Allbirds is a heterogeneous type of shoe that supports up to $30 million in financing.
The founder of Allbirds used to be a New Zealand football player. He made shoes across the border, not only took a million dollars investment, but also became the darling of Silicon Valley “unexpectedly†– the new product was sold out in just two months. .
In the field of casual sneakers, Allbirds is a different kind of – up to $30 million in financing with just two shoe types. In addition to the minimalist logo-free cool style, forever $95, Allbirds' most special is the fabric of the shoe – the upper is made of wool and castor seed oil, and the bare feet wear no pressure, called “ The most comfortable sports shoes in the world."
Recently, the media BusinessInsider reported this alternative e-commerce brand. The article said that the founder of Allbirds was a New Zealand football player. He made shoes across the border, not only took a million dollars investment, but also the product of "Scidentally" became the darling of Silicon Valley - the new product was released only two months ago. Announced sold out. Countless entrepreneurs and venture capitalists sent their photos of Allbirds to social media, almost messing up the entire Silicon Valley social network.
From professional football players to corporate leaders
If you use two to describe Tim Brown, the founder of Allbirds, it must be "tasteful" and "spotted".
Prior to founding Allbirds, Brown was an active professional football player in New Zealand. There are many benefits for athletes, one of which is that he often receives a wide variety of shoes, especially from his sponsor Nike.
Brown quickly discovered the doorway: over the years, high-performance shoes and fashion shoes have made great progress in innovation and design, but the daily wearable sports shoes have not grown. "I look like they are a 'walking billboard' when they wear them. They only stick Nike's trademarks one by one to the pile of Vietnamese-made shoes, and then sell them by celebrity marketing." Brown Tucao .
Fortunately, Brown had previously studied at a design university with a football scholarship. After realizing this drawback of footwear production, he did not stop at the spit, but instead developed the idea of ​​creating a sports shoes.
Then, as if destined, he quickly thought of making New Zealand's specialty, wool, a vamp. With nearly 30 million sheep, New Zealand is one of the world's best-known wool producers. “At the time I was inspired by the cooking concept from 'farm to the table'. I found that the sneaker industry rarely used natural fabrics. After all, they were cumbersome to handle. But in fact, compared to synthetic fabrics, the breathability of wool fabrics. And the touch is much better."
This flashing idea sounded good, so Brown immediately decided to start creating Allbirds, a company that "made the world's most comfortable sports shoes." After the end of the 2010 World Cup, Brown retired from the team and plunged into the production of sports shoes fabrics. It was only four years later, in 2014, when Brown made his debut on the startup incubation crowdfunding platform KickStarter, he was relieved: the crowdfunding raised $119,000 for Allbirds.
Allbirds founder Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger
The success of the first show gave Brown the capital to dig up Joey Zwillinger, a renewables entrepreneur in San Francisco. This time Allbirds is no longer a theorist on paper, but a startup that can really use new fabrics for practical operations.
They finally decided to use very fine wool with a diameter of 12.5 microns - merino wool. Joey Zwillinger said that from prototype to final product, they have done countless experiments on the strength and flexibility of merino wool, including testing for temperature regulation and wicking.
In March 2016, the crystallization of sweat - Wool Runners (Chinese meaning "sportsman wearing wool") was born, and it looks very attractive - the wool upper made of Italian factory, plain and simple Appearance, only $95, can be thrown into the washing machine for machine washing... This Allbirds debut product has a special feature, that is, its shoes do not have the huge logo of ordinary sports shoes, only the tongue The two bird-like patterns on the heel can be used to identify the origin of the bird.
Allbirds' first shoe "Wool Runners"
However, this "low-key" does not hinder the popularity of Wool Runners.
Wool Runners not only won a million dollars investment, but also "accidentally" became the darling of Silicon Valley, released only two months after the sale. Numerous entrepreneurs and venture capitalists sent their photos of Wool Runners to social media, almost messing up the entire Silicon Valley social network. Brett Jackson, who worked for Croce, the US casual shoe giant, and then the general manager of the venture capital fund, was one of them. He is not only one of the investors of Allbirds, but also the number one fan. In July 2016, Jackson posted a graphic on Twitter: "I just ended my ten-day trip to Spain, only brought my Allbirds, and walked 270,000 steps."
Even industry insiders have asserted that, over time, Allbirds will become the standard for dressing for Silicon Valley people like the hoodies and T-shirts of the year.
"We turned Wool Runners into a visual symbol," Brown said.
Only rely on two products to fight the world
Why can Allbirds stand out in the sneaker industry of the masters? In fact, behind the "e-commerce" aura, Allbirds is more like a technology company. This can be seen in its management philosophy.
First of all, Allbirds has long been adhering to the "small fire slow stew" concept, founded only two products have been developed so far: Wool Runners and Wool Loungers. The release process of these two products is also completely different from the general shoes. For example, Wool Runners, which has been in production for a full year and a half since it was released in March last year, has been replaced by other brands, and it has long been sold out, but Wool Runners is still on the Allbirds website for $95. . Why is Wool Runners so long-lived? The secret is to "patch."
Allbirds' second shoe "Wool Loungers"
Allbirds will first mass-produce Wool Runners in small quantities, then use the "month" cycle to repair it over and over again based on user feedback. “There was a customer complaining that the inner label of the tongue was very uncomfortable. When the next product change, we changed the label,†said co-founder Joey Zwillinger. Two products have been sold to date, with a total of 27 improvements.
Second, Allbirds is also very good at using social media to "build momentum" for themselves. In the 2017 Internet Trends Report by renowned securities analyst Mary Meeker, Allbirds is listed as one of the "most responsive" brands. It not only updates product designs in a timely manner based on user feedback, but also uses social media to maintain its own popularity.
According to media report Digiday, in March last year, Allbirds launched a sky blue limited edition men's shoes called Kotare Sky. A large number of women were also attracted by these shoes. They rushed to leave a message under Allbirds' Instagram account, requesting to increase the female size. . After researching, Allbirds selected one of the female netizens named Susan and promised that she would provide female size in the next batch of production. This image of the close people helped Allbirds to rise a wave.
In addition, Allbirds has also made a lot of effort in content creation. For example, every time Allbirds introduces a new color, it will take a "color-matched" photo - such as lavender-colored shoes lying on a lavender pile. “The 'Color Matching' game is the most attractive comment and praise,†said Julie Channing, marketing officer at Allbirds.
Allbirds' "Color Match" game
Today, 70% of Allbirds' sales are done online, and 30% are completed online. Although Allbirds' current sales are limited to the United States and New Zealand, in China, it has already become a hot sale of Taobao. The comfortable and convenient features not only attract the middle-class people who are pursuing consumption upgrades, but also exclaimed. “,†it has also made it the “best gift†for many Chinese consumers to give to their parents.
Editor in charge: Wang Zhen
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