Fortune magazine is reporting that 50 has inked partnership deals with Marvel Comics and Reebok to sell co-branded SMS headphones.
The new deal adds to SMS’s partner list that includes Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Lucasfilm’s Star Wars and Intel.
The Marvel-branded SMS headphones will sell for a price point of right around $100 and focus on subtle branding of Marvel’s roster of superheroes.
“It won’t look toy-like,” Brian Nohe, SMS’ president, explained. “All that stuff we do, it’s classy. Like on ‘The Avengers‘ headphones, it won’t be a picture of Thor running around. It will be a little symbol, and have the same colorways.”
Meanwhile, the Reebok collaboration will focus on fitness buffs and be sold at Reebok store locations and online.
Still that doesn’t negate the existence of SMS’s main competitor, Beats By Dre. “Beats was the first time you saw a record company realized as a marketing company,” said Fif. “You saw Gaga Beats, Bieber Beats, Diddy Beats. And when that many people connected to a major record company have product placement, the unestablished artist who purchases a pair of headphones puts that in his clip so that he feels like he’s got that cool too. It worked in a big way. And it’s not necessarily about the product they sell. It doesn’t have a great sound system.”
“Beats is Nike, and we’re adidas,” he continued. “It’s more international.”
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