See how Sport Shoe industry giants like Nike, ASICS, PUMA, Reebok, Kappa, Umbro, and Adidas are embracing NFTs to stay ahead of the competition and engage with their audience in creative, new ways.
Company leaders in the field of sports shoes always have to stay ahead of their competition. They can’t be slow or miss a beat. The invention of NFT’s gave these brands unique marketing opportunities and they ran with them.
Nike
Always ahead of the game, Nike was one of the first sports brands to see the potential of NFT’s, when they purchased RTFKT studios, a producer of NFT collectibles. A smart choice, as they managed to sell 600 pairs of NFT sneakers in just six minutes, earning them a whopping $3.1 million. The sneakers could be customized, using so called “skin vials”, to add special effects and patterns, allowing owners to make each pair uniquely their own.
ASICS
The Japanese sports shoe manufacturer partnered up with STEPN, a move-to-earn health and fitness app, having users earn tokens for fit behavior. Together they launched a brand new collection of NFT sneakers. Users equipped with a pair can earn tokens and rewards and compete with each other in a competition to win special prizes, bringing gamification to a whole new level.
PUMA
This brand celebrated its 75th anniversary in a fun and creative way, by bringing back Super PUMA, a comic character they had originally published in the 70’s, as an NFT. Writing a new storyline highlighting PUMA’s historic moments in sports, Super PUMA NFT’s will be complemented by the brand’s other NFT project, the Nitro collection.
Reebok
Reebok joined in on the fun by minting 200 limited edition NFT’s, some going for as high as $20.000 a piece.
Kappa
To stay ahead of the game they made a game: the Kappa Collectible Universe, an actual RPG (role-playing game), where players collect and trade different Kappa NFT’s, each with unique stats. In the game they can work together or against each other, socialize, and even earn the world’s revenue.
Umbro
The brand for football, they used the world cup (the actual one, for what you lovely Americans call “soccer”) to launch their NFT collection. In what they dubbed “The Nations Assortment” a collector can find digital representations of the most iconic Umbro football kits of all time. And not only that, they also created fusion shirts combining the best designs from countries such as Argentina, Germany, Brazil, France and the USA. To top it all off, holders of an Umbro NFT could also compete against each other in games and quizzes.
Adidas
Selling more than 22 million dollars of NFT’s, in a matter of hours, this brand shows they still got what it takes to be the fastest. Adidas made the NFT’s in collaboration with NFT collection Bored Ape Yacht Club, Punks Comics and crypto enthusiast GMoney, giving minters access to physical goods like shoes, hoodies, tracksuits and exclusive digital experiences.
