They were hip for a while, but didn't know how to stay relevant. Lululemon, puma, Asics (onitsuka tiger), and a few other brands pushed shoes into the space they were occupying. Allbirds didn't do much to generate brand loyalty.
They gambled on sustainability driving sales - but customers don't care about sustainability - or at least its usually way down the list of factors they consider. Its also debatable how sustainable allbirds products actually are.
Allbirds tried to innovate with - workout gear made of wool (this sounds like an April Fool's joke). Some of the gear was see through.
The root of this is branding. All clothing/shoe/etc companies are simply marketing machines. All of their products can be knocked off. Some companies do a better job at marketing than others and thus extend their brand life. Allbirds simply ran through their life cycle more quickly than some others. They will be bought and absorbed by someone bigger... perhaps to reemerge down the road.
Allbirds tried to innovate with - workout gear made of wool (this sounds like an April Fool's joke). Some of the gear was see through.
Not trying to start an argument, but pretty much every running brand has merino wool workout shirts and socks. It's not that weird. Tracksmith has an entire merino wool line of gear.
I think a lot of companies underestimate the value of maintaining a physical retail presence. Even if people are buying online, you probably need a showroom to market your product.
By the time I'd first started getting targeted ads for Allbirds, they'd already closed their only physical store in my city. As a healthcare worker, their product is exactly the kind of thing I'd buy multiple times per year if I tried them and liked them. I'm on my feet all day and need comfy shoes that visually pair well with scrubs. But I'm not going to buy their product if I can't walk into a store and try them on first.
They apparently didn't do a good job marketing on me because I had to guess what they sell before clicking on this thread. I was guessing sport earbuds?
Allbirds tried to innovate with - workout gear made of wool (this sounds like an April Fool's joke). Some of the gear was see through.
Not trying to start an argument, but pretty much every running brand has merino wool workout shirts and socks. It's not that weird. Tracksmith has an entire merino wool line of gear.
Yeah but the real issue for All Birds with that product was just incompetence on the development side. Merino T's and socks are easy, when it comes to tights (something that is literally meant to be worn "tight") you have to be making it out of some decent gauge textile . How they weren't able to get that right (and they messed it up twice across a launch, recall and launch again is laugable.
But their biggest killer was making performance running shoes out of the same basic textile they made their casual "tech dad" shoes out of. Running shoes aren't meant to be made of single layer wool blend textiles that are "soft and plush" - they just aren't.
One of the big issues I know the brand had was that their founders Joey and Tim, had completely different ideas about what the brand was supposed to be. I was told by someone I knew who worked there that it was as crazy as going from meeting to meeting where Joey was "we are an athletic casual brand for wealthy 45+ year olds" and Tim Brown was like "we are going to be a lifestyle performance brand for active young professionals".
They also made the classic small brand mistake of hiring former big brand cogs like Kate Ridley (adidas) that they thought would transform the business, only to realize that the reality is actually a lot of these people are utterly useless when tasked with transforming things on their own accord - they are simply lucky, highly paid role players.
Sucks because it was a cool little brand with a lot of potential.
Not trying to start an argument, but pretty much every running brand has merino wool workout shirts and socks. It's not that weird. Tracksmith has an entire merino wool line of gear.
Yeah but the real issue for All Birds with that product was just incompetence on the development side. Merino T's and socks are easy, when it comes to tights (something that is literally meant to be worn "tight") you have to be making it out of some decent gauge textile . How they weren't able to get that right (and they messed it up twice across a launch, recall and launch again is laugable.
But their biggest killer was making performance running shoes out of the same basic textile they made their casual "tech dad" shoes out of. Running shoes aren't meant to be made of single layer wool blend textiles that are "soft and plush" - they just aren't.
One of the big issues I know the brand had was that their founders Joey and Tim, had completely different ideas about what the brand was supposed to be. I was told by someone I knew who worked there that it was as crazy as going from meeting to meeting where Joey was "we are an athletic casual brand for wealthy 45+ year olds" and Tim Brown was like "we are going to be a lifestyle performance brand for active young professionals".
They also made the classic small brand mistake of hiring former big brand cogs like Kate Ridley (adidas) that they thought would transform the business, only to realize that the reality is actually a lot of these people are utterly useless when tasked with transforming things on their own accord - they are simply lucky, highly paid role players.
Sucks because it was a cool little brand with a lot of potential.
As I said, it's marketing... you can't market a brand if you don't know who your target is and what you stand for.... ... it's all about telling a story that people want to buy.
I just got in from walking the dog and I was wearing an old pair of Adidas Bostons. We got caught in the rain and it wasn't a monsoon or anything, but my feet were cold and wet by the end of the walk. I seriously thought, "should have worn my Allbirds." In my mind, that's what they are good for, stuff like walking the dog on a crappy day.
Also, having a cool product, needs to be proven and proven again over time. Sometimes you have pay elite athletes, celebrities and influencers to use your product.