Kobe More Valuable to Nike than LeBron?

^RockDeep ur rocksteady with the comments and analysis....i think its a very nice post, best one i've seen in a while and and really thought provoking.

I think though that Nike has a bigger LeBron audience, and therefore being the the more "significant" endorsee....factor in lebron's image inchina (which yes i know and saw how the chinese hung on kobe's every move and word), but to bring a point that has been repeated time is on the hands oflebron alot more due to age and potential.

LeBron also offers a way lot more in terms of personality and character, from his impersonations to his "acting" and the bottomline: his play on thecourt. Yes kobe can get his and yes he's reigning MVP but how many more do u think he can get, especially now with the team dynamic the lakers arehaving...kobe doesnt need to be an individual assassin as much anymore......lebron is gonna continue to dominate and there'll be a lot more of "did usee what lebron did last night?" than that 4 kobe in the years to come....thats the major marketing factor and thats what's gonna see lebronmore....and for the point that lebron's management isnt as up to scratch as kobe, again just like with everything, he's young, in due time it will cometo him....it took him a while to get his first scoring title and it will take him a while to get his mvp (although i've jumped on da wagon with thisyear's predictions)....lebron for the future (which in business and where sustainability is the major factor) IS THE MAJOR KEEPER FOR NIKE.
 
i would believe kobe is more valuable to nike. they dont run ad campaigns for kobe because his shoes sell themselves because kobe and the lakers have a hugefollowing.

i would say that around me there are more people wearing kobes than wearing lebrons. not only that, but the people who wear the kobes typically have them on orshortly after release day where most of the people i know that wear lebrons got them off of a sale rack or through a hook up.

also, kobes shoes in general better suit the average basketball player than lebron's shoes do. lebron's shoes are built for him and often times are tooheavy for the average recreational player where as weight is a major priority with kobe's shoes.

im not saying its true but i can definitely see it being true.
 
Originally Posted by RockDeep

You guys keep saying Nike is hyping the player with all these exclusive releases, but most of you don't realize that most of the General buying public knows about these releases. When one may see an HOH shoe.. its nothing but a crazy color shoe that youngster is wearing.

It actually IS the hypocrisy of Nike. They don't want to give credance to the "Sneaker Head" because thats not their core consumer, but yet they now cater to you because they see a chance for more money when in fact it could be ALOT more money.

This could end up biting them in the ++$ until those TNT HDs come out and the guys Hype that shoe EVERY Show because Kenny finally has a shoe he can call PART of his.. Charles will clown it and Ernie won't know what to do.. other than Chime in and be appreciative..

Hype comes when Media outlets get ahold of the Youtubes and TNT hypes the shoe.. Other than that.. only WE on the MEssage Boards Hype the shoe..
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I also see the player hyping up the shoe. They endorse Kobe, who is currently the face of the NBA, colorways to appeal to an NBA fanbase(which isbasically the targeted basketball consumers), putting limited releases on it, and causing all sorts of hype on both the shoes and the player. Not only did Kobebring all the hype, but the Olympics most of all. As everyone saw, basically every player on the court had a pair of HDs on. Some kids favorite player fromChina, Spain, etc. had a pair of HD on, funneling down to the kid wanting a pair, endorsing it worldwide.


Originally Posted by mt3130

i would believe kobe is more valuable to nike. they dont run ad campaigns for kobe because his shoes sell themselves because kobe and the lakers have a huge following.

i would say that around me there are more people wearing kobes than wearing lebrons. not only that, but the people who wear the kobes typically have them on or shortly after release day where most of the people i know that wear lebrons got them off of a sale rack or through a hook up.

also, kobes shoes in general better suit the average basketball player than lebron's shoes do. lebron's shoes are built for him and often times are too heavy for the average recreational player where as weight is a major priority with kobe's shoes.

im not saying its true but i can definitely see it being true.
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True, but not so true. That vid of jumping over a car, pool, grandma, house, and whatever else he jumped over was probably the biggest campaignads to date. And it depends on location, ive heard of Lebron's being the popular shoe in an area, and vice versa with Kobe's. I honestly hear a lotabout LeBrons more than Kobes on the court though. The most important thing, well to me, is the ankle protection and traction of the shoe. Ive heard that KBsare usually light, but lacks traction and ankle protection. I remember when the Lebron IVs came out, everyone complained about the weight, but still foundthemselves wearing them on the court. Thats just MY personal opinion though.
 
the main point that all but one or two of you even touched on is that Kobe is a demi-god in China, where he has the best selling NBA jersey. Kobe'spopulatiry and recognition is way beyond Lebron's right now and for the near future. Nike is not ignoring the American market but they are definatelyputting most of their focus in expanding in China where at one point they were opening a store a day.

