join Adidas while Reebok basketball goes on an indefinite hiatus.
4. No One Gives A Fuck About Tyga And Swizz Beatz
I kind of get why Reebok brought Swizz Beatz on board. He was their answer to Nike working with Kanye West. Swizz is basically a poor homeless man's Kanye to Reebok. In any case, he deserves some props if he's the one that convinced them to finally retro some of their classic 90s Basketball designs. Everything else he's done, however, has been complete trash.
And I still can't fathom how you give up on making performance basketball shoes, and then turn around and give a signature shoe to FUCKING TYGA! Look at this trash:
These shits look like lego man shoes. Is Tyga the first weed carrier/rapper to get his own signature shoe? Birdman Lugz and Game's 310 Hurricanes were better than this bullshit.
People don't even download Tyga's music for free, so why would they buy his sorry ass shoe?
3. No New Hoops Shoes = No Future Retros
Since Reebok is currently out of the performance hoops biz and they haven't had a retro worthy basketball shoe since the Answer IV (which are currently sitting on shelves everywhere), they have about a ten year window where they didn't produce a single shoe that they can retro.
Nike, Jordan, and Adidas have made a killing off of retros because they have continuously produced quality shoes over the years. The well has been dry for Reebok and in a year or two they'll be in desperate need of a real brand ambassador and a classic design in order to continue the momentum that their recent retro binge has created.
2. Losing The Exclusive NFL License to Nike and New Era
I have no concrete numbers, but I think it's a safe bet to say that the vast majority of Reebok's apparel sales came from their exclusive licensing deal with the NFL. As soon as Nike and New Era took over in April, they hit the ground running. They brought fresh ideas, designs, and marketing strategies that Reebok was sorely lacking in. The gap between Nike and Reebok will only become more apparent as Nike begins to overhaul some of the poorly designed team uniforms that were made by Reebok (Cardinals, Vikings) and update some of their pre-Reebok designs (Broncos, Buccaneers) that Reebok was too lazy to change during their tenure as the NFL's exclusive license holder. You can also see Nike's superiority in how much better they have integrated cleats and gloves into team uniforms.
1. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?
This is Reebok's signature shoe for MMA Fighter, Rampage Jackson. This is the worst shit ever. First off, you discontinue basketball shoes to make a shoe for an athlete who plays a sport where you don't wear shoes? What the fuck?! I get that these are trainers, but that doesn't change the fact that the way athlete's shoes get sold is consumers seeing the athlete wear them in action.
I guess this shoe could be a success if Reebok's target market is dudes who wear Affliction shirts and beat their girlfriends, but they aren't going to attract the common consumer or sneakerheads with this bullshit.
It makes me sad to see Reebok struggling so hard. I hope that they are able to hire some fresh thinkers and up and coming designers to kickstart the brand. Maybe even poach someone from Nike with a huge offer. I'm down for anything that keeps Reebok from putting this kind of garbage out.
