Skateboarding was born in California in the 1950s as an extension of surfing on land. Over the decades, the popularity of skateboarding has spread across the globe. At this year's Tokyo Olympic Games, skateboarding became one of the official Olympic events for the first time, achieving a leap from "niche" to "public".
Above: Zeng Wenhui, a 16-year-old who represented China at the Tokyo Olympics, finished fifth in the women's street event
In recent years, as skateboarding has become more and more popular, an old brand that is closely associated with skateboarding culture has also risen - it is vans (Vance), an American skate shoe brand that was once very "niche".
Many people may not know that the Vans brand has sold more than $4 billion in fiscal 2020 (as of March 2020), and although it is still quite far from the two major head sports brands Nike (Nike) and Adidas (Adidas), it has been able to compete with Under Armour (Under Armour) Lululemon (Lulu Lemon) and become a real "big brand".
According to the latest quarterly report released by Vans' parent company, american apparel giant VF Group, Vans has become its number one growth engine, with the brand's sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2022 (that is, April-June 2021) increasing by 110% year-on-year. Although Vans' full-year sales declined by 15% in fiscal 2021 (as of March 2021) due to the COVID-19 pandemic, sales have resumed growth in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021 (i.e., January-March 2021), an increase of 13%.
* VF also owns outdoor and casual wear brands The North Face, Timberland, Dickies and trendy brands Supreme
In 2004, Vans was acquired by VF Group for $396 million. At the time of the acquisition, Vans had annual sales of just $345 million, and by 2017 it was close to $3 billion, surpassing The North Face to become the VF Group's largest brand. VF Group's latest target for Vans is to reach sales of $6 billion by 2024.
Through this article, "Magnificent" will explain in detail the tortuous growth experience of the Vans brand, as well as the five secrets of Vans in recent years to cut into niche culture and grow into a "big brand" on several steps.
Above: Vans' Instagram. Vans' iconic slogan "Off the Wall", derived from the skateboarding term used by skaters in the mid-70s, refers to the action of flying out of the bowl and then sliding back into the bowl to land smoothly, and has now been extended by the brand as "unruly" and "creative self-expression", which is also the core brand spirit.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="10" > the creation of Vans: "waffle bottom" went the world</h1>
The Vans brand was founded in 1966 by Paul Van Doren and three other partners. Born in Boston, Paul Van Doren dropped out of high school at the age of 16 and initially worked at Randy's, a local manufacturer of vulcanized rubber sneakers in Massachusetts. The manufacturer sent Paul, his brother Jim and friend Gordon Lee to Garden Grove, California, to reverse a underperforming factory. The three then stayed in California. In Anaheim, Orange County, California, founded its own rubber shoe factory, Van Doren Rubber Company.
In 1966, the four opened their first retail store in Anaheim, selling 16 pairs of shoes on the opening day, and even because they could not find change for customers, they had to let customers take their shoes home first and settle the bill the next day.
Above: Paul Van Doren, who died on May 6, 2021, at the age of 90.
Skateboarding was taking off in the United States in the 1960s, when Van Doren Rubber Company's "waffle sole" canvas shoes were frictional and cost-effective, and quickly became popular with skateboarders. In 1976, with the help of legendary skaters Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta, Vans launched the world's first pair of professional skateboard shoes #95, now the Era.
Above: Era at the bottom of a waffle
By the end of the 1970s, Vans had opened 70 stores in California and had begun selling internationally through distributors. In 1982, Hollywood superstar Sean Penn wore Vans' classic checkerboard one-foot canvas shoes in the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which led to a surge in sales of the product and further expanded Vans's popularity in the United States.
Above: Stills from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="18" > the medium-term development of Vans: two changes of hands</h1>
In the early 1980s, founder Paul Van Doren quit the day-to-day management of the company. Subsequently, under the dual pressure of market competition and counterfeiters, the management team began to try the road of category expansion, introducing sports shoes for baseball, basketball, boxing and skydiving scenes. But the increase in categories has put more pressure on inventories. Eventually, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in 1984 due to its inability to repay its debts.
In the late 1980s, founder Paul Van Doren returned and implemented a series of strict cost-cutting programs that finally led the company out of bankruptcy. In 1988, several founders sold the company to investment firm McCown DeLeeuw Co for $75 million.
Under the leadership of the new owners, Vans initiated a restructuring, including the introduction of new management, the transfer of production sites, and the marketing and promotion of various sports and entertainment activities. In 1991, the company was listed on the NASDAQ exchange for $14 per share and officially changed its name to Vans.
