Nike knows this- to compete with Adidas’ Yeezy, it will need to partner with an influential celebrity. The result is NOCTA, a sub-brand with Canadian rapper Drake. In the casual shoe category, Nike is slowly gaining ground by taking a leaf out of Adidas’ marketing strategy. Their new arrival sneakers, called the Nike Hot Step Air Terra ‘Triple Black’ is now launching on July 7, 2022. This is the second time these shoes are being dropped, as many sneaker fans couldn’t get their hands on them during the first drop.
Nike, until now, was world-famous in the sports shoe category. Adidas trailed them but was able to make a big impression in the casual shoe category, with their Yeezy sub-brand with rapper Kanye West. Though this brand is less than a decade old, Adidas has managed to capture the attention of sneakerheads with their bizarre but highly-popular silhouettes.
Nike has realized they too need to do something about this, hence the collaboration with Drake for NOCTA. However, this brand is not limited to sneakers. Nike wants to make NOCTA a lifestyle brand where you can buy Nike shoes online along with other merchandise like sweatshirts and hoodies.
As both Nike and Drake are established brands, both can promote NOCTA to scale. This means they have the potential to promote NOCTA easily amongst their common audiences. Though this is an advantage, they will have to do something unique, as Kanye West has done with the Yeezys.
One great way of encouraging people to Buy NOCTA x Nike Hot Step Air Terra “Triple Black” is to use them yourself- Drake has worn these kicks at public engagements many times before they were officially teased. Though these Hot Step Air Terra shoes have sold out and are being released again, Nike and Drake have a long way to go to catch up to the popularity of Adidas’ Yeezy.
NOCTA is the new kid on the block, dominated by the likes of Yeezy, Bata, New Balance, and many more. Drake and Nike have a lot of work to do, at present, they have a limited set of merchandise to sell.
They can learn from Kanye, who not only designs the shoes but also markets them in every way possible, even incorporating them in his song lyrics. He has got many of his celebrity friends to endorse his brand, both formally and informally. Kanye has left no stone unturned to design his shoes in a way that matches expectations. People choose to wear Yeezys due to this, even if the shoe design looks bizarre. They trust Kanye and know that his offerings are the best.
