Adidas is now more popular than Air Jordan in the United States, with Nike maintaining their lead in popularity.
Our concern is if this popularity would even last in the long term because for a brand that grows this fast and rely strongly on their lifestyle range, it could be one of those things that could come crashing down and fast.
At Sole Mate, we specialise mostly in the lifestyle range of Nike, Adidas and Jordan yet, anecdotally, the sentiment we feel is that Adidas is becoming less popular with Jordan and Nike regaining popularity.
However, sports journalists think otherwise as they consider Adidas nipping at Nike's sales. Especially in sportswear.
What we have noticed with Nike is that they have taken a unique approach with their branding. In a couple of months they have done the following:
- Deleted the Nikelab Instagram
- Released the long-awaited Off-White collab
- Maintained the popularity of the Vapormax
- A new advertising campaign for the Nike brand in general.
What Adidas has done, that we have noticed is much more focus on retro styles with collaborations, Consortium releases and less on the NMD.
The general consensus we feel is that Adidas realised that if they churned out NMD's at the rate they were going for early-mid year, they would fall out and be seen as a trend rather than a long-term competition.
They would have become what the Roshe was years ago, a trend that everyone loved yet became a cultural cringe shortly after.
This is why we feel it may be a shaky battle between Nike and Adidas, because it's so much more competitive than ever as each brand is changing their approach to communicating with their consumers whether that's through the product or through advertising.
What are your thoughts?
Is this just a short-term spike in sales or are Adidas here to keep their 2nd place on the market with their eyes on the top of the ladder?