How would you make a lame brand cool again?

[cherry]

Does etnies have one pro shoe out now? I think they give their riders colorways... Pierre owns stock in Michelin I'm sure he's making good money with that "Chris joslin" shoe. I bet the janoski will be around after he's dead

[bawtawd3]

 sponsor cool guys and make cool guy videos, revive would be cool if cool guys were on revive.

[givecigstosurfgroms]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Kicking mike v off so Jeremy fox will ket flip riders wear your shoes for 3 years isn't a good move.

[close]

  Theres a misspelling there so I'm not sure about when the kick off was..   so that would help in telling whether it was a good idea.  Also there can be interpersonal reasons people kick people off, V seems weird.  I wanna keep an open mind tho.  I really hate the one liners he puts out there. "i live in that space, where skating and punk rock collide."

[close]

The misspelling of the word let with a k really inhibited your ability to understand that whole concept? It doesn't seem so with your response. "there can be interpersonal reasons", I wrote that Pierre(etnies) kicked off mike v because he wanted flip riders on the team. Seems pretty clear what happened. They had a meeting (jermey fox wouldn't show) Jeremy was telling Pierre he wouldn't let arto bastien etc sign with etnies unless they kicked off a bunch of riders that "aren't relevant". I used mike as the example because he was the most loyal to the brand and had the best selling pro shoe there for awhile. I've also talked with him about it. Pierre did as jermey told him. Its not about loyalty or even skating with those guys its about curating to the highest selling market they can reach. Now arto bastien mike janoski none of them ride for etnies and they are still just looking for the next "best" kid to market before taking behind the shed shoot

If I gave the impression that I understood regardless of the misspelling it was unintentional.  Kay, so I'm getting from your response here that bastien was in the picture by the time V got kicked off a team?  Well fuck,  what's wrong with that?  I thought you meant Mike V before he started his guilt trip  tirade angainst the industry 'cool guy's' and reading his shit poetry.   Do you remember Mike Vs transworld interview when he skated for World?  thosewere a mind blowing set of vert\street skills, he was the shit for a minute.

[Shifty Flip]

Darkstar was the shit here for a while. Some giy I skated with also got tbree huuuuuuuuuge darkstar knight heads tattoed on his leg...

I,always loved their wheels though.

Distant Rumors write the previously mentioned darkstar wheel web review.
He also has three huge darkstar knight heads tattooed on his leg himself.
Confirmed.
Couldn't resist myself. Sorry.

[cherry]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Kicking mike v off so Jeremy fox will ket flip riders wear your shoes for 3 years isn't a good move.

[close]

  Theres a misspelling there so I'm not sure about when the kick off was..   so that would help in telling whether it was a good idea.  Also there can be interpersonal reasons people kick people off, V seems weird.  I wanna keep an open mind tho.  I really hate the one liners he puts out there. "i live in that space, where skating and punk rock collide."

[close]

The misspelling of the word let with a k really inhibited your ability to understand that whole concept? It doesn't seem so with your response. "there can be interpersonal reasons", I wrote that Pierre(etnies) kicked off mike v because he wanted flip riders on the team. Seems pretty clear what happened. They had a meeting (jermey fox wouldn't show) Jeremy was telling Pierre he wouldn't let arto bastien etc sign with etnies unless they kicked off a bunch of riders that "aren't relevant". I used mike as the example because he was the most loyal to the brand and had the best selling pro shoe there for awhile. I've also talked with him about it. Pierre did as jermey told him. Its not about loyalty or even skating with those guys its about curating to the highest selling market they can reach. Now arto bastien mike janoski none of them ride for etnies and they are still just looking for the next "best" kid to market before taking behind the shed shoot

[close]

If I gave the impression that I understood regardless of the misspelling it was unintentional.  Kay, so I'm getting from your response here that bastien was in the picture by the time V got kicked off a team?  Well fuck,  what's wrong with that?  I thought you meant Mike V before he started his guilt trip  tirade angainst the industry 'cool guy's' and reading his shit poetry.   Do you remember Mike Vs transworld interview when he skated for World?  thosewere a mind blowing set of vert\street skills, he was the shit for a minute.

Yeah you're right.

[Dishonest John]

Blind will never be cool again, they fired Creager
#neverforget

[layzieyez]

I don't know, but I always wondered if Lakai took their name from the ilocano word for man.
https://toidp.com/search/?s=lakay&l=ilo

[Shifty Flip]

Blind will never be cool again, they fired Creager
#neverforget

^^^ This is a truth. Doesn't matter if the entire Supremacists team wears Blind hoodies from today until eternity.  But that Gonz drawn logo and learning to skate like I saw in Video Days on the boards they were riding, makes them the legit only one answer to your question, for me personally.
I still buy Crail boards, so Kook away. But 14" WB? and I make sure it's not from the China shop, and stock up when I find the non China Crail wood.
 Loving these Jerry and Berle sales this past week. Trying the Burle shape finally, just as it is disappearing.

[SodaJerk]

I don't know, but I always wondered if Lakai took their name from the ilocano word for man.
https://toidp.com/search/?s=lakay&l=ilo

It comes from the name Malakai who's a character in a. Ok I can't remember but MC mentions it in a few interviews.

[Burton Ernie]

Expand Quote

I don't know, but I always wondered if Lakai took their name from the ilocano word for man.
https://toidp.com/search/?s=lakay&l=ilo

[close]

It comes from the name Malakai who's a character in a. Ok I can't remember but MC mentions it in a few interviews.

Children of the Corn I think?

also, Darkstar Wheels WERE the shit! I rode so many of those in the early 00s. They were super hard and fast, I would equate them to the bones STF now.