Lebron's day as the most important figure will come but they need to grow his international profile a little more first. they tried a few years ago but thecommercials of him fighting a dragon or whatever got a big backlash from the Far East so efforts to promote him there were scaled back some. But Kobe hasalways been a favorite in China and Nike is not shy about using that.

and it was probably Darren Rovell from CNBC he used to work at ESPN.
 
Kobe is definitely more valuable to Nike than Lebron atm seeing as how most of his shoes/clothing sell much better than Lebron. Personally I feel as if Nike istrying to get as much out of Lebron before his absurd contract is over (theyre spitting out 10 ugly colorways each shoe).
 
Kobe and LeBron are the NBA's top athletes. LeBron is in his 6th season, Kobe is in his 11th(?). Kobe has reached maturity and will begin his steadydecline in the next few seasons - LeBron is still on his way up and learning. So it follows that Kobe is the priority right now as he is as good as he is goingto be from here on out. LeBron is where it's at for Nike in the long run, but they have to milk Kobe while he's still producing milk.
 
Originally Posted by Vietishi

Kobe is definitely more valuable to Nike than Lebron atm seeing as how most of his shoes/clothing sell much better than Lebron. Personally I feel as if Nike is trying to get as much out of Lebron before his absurd contract is over (theyre spitting out 10 ugly colorways each shoe).
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nah Lebron's contract wasn't "absurd" it was somewhat inflated but even just publicity and the media talking about the size of the contractpaid for it 10x over. more often than not the average basketball fan was aware of the amount Lebron got coming out of high school. since then Nike hasunquestionable dominance of the basketball shoe market.

Lebron is still one of the biggest stars in the league and will remain so for a while, it wouldn't hurt Nike so much if he left but I still doubt they willlet him go. stars that fans care about are far and few between as you can tell with derrick rose and mike beasley getting pitiful shoe deals, you don'tjust let a money maker walk away.
 
i want to say lebron is heading on a better route...

but then popularity counts overall. and it doesnt hurt when lebron gives his praises as well.
 
Damn Lebron must be hurt about that video. He gave Kobe Kudos and got a 3 to the face.
The question is not who's more valuable to Nike, but whose more popular to the consumer and try to bank off that. About the 2k4s, 2k5s, and HDs not beingKobe shoe; just because the shoe is not named after him doesnt mean its not his shoe. The Zoom Generation was Lebron's first shoe but wasnt named after himand FYI the new Zoom Ambassdor and Zoom Power are part of Lebrons line but not part of the Sig line-- Its called Expansion. Thats like saying Jumpmans are notpart of Jordan's line. They are still part of the line just not a Signature shoe.
 
... My worthless 2cents,

Both Kobe and Lebron are hot commodities, so it doesn't hurt to have both. The question isn't really who's better than who in terms of who'smoving more units. It is not like Nike can't afford to have both, since they're signed to big contracts and Nike has no problem paying them fatchecks. Neither is the fact that, it's not like Nike doesn't have the resources to produce shoes that both can endorse and sell respectively. ForNike, it's a win win situation to be able to have both these players under it's belt. Kobe and Lebron are huge in America and in the ever-growingAsian countries.

It's just a matter of preference for the consumer, some like Lebron and his shoes so they buy his stuff and same goes with Kobe. Nike's the big winnersince it's got both grounds covered.
 
Worldwide Kobe is more valuable to Nike right now. His jersey is #1 in sales....he is the face of the hyperdunk shoe.....

Future....who knows.

They will both be battling this out for the next several years for sure.
 
i think that the guard position is overall more marketable than forward, so i would be inclined to agree. however, lebron is a versatile forward, and his youthhelps him as well. overall they're both pretty damn marketable
 
based on the number of shoes they realease for these guys i would say LeBron is more valuable. If nike really wanted to market the Hyperdunk for kobe theywould have called it the Kob IV.
Lebron's lineup is so much more extensive than Kobes and much more widely distributed, at least from my own experience. I've seen the Kobe 3 in lessthan half the sneaker stores i've seen lebron shoes in. They don't market Kobe's line. If he was more valuable to them dont you think we wouldactually see them try to sell his shoes.

