mi adidas

In a surprise that can only be called serendipitous, I found a sweet email from Adidas in my inbox two nights ago announcing the launch of mi adidas (clever wordplay there), a site for customizing one-off sets of shoes... straight on the heels of my NIKEiD post a day earlier. I love my Adidas shoes, but there can only be one 'smartest kid in the online class' and we're reserving that for Nike at the moment. Here's why:

1. Interface. While mi adidas is certainly navigable, its got the plot a bit wrong. I want to choose my colors and know my options straight away. I dont want to be asked my gender / shoe size / shoe width first. That's what happened when mom took me to the store right before school was back in session. I'm going to assume you can figure out a way to make these shoes for me regardless of those details. While Adidas sports a more classic and clean interface, certain UI options were overlooked as well: it's great to show me the timeless Stan Smith on the homepage and let me customize it, but let me select it right there. I want to do the customizing without being required to jump through several categories to get there. (eds note: tried this on Safari and Firefox for Mac; perhaps it is clickable via Internet Explorer but I can't verify that.)

2. Urgency. Nike are the masters of imploring you to get on with the matter. Just Do It, right? The contest is always the context-- the Royale32 tournament, or the Euro2008 ID soccer campaign-- giving you the impression that time is limited. Those contests are satellites of the main NIKEiD site to be sure, but even hitting the iD site through your generic login, you'll see terms such as 'Spring Collection' and a display presentation like you'd find at the local boutique. Translation: you're out shoe shopping, be impulsive, have some fun. If you're not feeling it yet, maybe you oughtta click on the Nike Sportswear Music widget in the corner (yep, you can buy the music you're listening to via itunes or visit the artist's site).

So while I'll applaud mi adidas for the efforts so far, I'd say its a bit more like shopping for shoes at the suburban mall, while NikeiD is hangin' somewhere in fashionable mid-town.

NIKEiD throwdown

Nike iD and the Nike iD Studio are all about specialization; a brilliant concept to involve customers in unique "one-offs" if you will. I've never really believed Nike makes a ton of money off the iD concept, but it plays well with the younger crowd and keeps them true to their street roots.

So what better way to play up those roots than an old-school East vs. West throwdown. Enter NIKEiD Royale 32, a design contest where people are required to create their entries at the NYC Mercer location or the LA Montalban location, and voting occurs online. 32 contenders, 4 weeks, and one winner. Very cool, and painless... vote and get on with it. Purchase your choice if you want. No hassle, no commitment. Nicely executed, with the one exception...Nike are masters of the Inbox but terribly frustrating for passing links along to friends or mining for yourself. Meaning, you'll get something cool via email and Nike will dial you in straight away, but good look stumbling along through their site(s) and finding the unexpected treasure.