Over the past century, Converse has become a symbol of the American cultural spirit, like McDonald's, Coca-Cola, and Harley locomotives. Following its history, it is easy to see that the brand has gone through ups and downs. What kind of brand inheritance has been left behind by these changes?
In 1908, the American Marquis Mills Converse, founded a company in Massachusetts and named it after his surname, Converse. The company was originally composed of 15 employees and made rubber-bottomed waterproof sleeves. At the beginning, Converse has no accurate brand positioning and a fixed production line, and all shoes concerning rubber were produced, like work shoes, water shoes, sneakers and other various styles, even car tires.
At that time, basketball was not as popular as it is now. But we can also imagine how much potential and value exists in this market, Converse was ready to aim at the basketball market until 1917. Nevertheless, Marquis Mills has positioned the brand as a pair of high-performance sneakers, then the world's first basketball shoe was officially born in the United States.
The next step is to improve product design and enhance marketing channels. In 1922, a young basketball player named Chuck Taylor joined the Converse Rubber Company. As a salesman for the Converse team, but also a part-time coach, Chuck Taylor opened the most primitive sales pitch: face-to-face product promotion. Hiring Chuck Taylor may be one of the best decisions Converse has ever made. People are more and more known as All Star, up to professional basketball, and down to ordinary basketball shoe fans, precise consumer target makes Converse sales gradually go to the top. So Taylor's signature became part of the ALL Star Series logo. When a person becomes part of a brand identity, that brand also adds a lot of emotional features.
In 1936, at the 11th Olympic Games in Berlin, the entire U.S. men's basketball team played in Converse All-Star. It also became the initial celebrity endorsement effect, where people's admiration for the endorser increased their loyalty to the brand. Later, whether it was the official sports shoes of the Olympic Games, or the training shoes of the armed forces during World War II, the brand gradually fleshed out its functionality and was no longer monotonous.
The Converse maintained the marketing strategy of signing stars, which gives it almost a monopoly on NBA stadium shoes. It wasn't until the 80s that the rise of sneaker competition severely crushed Converse. It quickly faded in the basketball court, but it turn to be popular in the music world.
Still continuing the celebrity effect marketing approach, rock music gave Converse a second life. Some prominent rock bands, including Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd and The Clash, have their own All Star logo. The shoes gradually have a rebellious spirit, however it ran counter to Converse. Converse does not identify with these subcultures, and still insists on its primitive brand position: building innovative, high-performance sports brands.
In the early 1990s, when Nike and Adidas signed to the NBA stars and took the opportunity to launch their personally signed sneakers, Converse was indifferent and the defects of its product power is magnified.
Unfortunately, during the critical period of choice, Converse adopted the strategy of following its competitors into the market, which was another fatal mistake. Converse's market has stalled due to imperfect technology and following Nike's design ideas. The former endorsement strategy no longer works any more, their specially designed concept shoes sold poorly and their brand value became thinner. Converse plummeted.
No amount of sales can do anything in the face of successive financial situations, Converse went bankrupt repeatedly in later years. In 2003, Converse ultimately chose to yield wisely and was acquired by Nike for $305 million.
Converse started with the right choice of market and consumer target, and even enjoyed the effect of celebrity endorsement. Due to its unchanging product positioning and blind obedience to the competitors, the almost a century of Converse dynasty was submerged in the historical changes in the development of sneakers.
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