Reebok
In 1895, J.W. Foster began his own shoe company called J.W. Foster and Sons in the United Kingdom. It would take some time for this family-owned business to find success, but in 1924 they caught a break and were asked to supply the British Olympic running team with his running shoes. A while later, Foster’s grandsons decided to branch off from their parent company, and start a business of their own which became known as Reebok.
Reebok came from the name of an African gazelle which gave them an image of a “company on the move.” They wanted to portray a vision of speed, elegance, and grace. Aside from their good success rate of selling shoes in the United Kingdom, Reebok was still having troubles getting their brand known globally.
However, in 1979, a Chicago International sneaker trade show would open the doors of global success for the company. A man by the name of Paul Fireman was immediately drawn to the Reebok brand. Fireman admired the customization of each shoe along with the good quality it entailed. On the spot, Fireman decided to get a license to buy and distribute the brand in the United States. This is how Reebok USA came to life.
Fireman came out with three new running shoes the year Reebok USA was created and it also proved to be a huge success and a jump in the right direction for Reebok. These shoes were given the highest price in the marketplace at the time at $60 to show it was a top-quality shoe. Introducing the first women’s athletic running shoe was another big accomplishment by Reebok. This introduction gave them that edge in the marketplace, and by the 1980’s, they had most of the market share in the industry.
Since the 1980’s, Reebok has gone through several ups and downs in its industry. In 2005, Reebok came out with an advertising campaign to gain more attention around the globe. “I Am What I Am” was focused on having the successful icons of that time be an example to the youth around the world, and have them tap into their individual uniqueness. Some of the famous icons included in the campaign were, Allen Iverson, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Donovan McNabb, and Curt Schilling.
This launch was not enough for the company to gain an edge in the marketplace, and they decided to take another route in the business world. Reebok and adidas had always been competing for second place behind the Goliath, Nike. These two runner-up companies decided that it was time for a change and decided to merger together. adidas bought Reebok for $3.78 billion and were ready to take on Nike. adidas and Reebok’s goal was to knock Nike out of their number one position, however this was going to be a daunting task for the two companies. Even with the two companies’ combined market share, Nike still kept their edge and remained at the number one spot.
adidas and Reebok continue to innovate and come out with top-quality products to try and surpass their competitor. Reebok has expanded its soccer line and has come out with a new cleat called the “Sprintfit”. This shoe features one of Reebok’s newest innovative designs, the “Kinetic Fit System”. This system gives an athlete complete comfort while it adjusts to the athletes foot as the size and shape changes during the course of running and changing direction. A “series of engineered stretch panels” that are located a specific areas gives the shoe this capability. The shoe also contains Reebok’s “K leather” which provides extreme comfort and shaping to the athlete’s foot. A removable stud outsole gives the athlete capability of playing on hard or soft ground in the same shoe.
Reebok and their owner’s adidas made a remarkable jump by taking Thierry Henry, one of Arsenal’s top players, from Nike and bringing him into their company. Thierry was not satisfied with how Nike was promoting him, and Reebok and adidas jumped on this opportunity. This deal created a lot of publicity for the companies and was another stepping stone towards their goal of becoming number one in the industry.
Reebok has their mindset on being at that top spot, and they are taking big steps towards achieving that goal. Their drive to creating innovative products and continuing to have their brand worn by the best is going to give them that competitive edge and beat goliath in the end as the story is told.
