Urban Marketing by Come Chantrel

Come Chantrel is a marketing executive whose innovations have really changed the industry. He was the first person to create a co-branded shoe for Nike - the Wu Tang Dunk in 1997 - and revolutionized street marketing with his implementation of street teams when he worked at Loud Records in the late 90s.

Come is a well-known sneaker head, and has just written and co-produced Just For Kicks, Following is an interview of how urban and street marketing have evolved and how it applies to the sneaker game today.

Q: You're a pioneer in marketing to the tastemaker market. How has your job changed over the past five years?

CC: I started in the music business, at Loud Records. We were selling street records and hip-hop culture was still very underground. MTV and BET almost didn't play rap videos at the time. The radio landscape was very different. White stations played pop and rock music and black stations were playing a lot of R&B and very little rap.

The Source was the only magazine that catered to our consumer but its distribution was still small. In the meantime the demand for street records was out there but we had to figure out how to reach the consumer and we came out with a new system that bypassed traditional media.

We started to rely on street teams. We had one in each market and they were the ambassadors of our products. They gave the 12" to all hot DJs who were playing them in the club and on their mix tapes. They went to the records stores, barbershops, the basketball court and the cool sneakers stores and passed out promo T-shirts and cassettes samplers to the urban/street opinion leaders.
Dealing with urban music, the credibility issue was key. They always brought the product to the local opinion leaders first and that allows us to get a stamp of approval from them. We were also able to get feedback early on product and trends and develop better product... That model proved to be working with hip-hop. We applied the same formula to the companies we consulted for outside music, such as Nike, Adidas, the NFL, NBA, Miramax, and Levi's.

In the 90s, record sales exploded and hip-hop became mainstream pop culture. There tons of magazines reviews rap, BET and MTV play nothing but rap.

All the big corporations have been exposed to non-traditional marketing and understand the concept, which is applicable to any lifestyle brand, although its execution might be very different.
My job went from being underground and misunderstood to being much more mainstream.

Q: What is a key element in your marketing strategies today?
CC: Timing.

Q: You did the first ever co-branded Nike Dunk. Now co-branding is rampant: what do you think will be the future of co-branding?
CC: Nike is very self-conscious in terms of branding. It's also a public company. When Nike made co-branded Dunks for Wu Tang Clan, the most "street" of all rap groups, it was revolutionary. It said: "This is also who we are and we are willing to acknowledge it." And it worked because it was relevant.
Co-branding is to add the value of two brands together. It's perceived added value for the consumer. It's one of the best marketing platforms right now. The problem is that if you milk it too much the consumer's marketing immunity system will build tolerance against it, and it will become obsolete. I think co-branding and limited edition capsules will taper off soon.

Q: You've just created a documentary about sneaker culture. What's new in that world now?
CC: The movie Just For Kicks was made to show the reality of what happened in the market. Hip hop and street culture were instrumental in establishing the athletic footwear industry in the last 20 years. The athletic component was instrumental in establishing the brands initially. It worked with the urban demographic very well because a lot of the role models were athletes.

Rappers wearing sneakers and track jackets on the street made it acceptable for everybody else, as they became role models in the 90s. Nike sold 15m pairs of Air Force Ones in 2003 because rappers said they were cool. That is the biggest selling shoe in the history of shoes! Sport or athletes had nothing to do with it.

This phenomenon grew the business to huge numbers but changed it. The lifestyle part of the athletic business represents more than 80% for only 10 pairs of the field product sold today. The main novelty is that the athletic industry has moved away from sport and focused on lifestyle and pure fashion. This also means being forced to embrace hip hop, like Reebok is doing very successfully with Jay-Z and 50 Cent.

Q: What's your favourite pair of sneakers? Why?
CC: I don't have a favourite of all-time. I have favourites. Right now I cannot wait to get my Lotto Strada. They epitomize the lifestyle of the young and sophisticated Italian playboys from the Riviera. They are elegant but are also hustlers with a lot of game and they date all the pretty models and actresses. I'm receptive to that kind of performance...

Q: What do you see as the elements of a great brand?

CC: An athletic footwear brand needs to have a credible amount of performance level in its product. That requires a tremendous effort. You need to be on the field and develop product for the field. The design and the technology must be conceived to improve performance.
What comes out of it is an irreplaceable legitimacy. You can then take it into the lifestyle arena and use the design, which originated on the field, and remix it to turn the product into something readily wearable on the streets. Great car companies use the same approach. They develop cars for high performance racing and apply some of the technologies in their stock cars later on.

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