33 years ago, my aunt Katie Dunn was the sole passenger on Reebok’s private jet from Boston to an army base in Texas to sign Shaquille O’Neal. Since that fateful day, thousands of American kids wore pumps and cheered on Shaq until rival brand Adidas purchased Reebok in 2005. This sale ultimately led to an all time low revenue figure for Reebok of $1.89 billion in 2015. This marked the first time the iconic brand had sold under $2 billion worth of merchandise since 1989.
Young Reebok exec/my aunt Katie Dunn on her mission to sign Shaq in 1992
Meanwhile, that same year, Shaq sold his name image and likeness to Authentic Brands Group, making him the second largest private shareholder of a company that manages the rights to multiple celebrities and brands such as Champion, Nautica, Brooks Brothers, RVCA, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali. This deal made Shaq extremely wealthy, and positioned him as a pitch man for the portfolio of companies under Authentic Brands Group.
The founder of Authentic Brands Group, Jamie Salter is a visionary, who understands marketing, celebrity, and industry consolidation better than anyone on earth. You can tell from the Netflix series that Jamie and Shaq are close friends, and Shaq convinced Jamie to purchase Reebok from Adidas in 2021.
If you read between the lines, these two have planned a Reebok acquisition for years. There is a great scene in Salters’ office where they reveal some details. However, I can only imagine what it took in terms of promotional commitment from Shaq in order to persuade Jamie Salter that it was a great use of capital to purchase a brand that had completely fallen off in terms of basketball relevance.
You cannot tell from this photo, but Shaq is actually much taller than Salter. Credit: Yahoo
Nonetheless, Salter took the opportunity to market his acquisition of Reebok in a way that no other executive could pull off. He had already done a documentary with David Beckham on Netflix, which saw huge ratings. Again, he executed the same play and aimed that consumer filled Netflix audience towards his own portfolio company, Reebok. Salters produced a docuseries for Netflix called Power Moves, which chronicles Shaq leading the revitalization of Reebok basketball alongside longtime friends, Allen Iverson, and Reebok CEO Todd Krinsky.
The show is a modern version of the Apprentice, except instead of Trump, we got Shaq. The writers at Netflix do a great job of dramatizing signing talent, going to market, and portraying Shaq as the leading executive. We all come out of this docuseries ready to buy a pair of pumps and $10,000 worth of Reebok stock.
Financially, this entire play is more incestuous than an episode of Game of Thrones. The largest shareholder of Authentic Brands Group besides Shaq and Salters is Blackrock. Somehow the same can be said for Netflix who also touts Blackrock as their first or second largest shareholder on a given day.
This is what product marketing and brand integrations look like when given a green light from institutional capital. Power Moves is one hell of an internal chargeback to Blackrock. When you add up Shaq, Reebok, and a full scale Netflix production, this better sell some damn shoes.
This guy is the greatest pitch man in human history Credit: Netflix
None of this marketing strategy is new, but the scale at which it is executed is grandiose. How the hell are our companies supposed to compete against brands that can purchase a shoe company, cut-in a world class celebrity, and distribute product placement disguised as entertainment to every household in America?
You can’t. However, in the short term, you can lean into influencer marketing with an appropriate creator who fits your target market. If you understand your customer acquisition costs, pay cash. If you don’t, use affiliate marketing. If you believe that you cannot live without them, put them on the cap table.
At Freddy Media, we believe in the power of influencers, and that is why Russ Flips Whips is a large shareholder in our company. Russ’ industry profile makes sales, marketing, customer service, and business development a lot easier. He’s our 5’10” Shaq who claims he can dunk.
Here is an example of two businesses we have launched with Russ. First, a dealership training company. Second, we have just launched an online job board to attract the best careers and talent across the car business. Russ will even promote some of these jobs in his social media. Check it out below while we are running a promotion to list your job for free!
