How a High-Flying Brand Lost Its Sole
Posting today about one of the more curious brand pivots/rebrands I’ve seen – that of Allbirds, the high-flying shoe manufacturer that got its wings clipped and wound up losing it sole, er, soul.
If you haven’t been following the business or branding news, Allbirds announced this spring that it was selling its IP to the American Exchange Group and curiously pivoting to become an AI infrastructure provider under the name NewBird AI.
Allbirds was all the rage when it went public, a Certified B Corp beloved by conscious consumers for its sustainability commitments and peacocked on the feet of the Silicon Valley crowd as an identity badge.
On trend, as they say, and perhaps that’s the root of the problem – trendy often being a harbinger of doom, and in this case Allbirds lost its momentum via overly ambitious bricks and mortar expansion into retail stores and changing consumer tastes.
Valued at $4 billion when it went public in 2021, the company wound up selling its IP and assets for what must seem like bird feed to its once-starstruck investors: $39 million.
Enter American Exchange Group, which was joined by WSG Brands in the cut-rate purchase.
The companies haven’t detailed the IP and assets, at least not that I can suss out, so let’s just say they’re getting the Allbirds name, visual identity, product design, and some sustainability and carbon emissions technology that was, at the time, groundbreaking.
American Exchange Group makes a business of this type of acquisition, buying distressed brand assets and then licensing them out – often called an “asset light” operator. For instance, it bought the IP of Von Dutch, a streetwear brand known for its trucker hats, and successfully returned the company to profitability by licensing its iconic name and image.
I wonder if they will be able to do the same with Allbirds.
So much of the value ascribed to the Allbirds brand, at least in the minds of many, was for the sustainability-forward approach of its products, which carried through to its company charter of business for good. Will consumers flock to purchase Allbirds-branded merchandise from the “new” Allbirds, no longer a B Corp and but a shell of its former self? How about an Allbirds Trucker Hat, anyone?
Perhaps there is product tech, sustainability and otherwise, that can be licensed to shoe manufacturers. Until this is spelled out, I just don’t know.
And this is where more curious comes in.
Shed of its assets, Newbird AI switched its name yet again, this time landing on the moniker Smartbird.
Freshly armed with $39 million, the AI infrastructure provider will be deploying it with this word salad for a brand positioning, as described by Forbes:
“Smartbird targets the enterprise mid-market, offering dedicated, managed private AI cloud solutions for sectors like pharma and finance that require secure, compliant infrastructure without the operational burden.”
Got that?
I’m trying to picture the board meeting where this was brainstormed: Hey, I think we can get nearly $40 million for our assets. Now how should we use that capital? Wait, I’ve got an idea: Let’s become an AI infrastructure provider!
Kind of wild, and while I’ve heard some strange things come out of board members' mouths during brainstorming sessions, this has got to be among the weirdest.
I’m not an expert in AI infrastructure. So perhaps this move – which really feels more like financial engineering to me than anything else – will work out for Smartbird and its shareholders.
While I kinda like the name, Smartbird, and I love that its initial leadership team is all women – you might be setting yourself up for a fall if things don’t work out when you apply the word “smart” to a company with a bold and unusual move like this.
So, will Smartbird rise like the Phoenix or wind up rebranded on the Street as Shitbird?
Shitbird, now that brand would look good on a trucker's hat.
I guess we shall see.
Godspeed, friends.
Russ
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"I caught a glimpse of happiness, and saw it was a bird on a branch, fixing to take flight." Richard Peck
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