Cover image | stills from Heroes
Wen | Feng Ma Niu (WeChat public number: Feng Lun Feng Ma Niu)
On March 12, 1997, wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia (then known as coreStates Center) was buzzing with cheers for the NBA's shortest newest clubman, Iverson, for successfully "swinging" Jordan and dropping a hollow ball. Although Iverson has said many times afterwards that he doesn't think the goal is worth the hype, and Jordan is still the "person he wants to be the most", it is regarded as one of the most classic pitches of Iverson's career.
Iverson had only been in the NBA for a few months that year, and Jordan was already an insurmountable peak in basketball. The more people revere Jordan, the more they long for someone to break the jordan myth. This is the core spirit of competitive sports such as basketball: to break old myths and create new miracles.
No matter how much meaning people attach to iverson and Jordan's encounter, the NBA has always been a business, and this highly ornamental ball is a commodity, as are the Reebok and AJ (Air Jordan) worn by Iverson and Jordan on their feet. To this day, both Iverson and Jordan have left the NBA, but the business on their feet is still running. Reebok, Adidas with Reebok and Nike behind AJ, the three international sporting goods giants have been chasing each other for decades, far more exciting than this 76ers game against the Bulls.
1
On April 1, 1985, AJ was officially released to the public, a year before, this was just a special shoe specially created by Nike for Michael Jordan, who knew that Jordan was too attractive, "carrying ability" was super strong, fans strongly demanded to have Jordan's same model, Nike had to push the boat along the water, launched this design, excellent functionality of the sneakers.
In addition to the name, AJ's logo also references Jordan's extremely tense silhouette when shooting. The use of celebrity IP to the extreme is the only magic weapon for Nike to stand out in the three melee battles of Reebok and Adidas.
AJ, Reebok LOGO
And 90 years before AJ was officially launched, Reebok had already used this trick to start its business journey.
It was 1895, and the Englishman Joseph William Foster had just turned 14 and was apprenticed in a handmade shoe shop. At that time, little Joseph was passionate about football, dreaming of owning a pair of shoes of his own, but he was shy, and he worked for several years and could not afford to buy a pair of shoes in the store. In desperation, he had to find his own materials and design a unique "nail shoe". Little Joseph wore these shoes to go out to play, because the ability to grasp the ground is particularly good, people around him constantly look for him to buy, ask more people, he simply raised his own money, opened a shoe store, specializing in this kind of shoes suitable for sports.
Different from the traditional British leather shoes, little Joseph pays more attention to the functionality of the shoes, in addition to the nail shoes, he also designed a well-wrapped running shoe to reduce the vibration caused by running. Because of his ingenuity, during the First World War, the small shoe store had become a well-known company, "JW Foster and Sons", and also produced military boots for the British army. When British athletes participated in the Olympic Games in 1924, they also wore sneakers from the Little Joseph Company.
Wearing joseph's sneakers, the British athlete won the 1924 100-meter sprint
Also in 1924, another powerful shoe company appeared on the european continent: Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik. This is a brother shop, the younger brother Adolf Dassler (Adolf Dassler) is sensitive to smell, early "steal" joseph jr. design "nail shoes", from heavy metal to rubber, but also lobbied famous athletes to use their own shoes. His brother, Rudolf Dassler, worked hard and managed the factory well.
In 1936, Adolf persuaded the famous American sprinter Jesse Owens to wear Dasler's sneakers to compete, and when Owens won 4 Olympic gold medals, Dassler sneakers became "explosives" in the athletes' circle.
With the end of World War II, competitive sports became popular in the Western world. Whether it is watching sports events or people's enthusiasm for participating in exercises themselves, the management of sporting goods at this time has obviously become a promising business.
So Joseph Jr.'s two grandsons took the family property left by their grandfather and founded a new company called Reebok, which means shorthorn antelope running on the south African steppe. Within a few years, American dealers came to the door and invited Reebok to enter the U.S. market. The Sporting Goods Company of British descent has since ventured into the American continent and quickly took root.