[SodaJerk]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

I don't know, but I always wondered if Lakai took their name from the ilocano word for man.
https://toidp.com/search/?s=lakay&l=ilo

[close]

It comes from the name Malakai who's a character in a. Ok I can't remember but MC mentions it in a few interviews.

[close]

Children of the Corn I think?

also, Darkstar Wheels WERE the shit! I rode so many of those in the early 00s. They were super hard and fast, I would equate them to the bones STF now.

Yeah, Children of the Corn. That sounds right.

[layzieyez]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

I don't know, but I always wondered if Lakai took their name from the ilocano word for man.
https://toidp.com/search/?s=lakay&l=ilo

[close]

It comes from the name Malakai who's a character in a. Ok I can't remember but MC mentions it in a few interviews.

[close]

Children of the Corn I think?

also, Darkstar Wheels WERE the shit! I rode so many of those in the early 00s. They were super hard and fast, I would equate them to the bones STF now.

[close]

Yeah, Children of the Corn. That sounds right.

Ok.  It would have been better if the same guys who came up with Girl sold shoes brand named Man.

[Francis Xavier]

I don't know, but I always wondered if Lakai took their name from the ilocano word for man.
https://toidp.com/search/?s=lakay&l=ilo

Lately All Kids Are Idiots

[Dong Hanglo]

Watch the movie Men In Black. Try to Imagine Tommy Lee Jones as Dill and Will Smith as the FA kids. This formula works.

[Atiba Applebum]

 

Watch the movie Men In Black. Try to Imagine Tommy Lee Jones as Dill and Will Smith as the FA kids. This formula works.

that movie is clearly about Daniel Harold Sturt and Aruba/Atiba

[shark tits]

malakai is the red haired boy.

[botefdunn]

I just saw an old 411vm hat, I thought it was cool even though I wouldn't have thought so back in the day. 411vm has some nice associations, its got some nostalgia, it's cool. But if tws (I hear they are the ones rereleasing the stuff) try to pump it up, that's not gonna do anything for me. Just let it be what it is.

[expired]

I just saw an old 411vm hat, I thought it was cool even though I wouldn't have thought so back in the day. 411vm has some nice associations, its got some nostalgia, it's cool. But if tws (I hear they are the ones rereleasing the stuff) try to pump it up, that's not gonna do anything for me. Just let it be what it is.

[Atiba Applebum]

malakai is the red haired boy.

But that’s malachai

[BigManTing]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

I feel like Santa Cruz is a good example of a company that had a long period of being stale, but turned it all around.

I love the moves they are making these days (Aside from some of the collabs).

[close]

I personally still feel like they're stale. I would say that the only real reason you could say they're doing well is because of their OG status. Nobody I know that skates thinks current Santa Cruz is cool (which is just one area though).




It mostly just seems like another Zumiez brand to me.

[close]

I like the current Santa Cruz. The last board I skated was one of their P2's, granted it was on super clearance, but I still consider that supporting them. Like someone else said nostalgia goes a long way, especially in skating. Their team also helps also, I'm pretty sure both Jason Jesse and Eric Dresses are on the top 25 influential skaters list, plus they have new younger dudes that kill it, Erick Winkowski, Josh Borden, and Tom Asta are pretty cool to watch. I'd also like to add that I'm pretty sure Andrew Cannon is responsible for making Santa Cruz cool again, lame colabs aside. I guess having a smart brand manager is a big help.

That's not supporting them.

[tortfeasor]

being cool is so 2014.  what you gotta do is think 2004 and make yourself so uncool that when it comes back around and old becomes new you are king shit.  thats why i have six pairs of fila shoes to skate in 2024.

[SatanicPanic]

The best thing is for the older guys to take a step back from marketing. NHS and DLX are still relevant because they put out good product and hire good teams. You don’t see one of their videos and it’s Jim Thiebaud acting like a goofball- it’s focused on their best riders.

Blind though is probably beyond help but maybe they’re doing fine selling boards to ten year olds, who knows

[Allen.]

Don’t let Mo retire

[Circaskater420]

It takes more than a stacked team to make a good brand.  Numbers is a great example of a stacked team with a shit direction

[Wheelbyte]

I just had an evening talk with a feng shui master, and did some branding and logo seminars a while back.

Things change.
The planets energy lines are in constant flux.
According to the FS master, an ideal home location needs to be changed more often than every 10 years
A company's logo needs tweaking every 7 years on average.
VW has tweaked their logos like this


Cafes usually need rebranding after a decade, their schtick just gets old.
Sometimes I have a tug with the left hand, and it feels like a whole new world

There is probably a gap in the market for a skater with business/marketing degrees.
I see shocking artwork often, but have not delved much in to skate company decision making history,
as am relatively new to skating.

However, he industry shoots itself in the foot all the time, and alienates the kooky and many kids new to skating.
Many potentially long time customers leave skating quickly due to these bad business practises.

CX or customer experience in skating reads like a fucking nightmare to anyone who works in CX.
Basically from a business perspective, the skating industry is some fucked up shit.

[Far from relevant]

Access to time travel might help.

[theotherguy]

If the brand needs to be revived, then it must be gutted. Most of the team will probably have to go, the TM has to go, if there is a brand manager or creative director, they have to go, art department too.

Then, you have a chance at truly reviving a brand.

[Hyliannightmare]

Get some mainstream influencers or musical artist to wear my shit

[Crap]

It's cool that Volkswagen removed the Nazi imagery from their original logo. Maybe a prominent skate brand should try doing that.

[layzieyez]

I would make an off shoot brand as a rival and that brand attack like a pro wrestling villain. They might even steal some pros, make them evil, etc.

Why let an outsider attack your brand when you can reap the benefits from the dischord you create yourself?