I think a trend with these surviving shoe brands is they aren’t solely skate companies- they have other wide reaching programs (whether that be other sports or a casual line (Converse)). Even Etnies goes into other sports outside of skateboarding.
The only way skate-focused brands could survive is if everyone left Nike, Cons, Adidas and NB for them. At their prime, skate-focused brands thrived when Nike had 0 people on their roster and Adidas pretty much had Gonz and Busenitz. If everyone were to leave these brands, they would take a year+ financial hit but the money would ultimately come back into skate-focused brands and would readjust. I don’t see million dollar contracts being a thing with those brands but 6-figure salaries could easily be attained. Reynolds not taking the Adidas seems more like him assessing his life and understanding he’s financially “good” and doesn’t need to burn a bridge for a few extra bucks. Obviously, we all praise him for making that choice because he is essentially keeping emerica afloat.
Outside of that, as mentioned tons of times before, the marketing reach of CANN is unachievable by smaller brands. I’ve worked for two large tech companies with par/sub-par product(s) but rivals still couldn’t keep their head above water due to how aggressively these brands marketed themselves.
In regards to skateboarding, I don’t think “Core” and “financially rich” can live in the same house. Skateboarding is so big now that core brand owners are borderline philanthropic entities, lucky to break even after paying their riders. The field is so wide spread that every crumb of the pie is being accounted for. The large slices are on CANN’s plate. If Nike and Adidas start making wood and other hard goods, the whole industry will be turned upside down.
Regarding brands that should be sponsoring more women in skateboarding, yes, absolutely. Leave it to the Crail camp to not move on opportunities that could help them thrive. I think Nike and Adidas are more than happy to offer large contracts to female skateboarders because they understand how positively diversity helps a brand thrive. Outside of that, if you’re a female and starting to get into skateboarding, of course you’ll buy from a company that openly and acutely showcases their female riders. Some “core” brands are still stuck in trying to latch onto rail/stair hucking people because of decades of this being a successful business model for them.
To add to this, I would not be surprised if we see a massive surge of professional transgender men/women due to how much diversity helps brands. I definitely wouldn’t be shocked if CANN is the first to push these people into the spotlight. As much as I was to say that’s awesome, most of these pushes are simply marketing ploys to help a brand grow.
Edit(s): re reading parts of this thread and adjusted my rambling. Also, CANN is Converse, Adidas, Nike and NB.
Topic: "core" shoe companies stay blowing it by not sponsoring female skaters (Read 9061 times)