The Dassler brothers parted ways because of some family affairs, the younger brother Adolf took his own name + surname and opened a new company Adidas, and the older brother Rudolph opened a company called Ruda, which was later renamed Puma. Across the ocean, an American company that distributes Japanese sneakers Torazuka Sawa saw the opportunity to pull in athletes and coaches from the University of Oregon track and field team and set up Nike.
So far, Reebok, Adidas, Nike have all entered the commercial stage, starting from Reebok binding British athletes, they have witnessed the golden moments of countless athletes, and through these exciting golden moments, paved their own wealth.
2
Reebok was the first company to taste success.
Coming to the United States, Reebok brought the innovative spirit derived from Joseph Jr. to the fullest. In 1982, Reebok Launched Reebok Freestyle Aerobics Shoes for female consumers. This is the world's first sneaker designed specifically for women, and it is very popular in the United States, where women's consumer awareness has just awakened. The following year, Reebok sales soared to $13 million for this shoe alone.
In addition to grasping the emerging female consumer group, Reebok has also designed sneakers with different functions for two popular sports in the United States - basketball and football, and the NFL (National Football League) and the NBA have also become Partners of Reebok.
Reebok running shoe commercial in 1982
The 1980s and 1990s were the golden age of Reebok. The concept of sports in the United States is fully popularized, and popular sports such as basketball, football, aerobics, and running, Reebok has either reached a cooperation with a strong business alliance or signed a compelling KOL. Young people, women, sports enthusiasts, for different user groups, Reebok has long been tailored to different product lines. How to make you happy to pay money, happy to exercise, Reebok arranged you clearly.
Alan Iverson is the iconic star signed by Reebok.
Back in 1996, the Philadelphia 76ers began to take a fancy to Iverson at the NBA Draft, and Reebok set his sights on the "little man" star with full personality and talent. After learning that Iverson's idol is Jordan and wearing AJ XIs to shine, Reebok improved and innovated on the basis of this shoe, and designed the famous "Reebok Question" series of shoes for Iverson, knowing that Iverson's nickname is "Answer", between echoes, Reebok's love for Iverson can be seen.
As Iverson became famous and legendary in the 76ers, Reebok designed more than a dozen sneakers, inflatable pumps, cushioning devices, 3D composites, hidden laces... With each update, Reebok has earned enough sales under Iverson's name.
Reebok "blockbuster" and basketball are deeply bound
Similar to the sales model of Iverson and the "Answer" series, in the final analysis, it is the star with goods + continuous innovation + exclusive patents. Reebok has set a good example for Adidas and Nike, but for a sporting goods company, only one Iverson is not enough, and only a good sneaker series is not enough. Reebok has made a big splash in the running shoe series, but it has some lack of follow-up in other categories.
In Europe, Adidas with geographical advantages, firmly grasp the major European football clubs, become their partners, coupled with Adidas has always dared to acquire other companies, the rapid development speed, compared to, Reebok's development is steady, it can be said that deep ploughing the North American market, but it can also be said that it is limited to the North American market.
In the United States, Nike's research and development and marketing efforts are not inferior to Reebok, and even because the design is more novel and fashionable, it is more willing to spend money on the spokespersons of different countries, Nike's influence quickly spilled over the United States, and the financial report climbed in many fields, and it was better than a year.
When the martial arts secret book is published to the public, it is no longer whether the tricks are novel or not, but who is more skilled and who makes fewer mistakes. Across the year 2000, Nike, which moved its factory to China and Southeast Asia early, was the most profitable and the largest in its financial report, and finally surpassed its predecessors Reebok and Adidas to become the world's largest sporting goods manufacturer.
All competitive sports have the same characteristics, "winner-take-all", the champion will receive the most honors and attention, while the runner-up and third-place often have to be reduced to a background board. Nike, Adidas, and Reebok, which do sporting goods, understand this truth better, and becoming the strongest is the biggest obsession of these top companies.
3
Chinese, who are deeply nourished by the culture of chess and cards, know that there is only one way to defeat the "landlords" with the strongest strength and the most hole cards, and the two "peasants" are united. Adidas, which entered the Chinese market early, also learned this trick.
