Each week we feature our “Friday Top Five” stories, highlighting five things we thought were iEach week we feature our “Friday Top Five” stories, which highlight five things we thought were interesting, notable, or culturally significant. This week, we showcased stories on Under Armour, how one music vents wants to roll up music venues from across the country, Microsoft Launches a ton of new features, François-Henry Bennahmias demonstrates why he is the man with the vision, and Nike releases the story of the Dunk.
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Story-1:: Under Armour’s strong footwear sales help drive earnings beat
Overview: CEO Patrik Frisk cited higher demand for the athletic apparel maker’s products, especially in North America, for the better-than-expected performance. They sold, sell its MyFitnessPal, and pulled out or is going to pull out of many department stores.
Why It Matters: UA diluted their brand, from discount chains to outlet stores, to sales left, right, and center. UA went in every direction at all times. While I am disappointed that they are selling MyFitnessPal, I realize they needed to sell off those assets to free up capital.
- Apparel sales dropped 6% to $927 million, while footwear revenue surged 19% to $299 million, and accessories revenue jumped 23% to $145 million. The company said the boost in footwear is due in part to the launch of its first-ever, women’s-specific basketball sneaker during the quarter. It also cited strength in the running category.
- Under Armour’s direct-to-consumer business, which includes sales from its website and stores, grew 17% year over year. It said its e-commerce business globally grew more than 50% during the quarter.
I am always just very fearful of companies that stop innovating and stay still. While I know UA has stated they are innovating with their shoes, I think you are constantly seeing Nike release new apps and features. Adidas is trying but also missing the boat with their apps, so maybe these brands need to buy an innovation shop vs. trying to buy assets.
Link: Article linked Here
Story-2:: Why WME’s Former Music Head Wants to Own Half of Your Indie Venue
Overview: Geiger’s plan is to buy at least 51 percent equity in dozens of music clubs nationwide, he told the New York Times, and eventually help them expand into “regional forces” with the help of sponsorship opportunities and create a “network effect.” The phrasing feels intentionally vague, but this plan could end up building, as the New York Times put it, “a mom-and-pop version of Live Nation or AEG, the giant companies that now dominate the touring business.”
Why It Matters: If you can’t tell by this site or my social feed, music is a BFD for me. So the idea that someone is trying to roll-up multiple music venues and create a smaller version of what Live Nation or AEG does always interests me. What is always the challenge with smaller venues is one, they are smaller, so it can be harder to apply the same levers you would do for a larger venue, i.e., venue updates, staff, marketing, and outreach would work for larger venues. You often have the less informed or mature buyer who attends these venues and they both often have fewer dollars to spend and are more critical of “corporate” feeling. Now you move the value creation program and the corporate culture trapping out of the way. I am all for things like this, as someone who was in their last 20’s and early 30’s in Atlanta. I loved it when the old venues got updated, and the new venues came up. They were better built, smelled better, looked better, were easier to get in and out of. The list goes on. That being said, this is hard to do, even harder to do during COVID, so that only time will tell.
Link: Article linked Here
Story-3:: Microsoft 365 Has new Productivity updates
Overview: For enterprise customers, Microsoft has announced the general availability of Productivity Score. Initially announced back in April and available in preview since then, this tool lets administrators get insights into how its team members are performing by looking at different kinds of data, such as who’s sending emails or messages, participating in shared workspaces, and so on. You can get started with the feature on the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
Why It Matters: Many organizations have moved to Teams and other collaboration platforms. The challenge has long been to tie the cost to the saving or enablement. Based on this update from MS, this looks to be a strong step in the right direction. I would like to see how MS could roll in sales data and or talent data and get a true score. But crawl, walk, run….
“Research shows that when people share information and collaborate in a shared workspace, they can save up to 4-Hours a week. To determine your Teamwork score, we feature how members communicate and collaborate within these shared workspaces – such as Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 groups – and how regular the communication is. “
Link: Article linked Here
Story-4:: Interview: François-Henry Bennahmias CEO of Audemars Piguet
Overview: A collected man ran an article on the CEO of AP. The focus o the brand was how he thinks, where the brand is headed, and how to put the customer first.
Why It Matters: “Do or do not. There is no try.” This was one of the great quotes in the article. Based on my observation of Francois, this guy DOES, and by Does, this guy goes all in. A few months back with the all-new 11.59 came out, and limited people liked it.
Francois is one of those leaders who knows you have to take risks and that the consumer won’t always get it today, but they will. And I think leaders need to have that bravado in certain situations, certainly in consumer goods, especially in luxury goods. There were many other great quotes in this article but more than anything, it is about listening to your customer and the market and trying to stay on-trend or ahead of the trend. Congrats to the team at A Collected Man. Well Done!
Link: Article linked Here
Story-5:: The Story of the Nike Dunk
Overview: The story of the Dunk is like the engine that could. The Dunk was really three shoes rolled into one. Comprised of the Legend, the Terminator, and the Jordan 1. This was one of the first times you saw big color blocking in the ’80s, which had mostly been all white shoes. The Dunk’s idea was to emulate the electricity and passion that college kids had at games, and the Dunk was colored to match the school.
“Obviously as a St. John’s University Alumni, the Red Dunk was the best dunk.”
Reed Dailey
Why It Matters: At almost 40, I am a SNKR head. I love the Dunk, it was the first shoe I bought with my own money and I wore it hard for 2.5 years in the streets of NYC and thought I was the shit. I think that is probably why I love Jordan 1 so much, mostly because they are almost the same last. But If you are a sneakerhead or just curious about the culture, have a watch of these two videos, I think you will enjoy hearing more about the journey this shoe has been on over the last 40 years.
I have to call out that my school STJ (SJU) St. John’s University was one of the four schools that were wearing the Dunk in the final four!!! Go RED STORM!!!!
Link: Article linked Here
