AND1 Basketball

And1 Basketball

And1 began as a business project for several students at the University of Pennsylvania in the early 1990’s. The name of the brand is attributed to the call an announcer would make if a player was fouled while shooting but manages to make the basket; “and one” point for the free throw. The company was set to market reasonably priced And1 basketball shoes and apparel. Traditional marketing strategies failed for the product. However, coinciding with the company’s “streetball” slant, with showy And1 basektball moves and flashy plays, slang terms, light trash talk, and later on, the infamous And1 mix tapes were released as part of the reformed marketing scheme.

And1 Basketball Shoes

And1 basketball shoes are the product most frequently associated with the brand, although the company produces a wide array of athletic gear and apparel. The first shoe associated with a professional spokesperson was the “Starbury” shoe, named for Stephon Marbury in 1996. And1 basketball shoes and apparel have been worn by several national basketball teams, including those of Turkey, Slovenia, and Puerto Rico. And1 basketball shoes and apparel are now sold in over 130 countries around the world and the company was sold in 2005 to American Sporting Goods.

And1 Basketball Moves

And1 basketball is most recognized for its streetball advertising schemes for its basketball products. The streetball advertising scheme was spawned when the first And1 mixtape was developed from a tape of now legend Rafer Alston in his early high school streetball days. As previously stated, traditional marketing schemes did not work for And1, so the company utilized this homemade tape of Alston and remade it into a polished video of streetball stunts that led to the mix tapes as they are known today. The first And1 mix tape was handed out with any brand product purchase during the summer of 1999, and over 200,000 tapes were handed out in a three-week period. Planning immediately began to find the next streetball stunt-ster to star in the next mix tape. And1 Mix Tapes Volumes 2 and 3 followed in 2000 and 2001, full of more showy basketball moves associated with streetball. During the summer of 2001, the And1 Mixtape Tour was trademarked and episodes of the tour were shown in segmented series during the fall of 2002. The basketball mix tapes are now created from highlights from the And1 Mixtape tour, which is comprised of a team of players who travel and challenge local talent to basketball streetball style games. Excessively flashy basketball moves and outrageous plays that one would never see in a professional or college level game are exhibited on the mixtapes, due in part to their more lenient rules, though it is televised side by side with “regular” basketball on ESPN and ESPN2. It is just that flashiness that garners And1 mix tape fans and And1 basketball shoe and apparel consumers.