The ANT-MAN Effect: How Adidas Capitalizes on Anthony Edwards' Dominance
Anthony Edwards and Adidas launch the AE1 sneaker with a bold marketing campaign. Their collaboration marks a significant move in the basketball sneaker market.
22 year old Anthony Edwards took the NBA by storm this season, leading the Minnesota Timberwolves to their first Western Conference Finals appearance in over a decade. This achievement catapulted him to international stardom, with many fans describing the Atlanta native as the newest face of the league. Edwards famously signed with Adidas prior to being drafted No. 1 overall in the 2020 NBA Draft. His talent, swagger and confidence are showcased in Adidas' latest marketing campaign for his signature shoe, the AE1.
The marketing strategy for the AE1 has propelled Adidas into the basketball “sneaker wars,” a category long dominated by competitors like Nike and Jordan. After launching the AE1 last October, Adidas has been posting short form ads to their X and Instagram accounts, to engage their shoe target Gen Z fans. The marketing strategy that Adidas took for the AE1 campaign has been nothing short of aggressive and takes shots at other competitors' signature silhouettes. One 45 second ad depicts Edwards pulling shoes out of a duffel bag of other debut signature models like Ja Morant (Nike), Luka Doncic (Jordan), Lebron James (Nike) and Lamelo Ball (Puma). Then Edwards discards them and pulls out a pair of AE1’s, saying: “Oh yeah, these the ones.”
Adidas purposefully led the campaign by including different aspects of Edwards’s roots. Throughout all the campaign videos the peach color is a main theme throughout paying homage to his home state of Georgia. Adidas also connected with Edwards’s Atlanta roots by having his hometown friend Chris Maddox starring in several different episodes of the campaign alongside the Timberwolves guard.
Edwards is known for his must-see athleticism, thunderous dunks and high shot release. These aspects of his game have led many to compare the young Timberwolves superstar to the game’s greatest ever ambassador, Michael Jordan. Adidas has also been taking notice of the conversations that are going on within basketball culture. One of the short films from the AE1 campaign hints at comparisons between Edwards and Jordan, showing a head to toe camera pan strikingly similar to Nike’s 1985 campaign for the Jordan 1s.
Another standout of the campaign has been the phrase “Believe That,” which is said by Edwards at the end of every short form video or displayed across the screen. This brief but effective message contributed to the success of the campaign by enforcing pragmatic association and allowing fans to buy into the confidence of Edwards by wearing his sneakers.
This latest Adidas campaign should be seen as the company’s greatest effort in years and a comeback for Adidas basketball is definitely in the works with Edwards on their team. Whether Adidas and Edwards will dominate and influence basketball culture worldwide like Michael Jordan did is unclear. However, the potential of Edwards and Adidas is limitless.