I picked up a pair of these wicked tobe sneakers on the weekend, and I was super impressed. I had seen a bit of hype about them from a few people, so had high expectations. I am also notoriously picky when it comes to shoes. They definitely delivered.
They have got a whole lot of stuff right, including of course making some killer shoes. Most importantly though I think they have woven their story into their shoes. They are telling their story, and encouraging tobe wearers to tell it to others. A couple of examples:
Each pair of shoes comes with a number stamped on each of the shoes: 64 on the left (New Zealand’s international calling prefix), and 81 on the right (the year that the brothers behind the project were born – I think).
The tounge is a whole grid of numbers of which you can choose some (or none) to punch out. For example, you could punch out the date you bought them, your birthday, your girlfriends birthday (they tried to convince me this was a great idea), or some kind of pattern. It’s a nice little way to customise them, and a great little conversation starter when you are showing them off to your friends.
They have also put together some awesome photography and promo videos for their launch, like the one below.
Their launch collection comes in three styles, the 1.6 (kind of a sky top), the 1.0 (mid) and 0.6 (low). They each come in a couple of different colourways, and are all constructed from beautiful Whanganui leather.
I am stoked to see such great design, and such a genuine, well thought out and implemented brand story coming out of NZ. You should definitely buy some.
A couple of months back I went for a big Saturday night and absentmindedly left my phone at home. For the first couple of hours this made me feel really anxious. I considered catching a taxi home just to get it. What would I miss out on? Who would I not meet up with? What would happen?
To cut a long story short, I ended up having one of the best nights out I have had this year. I went to a great party, met some great people, came home to nothing of any consequence waiting for me on my phone.
This got me thinking about my reliance on technology. How this device that is supposedly designed to bring people together was actually removing me from the moment, always wondering what else was going on, and where else I might need to be. As anyone that knows me will attest I am obsessed with my phone.
I think to borrow from the folks at Vodafone and ‘make the most of now’ we sometimes need to forget about being connected to the world, and instead really concentrate on what is going on then and there.
I know that it is something that I am going to make a habit of doing more often.
Version3.0 is the virtual home of me, Duncan Blair. You will find me writing about an eclectic mix of branding, marketing, music, things that look good, and anything else that I find interesting. For more about me, head on over to find out all about version3.0.
