air jordan - the era of the jordan brand

while nike did not reveal the jordan brand marketing plan until late 1997, there were earlier, tantalizing hints in the products on store shelves.
while the air jordan 12 was still on store shelves, nike brought forth the jumpman pro. it was a shoe with many air jordan characteristics, including the "jumpman" logo, but not the "air jordan" name. similarly, while the air jordan 13 was on the store shelves, the jumpman pro quick and jumpman pro strong came to market.
late 1997 brought forth a troika of shoes that started the jordan brand. the air jordan 13, air jordan team, and air jordan trainer have come to market. (note that the jordan brand products do not have the nike name or the swoosh on them. similarly, the packaging only carries the nike name and address in tiny type, heretofore only used for the exclusions on insurance policies, on the bottom.)
the jumpman pro quick and jumpman pro strong from spring and summer 1998 are also jordan brand products.
only the nike athletic shoe wizards (and, undoubtedly, some industrial spies in the athletic shoe plants) know what surprises are coming next. a picture of what turned out to be the air jordan 14 arrived in my e-mail in june 1998, about six months before the introduction of the shoe. fall 1998 brought some real surprises, including the women's jordan.
nike has brought out a number of shoes since in the jumpman product line, as well as the air jordan 15 through the air jordan 21.