GOOD MORNING. I am debating going to MSG to see Travis Scott tonight. I have things I need to do but would love to put them off. I met Travis at Dover Street Market over the weekend. Here’s how that interaction went—
Me: (Sees Travis Scott) What’s up Travis, I am a big fan.
Travis Scott: (looking annoyed) Thanks.
So I should probably go right?
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Today I want to talk about Rolex tennis balls, and the “formula for a hit” aka putting a designer logo on a regular product, morphing it into an aspirational item.
Headlines
New Balance is launching their first fragrance. Well, two fragrances. This truly makes no sense to me. Who was asking for a scent that smells like “leather, suede, rubber, cotton socks, and freshly-mowed grass”? Imagine pulling up to a date, they ask what scent you’re wearing, and you reply “New Balance” It’s not looking good bruv.
Bloomberg dropped a report on how remote workers spend their extra time. The report claims this time is not being spent socializing with friends, but rather just solo alone time. As a remote worker, I use my extra time to write this newsletter. Thank god.
I just discovered a designer I really like. This is Raimundo Langlois. The collection is giving early 00’s Abrecrombie, but hotter, and is chic in an ironically prep sort of way. Their photography and art direction is top-tier. I also love their use of the carousel layout, putting a corner of a photo from the next slide, on the main image that compels you to scroll through. Its really good. Reaching out for an interview, will report back.
Rolex Tennis Balls & Other Aspirational Items
This week I saw on Twitter that Rolex is making tennis balls now. The writer of the post made a great point: an aspirational brand slapping their logo on a normal consumer product is a recipe for a hit and a moodboard classic. So I wanted to collect some of my fav examples of this—
Chanel Tennis Racket
Helmut Lang Balloon
APC Cookies
Margiela Egg Carton
Tiffany Basketball
Supreme ‘Hermes Inspired’ Ashtray
Louis Vuitton Coffee Cup
Helmut Lang Ice Cream Sandwich
Miu Miu Tennis Ball
Margiela Rubix Cube
Stussy Sunburn
Margiela DVD
Why This Works
Building a brand world is not just about your logo on the product, its about extending your brand to real world collateral that helps paint a picture of the icons your brand identifies with. Often times, these pairings are unexpected and turn mundane items into collectibles if the brand recognition is strong enough.
Throwing your logo on an unexpected item is also a great hack to create appealing, shareable social content.
Another appeal of these items is that they are not for sale. They are often given out as gifts or found at shows/events (which is strategic, they want you to take a photo of the Miu Miu tennis ball and put it on IG) So they exclusivity factor turns these items collectibles.
Personally, I love this. Okay thanks for reading.
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About Jake
Jake Bell is a content marketing strategist based in NYC. He specializes in branding, art direction, creative strategy, content creation, and making things cool.