Lebron is all over TV and they show kobe on youtube. Figure it out.
 
regarding two threads previous to this one:

Onlyfootball: Kobe is playing the 3 this year, Lebron and he are both swingmen so they are guard/fowards

bcountry11: you are still failing to acknowledge the rapidly expanding Asian market and Europe for that matter. plus tv vs youtube are you kidding? viral adsare the hottest right now and you could argue you get more meaningful exposure from internet-based videos then a 30 second commercial on tv that 1/3 of thepeople will tivo FF over.
 
i haven't really read the entire thread so i apologize if i repeat what other people have already said...

just wanted to give my two cents...

i think some of the reasons Kobe could be considered more valuable to Nike would be:

1. he's a proven champion - he's won three championships...i mean, that has to mean something.
2. he's respected (for the most part) - i mean, kobe's broken tons of records, won scoring titles, an mvp, all star mvp's, 81-point game,etc...whether or not you like the guy personally, you gotta respect his game, so i think consumers that dont favor any athlete more than another might see thatand gravitate towards his brand
3. he's head and shoulders above any basketball athelete in Asia and Europe - he has the most popular jersey in europe and asia, and his shoes and clothessell out instantly over in Asia. Nike isn't jus an American brand. They make a lot of money overseas so i can see why he'd be more valuable, you know?

4. his sneakers are more gutsy - now, this might be argued, but this is jus how i feel. Every Lebron sneaker that has come out has been, in my opinion, verybland. You could almost see any of his shoes as an uptempo or strength team nike shoe. just take of all the lbj logos and its a simple nike shoe with a fewnice details. Kobe has really put the shoe game in the different direction. First, his logo isn't his initials or his face or anything that looks like him.it's a symbol that looks like a sword. That's the first time an athlete chose to do something like that. Then, with the idea of putting free technologyin the Kobe 2's. To the idea of modeling the Strengths after Orca whales. Then, to the Lites which were the lightest basketball sneaker ever. Then thethree's when the frickin shoe looked like a snake. Then, the viral video campaign he did with Nike's Hyperdunks that was extremely different fromlebron, jordan, melo, iverson, or any other athlete. Now, with the fours modeling them after soccer cleats and having them slightly lower than your averagebasketball sneaker. I mean, Kobe truly has given a new spin to the sneaker game. There's no doubt that his sneakers are a hit or miss because of theirunique design, but you gotta give him credit for doing something different.

I think Lebron has a lot of time to become more respected by NBA fans all around the world. It's not his fault that people put so much pressure on him tosucceed.
 
best thing to happen for Nike was for Kobe to take over in the last few minutes of the Gold game....it pretty much cemented his world popularity for at leastanother 4 years.
 
Ummm if you didnt know, the 2k4's were supposed to be Kobe's first shoe with Nike but we all know what happened with that.
 
kobe might be more valuable right now.

but in the bigger picture, and long run, lebron is.

i mean, right now, of course kobe can sell shoes. he just restored his reputation (again) and won the mvp.

in our eyes, he exemplifies performance.

lebron though, he represents this lifestyle feel, this jordan feel.

i can't really imagine people collecting kobe's as a sneaker habbit, just because they do look sporty.

they do look like you're suppose to wear them to play basketball, and to the gym.

but lebron's seem to go that streetwear way.

and hey, they pay lebron more for a reason.
 
Originally Posted by stickinkicks

kobe might be more valuable right now.

but in the bigger picture, and long run, lebron is.

i mean, right now, of course kobe can sell shoes. he just restored his reputation (again) and won the mvp.

in our eyes, he exemplifies performance.

lebron though, he represents this lifestyle feel, this jordan feel.

i can't really imagine people collecting kobe's as a sneaker habbit, just because they do look sporty.

they do look like you're suppose to wear them to play basketball, and to the gym.

but lebron's seem to go that streetwear way.

and hey, they pay lebron more for a reason.
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i agree kobe is the man right now...but Lebron is the face of nike for years to come but if kobe is more vaLuabLe than Lebron then why havent we seen afreakin' kobe commerciaL since '06 when the zk1s came out over here in the US...i want more kobe stuff but it seems you have to go to the big storesand stuff and its rare too see kobe stuff at shoe stores
 
Kobe is definitely more valuable right now, his shoes are
better than any Lebron has put out and with his recent MVP
award, it's only going to get better. But the fact is, he's getting
old and Lebron will soon take over
 
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