This is a really sad story, and one of many signs of just unhinged the Wall Street stonks-go-up AI craze has become. Allbirds started off with a compelling brand identity and at the time put some real thought into its products and branding. I met the guys who engineered the textiles for their first few seasons, and we had a fascinating technical exchange about the efforts they went through to combine merino wool with functional fibres.
Their biggest mistake was taking the brand to IPO, because as soon as you do that, you lose control of product and strategy. You become beholdened to shareholders who don't understand anything about product - they only want to see bigger returns on investment.
You use cheaper materials and cut prices to inflate sales volume. You fire high-salaried engineers and hire latte-sipping marketing kids instead. Good for short term profits but kills the brand in the long run. Ten years ago Allbirds was the gold standard for shoe startups. Five years ago consumers started complaining about discomfort, poor fit, and breakage. Two years ago the founders were pushed out. Now the brand is in dustbin, and their bean-counting, pencil-pushing managers are "pivoting to AI" to try and salvage the stock price.
I've seen this happen to so many brands in my line of work. Allbirds is just the most recent one to die the same sorry death.