In 2004, Vans was rescheduled for the second time and was acquired by the American outdoor sportswear giant VF Group.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="23" > backed by VF Group, Vans's five secrets of growth in recent years</h1>
1. Respect the original intention of the founder and strengthen the brand DNA
After being acquired by VF, Vans gradually broke through the positioning of "skateboard shoes" and helped the brand successfully complete the transformation by connecting more popular cultural elements. Founder Paul praised the parent company in his autobiography, Memoirs of a Vans Founder: "VF understands the important role of a company's roots in strengthening the brand, and has adapted the brand's classic design rather than reinventing it. ”
This is also confirmed by Doug Palladini, President of vans Brands Worldwide (who has joined the VF Group since 2004). According to Doug, VF's acquisition of Vans was a time when it realized that the brand's history and authenticity would be crucial in the future.
Doug revealed that the most feedback from VF Group at that time was "what support do we need to give to Vans to further develop", and VF's strategy for the brand was to "improve on the brand's history", such as the product is based on the brand's five most popular classic shoe types (Authentic, Era, Slip-on, Old Skool and Sk8-Hi), using new fabrics, colors and prints to continuously update the design.
Above: Vans' slip-on "one-foot pedal" product
Many of Vans' logo designs have taken the air to this day, typical of which is the over-interpreted checkerboard elements.
The black and white checkerboard was the pattern Vans used when it launched its first pair of Slip-on shoes, inspired by the monthly picture contest held for kids in Southern California at the time. In recent years, vans slip-on checkerboards have been almost a trendy pair for sneaker enthusiasts. In addition, checkerboard elements have also appeared frequently in various branches and joint cooperation of the Vans brand, such as:
Supreme x Vans Fall/Winter 2016 Collection
Opening Ceremony x Vans Vault "Quilt Pack" 2018 Co-Brand Series
Vault by Vans ComfyCush Era（2019）
VANS X DOE Limited Time Custom Pattern Series (2021)
2. Carefully select co-brand/sponsor objects to consolidate the four pillars of the brand
In September 2018, Doug Palladini, Vans Brand Global Brand President, in revealing his new five-year performance targets, once again emphasized that the brand is moving towards the world's third largest sports lifestyle brand, relying on the four pillars of art, music, sports and street culture.
Doug Palladini also pointed out that the Vans brand does not pursue "ubiquitous" popularization, but continues to radiate to a wider audience by incorporating various popular elements that young people like.
Vans has been sponsoring skateboarding, surfing, water skiing, cycling and other niche extreme sports events since the 1990s.
In 1996, Vans sponsored the inaugural Skateboarding Triple Crown Championship. The event was renamed "Vans Triple Crown Event" and gradually included skateboarding, surfing, water skiing, skiing, free motorcycling and other sports.
In 2014, Vans became the title sponsor of the US Open of Surfing.
In 2019, Vans became the title sponsor of the ISA World Surfing Competition (WSG), which is also a qualifier for the Tokyo Olympics.
Skateboarding culture entered a trough in the 1990s, and in order to keep the brand in the spotlight, vans not only sponsored sports events and built skate parks, but the most important move was to sponsor the warped tour, the largest touring music festival in the United States, in 1995 (pictured below, which was discontinued in 2018). This is also the first time vans has connected to the trendy music culture circle.
Over the years, the Vans brand has embedded music deeply into the cultural connotations of the brand through collaborations with more festivals such as SXSW South by Southwest, or with musicians/groups such as Beatles and even the Berkeley Conservatory of Music.
In addition, Vans has also extended the street trend to the many cultural types that young people love through a series of high-frequency co-brand collaborations over the years.
Vans' earliest co-branding can be traced back to the 90s with Disney's Star Wars co-branding, but the earlier and more well-known co-branding should have been in 1996, when VF Group acquired the same name for $2.1 billion.
Above: Vans x Supreme co-branded product
In 2003, the high-end regional line Vault by Vans was officially launched, making the cross-border co-branding gameplay more diverse. In addition to fashion brands, Vans has also begun to co-brand with musicians, artists, and well-known IPs.
上图：Vault by Vans x Kenzo
上图：Vault by Vans x Kaws
Above: Vault by Vans x Takashi Murakami
Above: Vault by Vans x SpongeBob SquarePants
According to the statistics of the Vans enthusiast website, Vans launched a total of 108 co-brand series in 2020, with an average of 9 co-brandings per month, and about every 3 days on a new co-brand.
