Though the company had provided Olympic footwear every year since , in it became the first footwear supplier ever chosen to officially represent the games. Ever since Chuck Taylor served as its first player endorser, Converse has continued to promote its footwear through high-profile sports celebrities and athletes. By , the brand had contracted endorsements with more than 14 pros representing 11 different teams across the United States. In addition, company statistics showed that 21 percent of all professional basketball players wore Converse shoes.
In the case of basketball endorser Earvin 'Magic' Johnson, Converse received more publicity than it may have bargained for. In Johnson was enlisted as an official company endorser until By the late s, Johnson showed dissatisfaction with the deal, which placed him in the top income echelon of Converse endorsers, but yielded less than those of other top endorsers with other leading brands.
After Converse filed suit against the player for failing to comply with his long-term endorsement contract in , matters were resolved temporarily. When Johnson won the NBA's most valuable player award, Converse created a second highlight piece of his best moves in the NBA tournament filmed in slow motion to the accompaniment of 'Amazing Grace. Despite Johnson's criticism, Converse moved into the late s and early s with new and innovative marketing strategies aimed at regaining lost market share.
Hall of the University of Kentucky Wildcats--on one poster to promote the Converse brand. In the late s, Converse stressed advertising and promotional campaigns to compete with such brands as Nike, Reebok, L. Gear, and Keds. Even under the financial strain of its bankrupt parent, Converse garnered an effective creative team at its New York agency, Ingalls Quinn and Johnson, which developed a hit campaign featuring NBA Rookie of the Year Larry Johnson dressed up as his basketball-playing 'grandmama.
She'll eat point guards for lunch and pick her teeth with a power forward. In October , Converse was acquired by Interco Incorporated, a broad-based manufacturer and retailer of consumer products and services primarily in the areas of footwear and furniture products. Interco filed for relief under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy laws. Until it emerged from bankruptcy proceedings in the autumn of , support for rapidly slipping Converse brands was limited to a dangerously low budget.
Interco's financial restructuring, however, freed up new funds for Converse investments and marketing plans. Houston took off with a new generation of ads to sell new shoes. In another award-winning campaign for the new AeroJam shoe, the agency again played off Larry Johnson's 'grandmama' theme. While grandmama performed staggering jumps and dunks in her AeroJams, Johnson narrated: 'There was an old lady who lived in a shoe.
And that shoe let her do things that no man could do. These and other aggressive promotional programs began to pay off for Interco's shoe business. It was spun off in November Diversification followed for the once-again independent company. In it entered into a licensing deal with Shalom Children's Wear to manufacture infants' and toddlers' sporting goods apparel.
It also purchased Apex One Inc. Following the acquisition of Apex, Converse launched an 'integrated head-to-toe apparel program' of coordinated outfits bearing the colors of top college teams.
The universities of Arkansas and Kentucky were the first to take to the court in Converse garb and matching sneakers. But the second half of unfolded in a fiasco for Converse, with layoffs, leaky shoes, and trouble at its new subsidiary. In June, it announced the cutback of jobs at its Lumberton plant; in August, just 85 days after its Apex One acquisition, it decided to close down that business given unexpectedly slow orders and high costs in the face of a soft apparel market.
In fact, the undercapitalized Apex, which had long had trouble making orders, no longer had the trust of most retailers, despite its affiliation with Converse. In October and November, it laid off two more rounds of employees, and in December, just when it looked as if Converse was getting back on track with the decision to eliminate its outdoor, running, walking, tennis, and football product lines, its RAW Energy and RAW power basketball shoes literally sprang a leak, and the company was faced with the embarrassment and recall of , pairs of shoes.
Looking to regain momentum in , Converse hired Glenn N. Rupp, former head of Wilson Sporting Goods Co. Rupp believed Converse should play to its strength as one of the few shoe companies with sizable domestic production facilities. Exploiting the marketability of the 'Made in the U. Together with President Michael 'Mickey' Bell, who would resign abruptly in August , Rupp undertook a restructuring of the nation's No.
Fortunately, for Converse, 'retro' was in, and the company undertook its biggest campaign ever aimed at recapturing the glory of its past. Its All Star , a leatherized update of its traditional basketball show, which featured an old-fashioned Chuck Taylor All Star patch, began selling at a rapid clip in In the wake of this success, Converse made plans to market the Dr. In addition, Converse initiated a licensing agreement with A4 of Los Angeles to produce its Star 91 line of apparel and footwear, as well as two other men's apparel lines.
The idea was to leverage the company's history as a long-time staple among professional athletes and to play up the emotional ties people had to the Converse brand. And for the first time…. Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively made a fabulous return to the red carpet for the first time…. She has been very hands-on throughout the making of her new business venture Tequila.
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