Falling stars: sneaker companies are trying to re-engineer their brands at a time when basketball stars are drawing less teen idolatry - includes related article on continuing expansion of athletic shoe market

Brandweek, Feb 2, 1998 by Terry Lefton

Category leader Nike has similarly toned down its message. While its newest "I can" campaign employs some of its biggest stars, the feeling is certainly more inclusive than the elitism inherent in the infamous vomit spot or in "You don't win silver, you lose gold."

"It's not about moving away from the elite and pro athletes," said Nike's Zimmerman. "They will continue to be a powerful influence and they are still the critical element of our work. This is just representing a broader, more inclusive view of sport. We had reached sort of a crossroads, so it was a reflection that Nike had changed and sports had too. But I would still say Just Do It' and `I Can' are both about possibility and reaching potential."

Another brand back to basics is Fila, which rode a fashion heritage as strong as Adidas' authentic roots to rise from the pack and become the No. 3 brand behind Nike and Reebok, before being displaced by Adidas this year. Fila is showing the sure signs of a down shoe market by cutting its media budget by 10% or less this year (a Super Bowl spot was included in last year's budget) as it tries to cure its perennial fashion over function image by plowing more money into design and R&D.

"Fashion is fickle; we made quite a run as a fashion oriented brand and it is not sustainable," said Burch. "We will never be out where New Balance is, but we want to put a new face on the brand."

That aim won't be leveraged extensively in Fila's marketing until the launch of the Grant Hill V in November, which will incorporate a new cushioning technology that will eventually be included in most of the company's shoes.

"We're re-engineering the brand," said Burch. "And I think that is something you'll see a lot of in the [footwear] category this year."

A soft sneaker market will not keep retailers from expanding.

In the face of generally gloomy sneaker sales forecasts, retailers are continuing to expand as if they were in a boom.

In an oversaturated market, isn't adding millions of more retail square feet to sell sneakers a bit of a death wish" The specialty chains evidently haven't heard the phrase, "Less is more."

Somewhere between 400 to 600 new athletic stores will open this year. Woolworth's Foot Locker, Lady and Kids Foot Lockers, along with Champs, will expand by 300 stores in '98. Foot Action claims it will add 60 more stores to its current total of 550, and The Sports Authority will add enough stores to its 173 locations to have more than 200 by the end of '98. Just For Feet is going from 73 to 98 stores by the end of the year, including one in Manhattan's Times Square.

How can all this be happening in the face of declining sales of a product described by Mitch Modell, among others, as "the driving force" of athletic retail? Ceding that shoes move the rest of the categories of sport equipment, he said, "We all live and die by it [the athletic shoe]."

Just to validate that, 92% of kids bought sneakers or athletic shoes in the most recent 12-month period sampled by Simmons Market Research's 1997 Kids Study. And 84% bought a pair of jeans. Almost 73% bought casual pants, 65% bought sweats and 77% bought a shirt or blouse. These are critical numbers as most sneaker stores expand even further into licensed apparel.