3. Promote creativity and encourage self-expression
Vans has been an advocate of creativity and self-expression since its inception. Since founder Paul Van Doren opened his first store in California in 1966, Vans has been offering custom shoes. In 2004, Vans launched a personalized customization section (Vans Customs) on its official website, which allows consumers to choose hundreds of colors and patterns to create exclusive classic one-foot shoes. In October of the same year, the Old Skool shoes also joined the ranks of personalized customization.
In 2019, the Vans Customs free custom shoe platform was upgraded again, launching the "image customization" function, users only need to log on to the Vans official website, choose their favorite shoes in the Customs free custom shoes area, upload exclusive patterns, and then design and cooperate with the shoe parts, you can display unique creativity on the shoes.
In September 2019, Vans also hosted the inaugural Global Custom Shoe Contest, where the winner won a $25,000 grand prize. Vans will also mass-produce and sell its designs in stores the following year, while the winners will also receive a tour of Vans' headquarters in Southern California and the opportunity to donate $100,000 to charity in their own name.
In addition to focusing on the creative display of consumers, Vans has also expressed its brand concept through artists many times. For example, in 2017, Vans launched the "Global Creative Planning" campaign, selected 30 creative people, such as illustrators, musicians, sculptors, etc., recorded a 1-minute video for each person, spread their creative ideas, and also spread Vans's customized services.
Above: One of vans' global creative project artists, Candy, an illustrator from Chengdu
Above: Illustrator Candy's custom work. Users can place orders directly or further customize on top of Candy's creations.
4. Online and offline emphasis on interaction and "sense of participation"
In June 2021, Vans' Brand Experience Center on East Nanjing Road in Shanghai officially opened. This is Vans' largest immersive experience space in Asia. There is a large electronic shopping screen in the store to retrieve goods, and there are also AR shooting games "Shoebox Battle" and skateboard simulation somatosensory game "They tell me not to skateboard", making the shopping process more fun.
Even online, Vans continues to reinforce user engagement:
On the eve of the Spring Festival in 2021, Vans launched a circle of friends advertising based on AR technology" campaign. Participation in the event can be rewarded with a range of rewards, the biggest of which is Vans' limited co-branded shoes. According to the data released by Vans officially, within five hours of the first advertisement of this circle of friends, it brought more than 15.7 million exposures to the circle of friends.
5. Strengthen the influence of skateboarding in China
Compared with Europe and the United States, China's skateboarding started late, and the market still needs to mature. However, in recent years, with the inclusion of skateboarding in the Olympic project, the rise of street tides, china's skateboarding culture has become more and more popular.
In 2009, the vans brand brought World SkateboardIng Day to China in its second year of entry into China, organizing China's first World Skateboarding Day event in Shanghai and Beijing. By 2019, Vans' World Skateboarding Day event in China has expanded from the initial few cities and hundreds of skaters to 63 skate shops in 50 cities and more than 20,000 skaters participating.
Above: Vans World Skateboarding Day in China 2019
In 2017, Vans brought the world's only certified park topographic skateboarding championship, the Professional Park Skateboarding Tournament, to China for the first time, with the establishment of the Shanghai race station. In 2019, Vans also cooperated with other institutions to create the first exclusive skateboarding event for Chinese university students, "Fan Da Skating", and held four cities and five races in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Beijing.
Above: "Fan Da Slip" Finals scene. The competition will be held at Beijing University of Technology
In addition, since 2018, Vans has also jointly launched the "Vans Skate school" project with local skateboard shops and skateboard teaching institutions, aiming to allow more small white users with skateboarding interests to enter the experience. At present, Vans Skateboard School has landed in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu and other cities.
It can be seen that no matter how diverse the product and marketing activities, Vans is always strengthening its foundation around the world – skateboarding culture.
appendix:
(*Sales in the chart for 2003/2012/2018/2019 are officially disclosed brand-specific figures, and other years are based on officially disclosed sales growth over the years.) VF Group announced in its 2017 financial report that it will adjust the annual liquidation date of the financial and accounting year from the current December 31 to March 31 of the following year, so the statement discloses that the sales growth rate in fiscal 2018 is the increase in the three-month transition period of the new fiscal year. ）
*Reference: Nike had sales of $37.4 billion in fiscal year 2020 (ending June 2020); Adidas had sales of €23.6 billion (approximately $27.9 billion) in fiscal year 2019 (ending December 2020); Under Armour had sales of $5.3 billion in fiscal year 2019 (ending December 2020) and lululemon had just $4 billion in net sales in fiscal year 2019 (ending February 2020).