The Ultimate Resource for Streetwear Marketers
Check out this Notion library of highly effective email, social media and video streetwear marketing campaigns to help you run your own brand.
Vicky Hoppe’s Journey To Nike
Yellowbrick graduate, Vicky Hoppe, talks about how she landed a job at Nike, career tips, and women empowerment in the sneaker space.
Get A Free Mini-Course On Streetwear Branding
Understand the basics of branding and the impact of branding in the streetwear industry.
How Haram The Milkman brought his streetwear pop-up concept to life
A conversation with the founder of Cash Cow NYC.
How To Become a Pattern Maker
Pattern Makers ensure that clothing fits the best to a streetwear brand’s standards and customer demographic.
The Rise of the Streetwear Creative Director
A breakdown of why fashion houses hire our beloved streetwear designers — the next biggest wave for luxury fashion.
Why Unboxing Sneakers Videos Appeal and How They Can Improve
If you look at the current landscape of sneaker media, there are a lot of things that exist now that probably didn’t exist five years ago. One example of this is unboxing videos. An unboxing video is just what it sounds like: a video of someone unboxing their new sneakers. And if you told someone in the 1980’s or 90’s that this would be a popular thing in the future, they probably would have looked at you as if you were crazy. Yet, here we are, with many people creating them.
If you look back at it now, though, in a way, it makes sense. When you really think about it, what is the best moment of getting a new pair of shoes? The answer is the moment you take the sneakers out of the box. And there are a lot of feelings connected to that part of the experience.
There are a lot of sensory and emotional things that come with that moment of unboxing a new sneaker. In a way, it’s a shame that you can’t actually experience the smell of the packaging or the feel of the shoe simply by watching a video, because it’s all very distinctive, and it can really take you back to a specific time in the past.
It’s hard to know where media in the sneaker industry goes from here. The most effective unboxing videos tend to be the simplest ones, whether it’s a basic overhead shot or just something straightforward, focusing on the box and not featuring as much talking. After all, how much is there to really say about an Air Jordan 3 that hasn’t already been said?
One idea is to really embrace the nostalgia that comes with unboxing videos. You could create some that feature a whole theme centered around a specific era of the past. Make the setting look like a Footlocker from 1988, shoot it on VHS tape, have music from the era playing and even have a hairstyle that fits the timeframe. This is just one idea of how these content creators within sneaker media can improve on and create variations of the basic unboxing videos, because they’ll need to evolve and change to avoid becoming stale.
Online sneaker education is a good way to learn more about the development and future of sneaker media and the sneaker industry. It’s by far the most convenient and accessible form of sneaker education available.
The Role of a Media Editor in the Sneaker Industry
The role of an editor has changed over time. An editor for print magazines had to worry about the articles that were being printed, where the advertisements would be placed, and how the photos would be represented. They had to be meticulous about every single apostrophe or period because it’s in print, it’s on paper, and it’s there forever.
Online Sneaker Education in the Digital Age
Now with the digital age, it’s really changed. Instead of managing just one publication, you’re managing an entire brand and every sort of platform that your brand touches. It could be a print magazine, and it could also be how the Facebook page is curated. How the photos that go up on the Instagram feed. How things are copy-edited on Twitter. And where the logos are placed on your videos.
Sneaker Education in Brand Management
You have to be more multifaceted now. You still need to know how to put a sentence together because that’s the building block of everything else. When you are working with a brand of sneakers in this digital age you’re not just managing one thing. You have to think about it as an entire brand, especially if you’re running a media site.
Trademark Infringement in the Sneaker Industry
Trademark infringement is a huge issue in the sneaker industry. Just look at Lil Nas X and MSCHF; they did the Satan Shoes, where they took a Nike Air Max 97, injected human blood in the sole, and put devil imagery all over the sneakers. Nike sued for many different causes of action, trademark infringement being one of them. Trademark infringement is not something to take lightly. Remember this as you continue your online sneaker education.
Converse filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission against 31 different companies over trademark infringement on the Chuck Taylor sneakers. Adidas sued Skechers and actually won the case for trademark infringement on their Stan Smith. Warren Lotas was sued by Nike for his version of the Pigeon Dunk. The list goes on and on and on. You’ll see no shortage of these kinds of issues in your sneaker education.
In order to prove trademark infringement, you have to demonstrate two things. First, you must prove that you have a valid and protectable trademark. Next, you have to demonstrate that there’s a likelihood of consumer confusion; that the consumer will likely be confused as to the nature or origin of the product or services. In order to prove a likelihood of confusion, courts look at the Polaroid Factors, which is a long list of factors that they weigh against in order to determine whether or not there is a likelihood of confusion as to who actually owns the product or service.
