NBA Marketing News: AND 1 Readies Launch Of Mystique Mid

AND 1 will support the launch of its Mystique Mid shoe, which is worn by about 50 NBA players, with two 30-second TV ads featuring a “mix of AND 1’s NBA and Mix Tape Tour endorsers,” according to Barry Janoff of BRANDWEEK. The ads were created in-house. The $90 shoe will be released January 13 exclusively at Finish Line stores. AND 1 will also run print ads in basketball publications like Slam, Dime, Inside Stuff and School Sports, while Finish Line will “highlight the Mystique Mid line in its magalog,” which will be sent to 3.5 million consumers during the first quarter. Support for the shoe also includes POP and Internet (BRANDWEEK, 1/2).

Columnist Questions Absence Of Shoe In Nike’s New LeBron Spots

HE’S GOT PERSONALITIES: SLATE’s Seth Stevenson, in a review of the new Nike ads titled “Meet the LeBrons” featuring Cavaliers F LeBron James as multiple characters, gave the campaign a grade of “B+.” Stevenson wrote the ads promoting James’ signature shoe “are baffling. Nothing happens in them. There’s no explanation as to who these characters are, how they relate to each other, and what (if anything) they’re trying to sell. ... Only one of the four spots in this campaign deigns to show us the sneaker at all.” The new campaign “seems like the first real effort to give [James] some personality. ... [But] rather than committing to a single image for LeBron, Nike throws out a smorgasbord and lets us pick our favorite” (SLATE.com, 1/2).

BOUNCING BACK? BRANDWEEK’s Janoff, in an overview of the sports marketing landscape for ’06, notes some analysts think the NBA is the “‘sleeper’ among sports properties.” Steiner Sports Marketing CEO Brandon Steiner: “This will be the year of the NBA comeback, its hottest season since the Michael Jordan/Larry Bird/Magic Johnson (era). This has been the NBA’s best year as far as superstar (marketing) power” (BRANDWEEK, 1/2 issue).