Kenny Powers, K-Swiss, and the Ramifications of Viral Success

By now, you’ve probably seen the radical campaign from K-Swiss where Kenny Powers (a fictional character played by Danny McBride) takes over as CEO (ahem, mother***king CEO) of the company and reinvents their image via profanity-laced one-liners and no shortage of comic gold.

(If you haven’t, scroll down for the video. Make sure you’re wearing headphones at work and children in your immediate vicinity are wearing earmuffs. It’s not safe for work or childhood.)

It’s being lauded as marketing genius from a lot of smart people who know what they’re talking about. And why shouldn’t it? It’s cut through the proverbial clutter and (as of the writing of this post) has been viewed more than 1 million times on YouTube.

Pardon my (ab)use of buzzwords, but it’s been a viral success.

But before we thrust any more accolades, high-fives or advertising awards toward K-Swiss and 72andsunny (the agency that came up with the concept), I wonder if it’s worth examining the possible ramifications of their viral success.

The censored video (if you want to watch the absolutely uncensored version – the one that is truly going viral, click here):

(Ok, just watched this again. Forget what I said about the advertising awards, they’ve definitely earned those).

My gut reaction was split in two ways:

1. This is awesome

As a consumer of entertainment, I can’t get enough of it. You can’t look away from the screen when Kenny Powers is on it. He’s one of the most provocative personalities since Sacha Baron Cohen’s triumvirate of inappropriateness and he’s wildly entertaining. If you’re in the right demographic. Which brings me to my second reaction:

2. Is this right for K-Swiss?

Prior to this campaign, I would have told you that K-Swiss was a bit of a stiff brand, sort of “classic,” and for people who cared about their shoes staying white and matching other articles of clothing they were currently wearing. In other words: not for me. This is a tremendous leap in a different direction with a new target customer.

Maybe abandoning their old image will come back to haunt them, or maybe it’ll pull off exactly what they wanted to achieve. Either way, it’s messaging that gets attention, provides value in the form of entertainment, and is clearly getting media coverage.

But will that make a new generation of people buy K-Swiss? Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps more importantly: will it make an old generation of people stop buying K-Swiss?

Jon Thomas has a smart take over on the Post-Advertising blog (which originally inspired this post and is definitely worth a read):

“It’s certainly not endearing them to their legacy fans that liked the upscale, tennis whites. But maybe they realized that those fans could only take them so far, and there may be an opportunity to take an approach so over the top that any other brand that tried it would only be imitating, not duplicating.”

What’s your take? Should my conservatism in the face of innovation be mocked? We both know Kenny Powers would think so.

This post was originally published on hanelly.com.

http://allanvicynnepradaemo.blogspot.com/ Allan V.

I will laugh , thats a guarantee. will i buy their shoes? which ones are their shoes, see what i mean?
- http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com Chris Blose
  
  That was my thought the first time I saw this, too. Being an Eastbound & Down fan, am I now the target audience for K-Swiss? The old tennis whites are not really my thing, and “tubes” sound like a throwback to Nike Air or Reebok Pumps.
- http://www.twitter.com/hanelly Andrew Hanelly
  
  Therein lies the question, Allan. I would argue that more people have thought about K-Swiss since this campaign than ever before. We’ll see how it results/doesn’t result in sales.
  
  That said, did the brand get tarnished at all? Was this a wise move in the sense of long-term image? Jury is out on that, too.
  
  Thanks for dropping by.
Melanie Powers

I agree with both your points, Andrew. This is hilarious and awesome, both versions. However, not to sound like a prude, but I cringed a little at all the cursing in the uncensored version primarily because it was so unnecessary in most instances. I’m sure this is his character and how he talks, but it was so over the top and seemed a little pathetic, a blatant attempt to gain street cred for what’s been an uncool brand. And “tubes” is a ridiculous name.
- http://www.twitter.com/hanelly Andrew Hanelly
  
  I think the only “real” part of the video is actually the name “tubes.” That makes your comment even funnier!
  
  I agree that it’s over the top, but perhaps the only way for K-Swiss to undoubtedly make the statement that they are not just for preppy, polished people who say things like “pardon me, but could you pass the Grey Pupon?”
Tom

I guess i’m not in their target, because I just find this to be distasteful.
- http://www.twitter.com/hanelly Andrew Hanelly
  
  I think they’ll get a lot of that response, Tom.
Jeff Kryger

First off, thank you for the opportunity to watch this video again. So funny.

And I would say they accomplished exactly what they were going for, as prior to this I never even would have considered K-Swiss, but now I would at least remember them if I see the brand in stores, and be more likely to give them a shot.

Am I going to rush out and buy them? No. But they certainly are more front of mind for the next time I am in the market
- http://www.twitter.com/hanelly Andrew Hanelly
  
  It looks like they earned your top of mindedness, Jeff. I think it was a smart move if only for the reason that an entire new crop of people are even thinking about them at all.
  
  Thanks for dropping by!
joe carter

I bought my first tubes last week. Now I parade around in them at work and when in a situation I ask myself “What would Kenny do?” Haven’t been fired yet, but at least now I am having fun.
- http://www.twitter.com/hanelly Andrew Hanelly
  
  Joe – Had you ever owned a pair of K-Swiss shoes prior to this campaign? Are you a viral video convert??
http://www.joelcreese.com Joel

I hadn’t thought of K-Swiss in ages and only associated the brand with stiff, upper-crust hoity-toidyness. But at least now I’m thinking about the shoes. I think it would have made sense to get more into the actual physicality of the shoe — what makes it different? What are the top benefits? — because by the end I was a little done with it. But overall, I think this is a strong idea.
- http://www.twitter.com/hanelly Andrew Hanelly
  
  Agreed, Joel. Why not show some of the product benefits even in an overly exaggerated way? The bravado is definitely entertaining, but they focus too much on Kenny and not enough on the shoe. Maybe that would be forcing it, but it would at least bring the product more into focus.
  
  My question is: Would doing that impede the viral success this campaign has had?
  
  Thanks for dropping by.
  - Phil
    
    Totally distastefull campaign. I was actually drawn to K-Swiss looking for running shoes due to endorsements from top triatheltes including Chris Lieto. Their trainers actually get good reviews. However when I came across these videos, I was shocked and appalled. Makes me wonder if K-Swiss is really a serious athetic shoe company or a sketchers wannabe.
http://www.joelcreese.com Joel

Thanks for the reply. There’s almost no discussion of the shoe that I remember — just something about being lightweight and something else about the top of the shoe (?). I think the last 45 seconds or so are basically filler and too much of the same, and you’re right that they could have used that time to get into the shoes themselves.

I know they’re walking a fine line and don’t want to make an actual “commercial,” but as it stands I know nothing about the shoes — other than they don’t look that great and seem fairly low-tech. Maybe they could have worked the benefits into the Mark Cuban section — and who knew Michael Bay would be a much better actor than Cuban?

Kenny Powers, K-Swiss, and the Ramifications of Viral Success

1. This is awesome

2. Is this right for K-Swiss?

Written by: Andrew Hanelly