The 2009 Air Jordan: Nike's performance innovations and design features

Shoe Blog

Brand Stewardship Blog: What's in Your Jordans?

Other than the occasional Hanes commercial, we really aren't seeing too much of Michael Jordan these days. After his record-shattering career spanning several decades in college and professional basketball -- and trying his hand at a few other sports and a fondly remembered blockbuster movie (anyone else have a hankering to watch Space Jam again?) -- one can hardly blame the man for wanting a bit of relaxation. But if you think we're just sitting back and relaxing, too, you've got another think coming.

Air Jordans might have been the perfect shoe when they were first introduced, but like the Master of the Air himself we here at Nike keep on striving to improve upon perfection. New features and changes to construction are a constant part of our effort to produce the most performance for your feet, and to make sure you look good in 'em, too. Check out just a few of the features in our latest incarnation of these ever-popular pedal pumpers:

Feel up to a swashbuckling duel? You'll be ready for some fancy swordplay in your new Air Jordans, with lateral areas of breathable mesh to keep that foot well ventilated, slashed in a sleek and controlled design inspired by the skill, athleticism, and strategy of world class fencing.

As any good swordsman or b-ball player will tell you, the best offense is a good defense. The 2009 Air Jordans have been designed with responsiveness as their key feature, emulating MJ's ability to control the ball and the game like a chess Grand Master. The spacing of construction elements, the selection of the right pieces for the right moves, and the strategy of the long-game are all built into this pair of sneakers. We can't help you when it comes to choosing your moves, but we made sure you have the right support for all of them!

We like to think that, when it comes to making a performance-enhancing shoe, energy efficiency is apt -- Articulated Propulsion Technology, that is. The unique and never-duplicated layering of materials in the soles of the shoes takes the energy coming in from a hard landing and puts it back in your next bounce, improving your run, your jump, and easing the strain on those hard-working feet. Just take a few strides and you'll feel what we mean.

His Airness will never be replaced, of course, but the Air Jordan team continues to look for inspiration from some of today's established and rising stars. We knew we had MJ's seal of approval for the changes we made to his shoe in 2009, but grabbing an endorsement from Dwayne Wade -- a 2006 NBA champion, a gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and the scoring champion in 2009 -- really has us tickled. If he says the shoe works for him, can you really afford to be out of the hoop….er, that is, loop?

Change is good, as long as it's the right change. We know you liked Air Jordan's in all of their previous forms, and so did we. We can always do better, though, and this time we've really outdone ourselves. So go ahead -- admire, aspire, acquire. We've got plenty of pairs to go around, this time, and after taking these pups for a spin we promise you'll never want another pair of high-performance athletic shoes again. Until we come out with our next round of improvements, that is (and given the job we've done this time around, finding places for those improvements won't be easy).

Industry News Blog: Why Aren't They Jordans?

Celebrity endorsed shoes are no longer a new phenomenon; the popularity of the Air Jordan model of business has long since become an endemic and expected feature of the industry. Celebrity associations with a range of specific products have taken off following the success of the Air Jordan concept, in fact, to the point that it is now a ubiquitous element of advertising. This is not to suggest that Nike and the Air Jordan line were the originators of celebrity endorsement, which has been around longer than mass media, but it is interesting to note how clearly and directly the Air Jordan concept is being used in the footwear industry, with celebrity and especially athlete names now directly linked with specific shoes produced by a number of companies. We don't think any of them quite compare either in celebrity or in shoe quality to our own, but we'll let you be the judge.

Puma has been putting a lot of emphasis on its endorsement by Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt, the Jamaican track star who runs the 100m and 200m dashes faster than any other man alive, and the shoe company recently announced its renewing its deal with the runner through 2013. We love Bolt, and there's certainly no detracting from his immense performance capabilities and his titles -- titles he'll be defending this year during the Summer Games in London -- but the endorsement and, to be frank, the shoe itself both seem rather lackluster. The company and Bolt himself are clearly trying to capitalize on the Olympic fervor that will be emerging in the next few months, but worldwide interest in the Olympics has never been as strong as support for other sports, and even in the United States enthusiasm has waned. Given that Puma's new Bolt-endorsed line of running shoes doesn't really contain any groundbreaking innovations, either, it seems like simply more of the same rather than anything fresh and exciting.

Puma is reaching out to a different market than Nike, it is understood, and Usain Bolt simply does not have the same celebrity status or marketing clout as Michael Jordan. The relationship itself, however, just seems lackluster compared to the long-running Air-Jordan campaign and to other efforts made by other companies in the securing of endorsements and engaging in product-specific celebrity alignments. A rather basic looking running shoe blandly supported by a world-class runner -- the balance isn't there, and neither is they hype. There is more excitement brewed by the new comfort-oriented shoes being released by Asics than there is when it comes to Bolt's purported choice in footwear.

Other celebrity associations with footwear have been more successful, likely because they used people that were more media friendly and actually combined elements of style and innovation into their products. Converse's recent deal with music artists the Gorillaz, Andre 2000, and James Murphy, who released a collaborative song for free download as a part of this campaign, has helped to generate buzz for this iconic brand that is constantly updating its look while retaining its basic structure. The deal and the brand still don't have the flair or the draw that Air Jordans are able to command, but they're miles ahead of Puma and Bolt.

Celebrity endorsements won't be disappearing any time soon, but they also often don't appear to be actually going anywhere.