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Welcome to this week’s edition of The Baseline!

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Let’s dive right into it…

CREATOR BLUEPRINT

Sneaker deals used to only be for athletes, but now streamers are getting signed too.

In fact, this will be the next big sneaker trend in sports.

Sneaker brands have two marketing problems to solve:

1) Their signature athletes have limited time to create content and participate in brand events.

2) There’s also been a seismic shift in influence where fans relate more to today’s streamers and creators.

That’s why adidas Basketball signing this funny streamer kid from Taiwan was a strategic marketing move.

Streamers like Rayasianboy will go live for hours and even days at a time.

This creates nonstop, un-edited content that feels authentic to the viewers.

Then his stream gets clipped, creating massive distribution across every platform — giving adidas millions of eyeballs on their product.

Also aligning Ray with adidas’ James Harden business adds fuel to the fire.

Harden has a massive fanbase in Asia, so it’s a perfect fit with Ray’s cultural background.

This Ray x adidas signing, is just one example and a preview of the future in sneaker marketing.

Brands will pair their signature athletes with streamers/creators based on lifestyle, personality, and audience overlap.

Imagine Puma Basketball signing redacted to support the LaMelo Ball business or New Balance Hoops signing redacted to launch Cooper Flagg’s signature shoe.

This strategy distributes every signature athlete’s story and product collection directly to the target consumer’s social feeds.

Because in 2026, the next big sneaker signings won’t happen only on the basketball court but on the livestreams and For You Pages.

Shoppers are adding to cart for the holidays

Over the next year, Roku predicts that 100% of the streaming audience will see ads. For growth marketers in 2026, CTV will remain an important “safe space” as AI creates widespread disruption in the search and social channels. Plus, easier access to self-serve CTV ad buying tools and targeting options will lead to a surge in locally-targeted streaming campaigns.

Read our guide to find out why growth marketers should make sure CTV is part of their 2026 media mix.

Learn more.

FREE THROWS

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🧰 Marketing and Creator Toolkit - Not every tool I use is having a Black Friday sale but here’s the full list of my toolkit that I use to run my business, save time, and make work easier for myself.

Attention spans are shrinking. Get proven tips on how to adapt:

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In 2018, mobile ads held attention for 3.4 seconds on average.
Today, it’s just 2.2 seconds.

That’s a 35% drop in only 7 years. And a massive challenge for marketers.

The State of Advertising 2025 shows what’s happening and how to adapt.

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POST-GAME

Thanks for reading—I’ll see you back here later this week!

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- Jeff Chen | 🏀💡👨🏻‍💻