adidas is set to launch the world’s first performance laceless basketball shoe, the T-MAC 4 with HUG Systems Technology on October 29, 2004. Tracy “T-MAC” McGrady, the NBA’s leading scorer each of the last two seasons, will showcase his latest signature shoe on a specially created basketball court along the Shanghai waterfront on Tuesday October 12, 2004 during his preseason visit to China.
The T-MAC 4 features a revolutionary closure system that locks the foot securely in place, providing superior comfort and fit. The process that has led to the HUG Systems Technology began in early 2001 in the office and laboratories of the adidas Innovation Team (a.I.T.). The HUG Systems Technology idea came from the closure system of a ski boot. Martin Jones, lead creator of the adidas Innovation Team said, “Our first goal was to take a cable closure system from the ski boot industry and see if we could implement that into a performance court shoe. The team set about trying to find the best line of tension to achieve optimum foothold and security in the product. We wanted to improve comfort and security by tying the athlete’s foot more securely to the platform.”
The HUG element fits over the top of the area of the foot. This is attached to the rear of the shoe by cables that put the element under tension, which is maintained by a closure device on the heel counter. The closure device, a slider/lever system is used to control the fit. Turning the adjustment wheel moves the slider up and down on the thread, giving the athlete the most precise fit possible.
After extensive testing to find the best cable and strap system and adding the precision lever for the perfect fit, adidas was ready to take the technology to T-MAC. “We went to T-MAC and told him that there was the possibility of doing the world’s first laceless shoe, and we showed him the prototype,” stated David Bond, Global Head of adidas Basketball. “He said if there was any way that we could fit that technology into a hot shoe for him, he wanted to be the first. And then we told him the name of the shoe, that it was called HUG. T-MAC got a big smile on his face, and said, ‘Yeah, that works’.”
With the technology proven and with the support and excitement of one of the world’s greatest basketball players, the project was turned over to the adidas design team. Kyle Pulli, Senior Designer for adidas Basketball footwear met with T-MAC to get a better feel for his personality and style. “I actually took a lot of inspiration from Tracy’s Lamborghini. That’s how the whole proliferation of the back of the heel element came about, looking at the back end of his Lamborghini and the carbon fiber element.”
T-MAC explained the benefits of wearing the first laceless performance basketball shoe, stating, “Kicks with laces always crease after a while and the fit changes throughout the game. So even if the fit is tight at the beginning, it changes by the end of the first quarter. The T-MAC 4 uses a lever at the back of the shoe to lock the foot into place. The fit never changes, so the shoe never creases and it stays comfortable throughout the game.”
Marketing Support:
The T-MAC 4 will be supported with the global TV advertising campaign (set to launch on October 26, 2004), “Unstoppable”, which continues the recent string of award-winning “Impossible is Nothing” adidas commercials. The TV commercial will feature a mixture of T-MAC in action and computer animation to create an action-packed ad highlighting his drive to overcome his opponents, both on and off the court.
Further, the T-MAC 4 online campaign features a T-MAC 4 HUG Systems Technology Information Center at www.adidas.com/basketball and exciting on-line advertising partnerships with www.espn.com, www.foxsports.com, www.yahoo.com, and www.nba.com.
Rounding out the fully-integrated T-MAC 4 marketing campaign is a print campaign within major publications (ESPN, Dime, Inside Stuff, School Sports, SLAM, Source, Rides and XXL) in the US, a global print and outdoor campaign, a strong retail presence and a comprehensive public relations package.
Product Information:
The T-MAC 4 will be featured in two initial colorways: white/black (releasing October 29, 2004) and black/white (releasing December 10, 2004), with additional colorways hitting the market in January and February 2005. The T-MAC 4 will carry a retail price of $125.00. The T-MAC 4 footwear will be accompanied by the apparel package which contains the T-MAC 4 shorts, shirts and jackets being the main components in the collection.
The T-MAC’s have been among the best-selling sports shoes over the last three years, easily adidas’ best-selling performance basketball shoe ever, with the T-MAC 1 and T-MAC 2 quickly becoming the number one selling sports shoe in the US during their debut.
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