Barnes: AND1's Expansion Into Lifestyle and Running Shoes Eroded Core Brand
Phin Barnes · Phin Barnes: The Services Model of Venture Capital is Broken, The Best Founders Do Need Help | E1067 · 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Oct 2, 2023 · at 13:16
Phin Barnes, former footwear creative director at AND1, discusses the dangers of brand dilution when successful companies expand beyond their primary niche.
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“So at and one, we would talk about running shoes, trainers. We would talk about lifestyle shoes and clothing, kids licenses and so forth. And the focus on those things eroded the quality of the brand we had built in, in basketball and the core understanding of bringing together hip hop and hoops and making that mainstream.”
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