Sneaky sneaker marketing

I was tempted to blog about the Second Life Community Convention and the Glamourcon happening this weekend in Chicago and call it Conventional Thinking. As much as I’d like to have something to say about virtual-life-loving SLCC convention founders Jennyfur Peregrine and Hiro Pendragon, the convention is sold-out and no one at the office is owning up to being a member of Second Life.

So let’s talk about music and sneakers, let’s talk about marketing synergy. Sneakers have become extensions of pop stardom, in the same way they were an emblem of youth culture. Big names from The Game to Gwen Stefani (her L.A.M.B. line teamed up with K-Swiss’s Royal Elastics) have their own models, if not lines of sneaks.

Marketing efforts these days are going in two very different directions. There’s the custom, signature line mode which can end up a bit garish. I don’t always get British street fashion, but these Lily Allen Air Max (pictured above) by Nike are frightening right? Or maybe just creepy small? The MSTRKRFT model Pumas, which came out in the Spring, were much more to my taste.

Then there’s the super low-key approach. P.F. Flyers, who issued a limited Johnny Marr model benefiting Autism Research, is also sponsoring an innovative music video. Directed by Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner, Stefan Nadelman, the exquisite animated short for Menomena’s “Evil Bee” (at left) goes live on pfflyers.com on September 1, but you can get a taste of it here. The connection between sneakers and the video is pretty abstract, since, as far as I can tell, no sneakers actually are shown in the video, just bees. Music videos, evidently, don’t have to be commercials, even when, way down deep, they almost always really are.