In August 2005, Adidas acquired Reebok, and in January of the following year, Reebok agreed to become one of Adidas' subsidiaries for $3.8 billion, and the two would still operate under the original brand name. At the beginning, Reebok's shareholders were still complacent about the success of "realization", but as Adidas pressed forward, Reebok's helplessness as a "subsidiary" gradually appeared.
Earlier, because of the dead cushion shoes with Nike, Reebok had launched a DMX air cushion in the hope of countering Nike's Zoom air cushion. Who knows reebok "old horse lost its front hoof", due to the rush to succeed, DMX air cushion will leak and harden after a few months of use, and Reebok's reputation has plummeted.
Soon after its launch, the DMX series was forced to sell
Accepting the acquisition of Adidas, Reebok originally wanted to communicate with each other, catch up with Nike in technology as soon as possible, and regain the lost footwear market, but Adidas has another plan - Reebok has been rooted in the US market for many years, the channel is strong, and Adidas is home in Europe, and it has been difficult to enter outside the US market for many years. Adidas' biggest goal in acquiring Reebok is to use Reebok to rush into the U.S. market.
If the heart does not think in one place, it is difficult to make it in one place, and at this time, whoever is strong can get more resources.
In 2006, as soon as the acquisition was negotiated, Adidas couldn't wait to replace Reebok as the NBA's official supplier. Within a few years, Adidas took Reebok's NFL resources. Reebok, on the other hand, only had a completely replaced management and a few painless ads.
Adidas entered the U.S. market as it wished, but Reebok remained stuck in place and gradually withered.
Adidas, which entered the Chinese market as early as the 1990s, watched Reebok become a low-end brand and a representative of "miscellaneous goods" in the world's most potential market. Saying that each one takes what is needed, and in the blink of an eye, it becomes a drama between Cinderella and eccentric harem.
The ugly and cute Dad shoes were originally Reebok's housekeeping products, but the revival dividend did not fall on Reebok
Looking back at the decades of struggle between Reebok and Adidas and Nike, Adidas has a deep background as a European team sports supplier, Nike is good at winning surprisingly, a "Just do it" spread around the world, and Reebok is not without technology, nor without marketing capabilities, but it seems that there is a lack of a point: a little lack of accurate control of events, fashion and sports star resources, but also a lack of a firm image of the external image. Such a "world third" that is good everywhere, but not extreme enough, can only give up his hole card in the end, and completely become the condiment for the first and second battles.
Since late October, Adidas has been plagued by the epidemic, and there have been many news that it wants to sell Reebok. Reebok, which once cost a huge amount of $3.8 billion, has become a "burden" that Adidas would rather lose billions of dollars than get rid of. Like its most famous spokesperson, Iverson, Reebok once had a brilliance that other brands could hardly match, but it will eventually bid farewell to glory and stay away from the center of the stage.
People say that the mall is like a battlefield, and the knife sees the real chapter. But in the stories of Reebok, Adidas and Nike, the mall is also like a stadium, the bustle is all winners, the losers have nothing, only the spectators hold Iverson's signature sneakers and sigh: the emphasis is on participation.
Source:
[1] Hongfei: Hobert Heina: Nothing is Impossible – Interview with Adidas CEO Hobert Heina, Oriental Corporate Culture
[2] Julie Cruz：Reebok Turns to ‘Race From Hell’ to Revive Former Glory，Bloomberg
[3] Laura Petrecca and Theresa Howard：Adidas-Reebok merger lets rivals nip at Nike's heels，USA TODAY
[4] Ian Stonebrook：The 13 Best Allen Iverson Shoes，nicekicks.com
[5] Edward Barsamian：Victoria Beckham’s Reebok Merch Collection is a Stylish Slam Dunk Inspired by Shaq，VOGUE.com
[6] Jane Levere：Football Calls, and Reebok Responds，The New York Times
Image from the web
The author of this article | Mao Hongtao Editor-in-Chief| Wang Tao
Editor| Chen Runjiang Consultant | Wang Shuqi