Michael Jordan and the Jordan Brand are venturing into new territory by specifically targeting both women and millennials in the coming years.
Lilly Harvey, a footwear collector, and writer for ShoeAdviser, cited that "The best Michael Jordan shoes make you feel like you have the power, agility, and grace of Michael Jordan". Fan or not a fan, everyone feels the same way when they wear one.
Nike wants the Jordan Brand to expand its reach to double its current sales figures to $4.5 billion by the year 2020.
In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Mark Parker, Nike Chief Executive Officer, told Stephanie Ruhle that the Jordan Brand has been typically one-dimensional, focusing mostly on males, footwear, and the U.S.
What Parker and the folks at Nike want is for Jordan to go beyond its current market and carefully give consumers more choices.
Though the Jordan Brand has some offerings for women on the website, they are mostly accessories.
Shoes are another matter even though some women buy boys sizes. Generally, women would rather buy Nikes over Jordans.
As for the millennials, the 20-somethings are a bit of a challenge since many of them hardly saw Jordan play.
Their first (but hopefully not enduring) memories of him could be his Washington Wizards playing days from 2001-03, the time when his other-worldly powers had waned significantly.
However, his videos on YouTube during his Chicago Bulls championship runs continue to be prevalent, allowing millennials instant access to Jordan's highlights.
But that doesn't necessarily mean automatic sales for the brand as this is the demographic that is currently at the front end of consumer spending.
The Chicago Tribune reports that Jordan, the person and celebrity, is still popular with women, registering seventh among the most influential celebrities with the female demographic, according to the Celebrity DBI database of the Marketing Arm.
Among males, he remains strong with an 11th place ranking.
Matt Fleming, the Marketing Arm's executive account director, says that Jordan's scores with both men and women are as strong as ever for respondents and consumers regardless of their age.
Jordan himself believes that expanding to target female customers is the way to go for his brand as it will continue to be "a high-end, performance lifestyle brand."
Expect the Jordan Brand to sell running shoes to women in the near future and more marketing efforts geared toward millennials.
It's an opportunity and a challenge that Jordan will definitely not shy away from. What else do you expect from Air Jordan?
