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What he’s providing for Asics is probably worth more than he’s actually getting paid,
Go to your local shop
and ask the kids if they know who Gino is -
they will have no idea
and those same shops, haven’t sold a pair of asics in months.
Right ok, my bad. I mistook wilful ignorance for lack of intelligence. Let me break it down for you. Asics footwear started a skate program, right? Are you following?
Well big footwear brands have marketing teams. They will assess the market and work out where they want to position themselves and what kinds of people they want to sell to - this is called the target demographic, and no that's not what's printed on your skateboard.
To an adult person, it's clear they are targeting a young edgy type of skater and a slightly older skater who still follows trends and cares about what's cool - that's not be confused with the temperature by the way.
Therefore they did research (something you do before you make business decisions) and selected the skaters they hook up now. From your perspective they should have signed Yuto, Jamie Foy and Dylan Jaeb because that's who kids know. When in actual fact people are getting paid to help grow a brand.
Asics are targeting this demographic of people because they know if people who are considered 'cool' are buying them, then the 'kids' will start to catch on too. It's also a whole lot cheaper and a less aggressive strategy than poaching big name riders off the bat which would create industry resentment and a kooky vibe - which if you didn't know, is stigma you don't want your brand to have.
If your shops ordered a load in thinking they were like Etnies and now they won't sell, I think that's probably on the shop and not Gino
so your condescending argument boils down to “gino will make the brand look cool to kids and therefore sell shoes” but kids don’t think gino is cool and the shoes arent selling?
Again, not really. To really boil it down, it's that Gino & co will make the brand look cool to people who care and seek out what's cool. Then some of your average kids will see these 'cool' people wearing them and follow suit.
The part about the shoes not selling was some anecdotal comment with no evidence. If your local shop knows it's cliental, they should probably know whether to stock them or not.
I'm just trying to say that these decisions are usually based on market research and strategy as opposed to 'kids don't know Gino, shoes won't sell' or 'kids know Jamie Foy, shoes will sell'. There's no brand building or longevity behind this black and white logic. It's rare that you can make a hit brand straight out the gate, and if you did the chances it of lasting would be slim.
If you look at Asics Sportstyle (oddly named as it's their more fashion orientated line) as a parallel. They are really plugged in to the fashion world, with frequent collaborations with Kiko kostadinov, Cecilie Bahnsen & other
if you know you know type brands which has successfully established Asics as a 'cool' brand over the last 5 years. It's not just a fluke and they didn't just collab with LV or Gucci straight away for a quick, unsustainable cash grab. It's a strategy.