Overview U.S.A., Inc., is a worldwide designer, developer, marketer, and distributor of casual, active, and dress style . The company’s products are designed to appeal to active, fashion-conscious consumers at affordable prices.

History Robert Greenberg founded Skechers U.S.A in 1992 immediately following his forced departure from L.A. Gear. To kick things off, Skechers started with the primary market focus men, specifically in relation to the production of an innovative, stylish street . Little headway was made during 1992 and 1993 because the Skechers CEO, Robert Greenberg, had started to own and market various brands like Cross Colours, as well as Karl Kani, taking his focus away from the Skechers brand.

In 1993, the first boom for Skechers came with the ‘Chrome Dome’, a unisex, grunge style . These , worn with the trendy ripped jeans established the 1993 style norm and branded Skechers as a trendy company. This move put Skechers on the retail map, as they were soon carried by Foley and Nordstrom. By 1995, the Skechers brand had established clout, which could be credited to the CEO Robert Greenberg, and his son Michael, who carried the title of Skechers President.

May of 1995 marked the first big innovative push when Skechers signed agreements to produce casual for boys and men for Genova Incorporated and Signal/ American. Starting in 1997, Skechers began selling to Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe, the origin of their already established manufacturing plants. Surprisingly, within a year the overseas sales made up 15% of the Company sales.

Only six years into the company, Skechers had 2,200 accounts … [and] had also opened more than 30 of its own stores. (Skechers History 2000). By April, Skechers was making power moves, putting itself in direct competition with and Nike. Skechers rented out the previously Nike housed, 54,000 square foot space at the World Congress Center of Atlanta. This was a trade show space, and it proved suc- cessful in the breakthrough, 2 million dollar buy that helped Skechers establish itself as an athletic footwear powerhouse. By September, the company was offered its own space with the Macy’s central New York Location, while many other brands fought for attention.

Then, Skechers filed two copyright complaints against Candies and Payless Shoe Source for infringement of a feature of the Skechers Shape-Ups. In summary, Skech- ers in 1998, chose to focus on quality control of existing accounts and new product line development into ‘womanswear’, rather than open new accounts. With these existing lines, a new women’s line, as well as a children’s’ line, they collectively de- veloped 300 styles by the close of the year.

Skechers 1 Here comes a year of change, the year of 1999. Skechers pushed out a campaign titles, “Skechers hooks you up from to toe”. They teamed up with sprint and Motorola for free promotional items for anyone buying the Skechers brand in the Nordstrom store. 1999 is the same year that Skechers went public, starting with sev- en million shares at $11 each. At the turn of the century, Skechers signed an e-com- merce agreement with America Online, as well as opened 3 retail stores in 3 heavily populated places: New York, Tennessee, and Florida.

One year later in 2001, the company entered the UK market, opening up possibilities for growth in London, Paris, and Germany. This was also the year of the first concept store, which came together in Texas.

First Canadian retail store opened in 2002. The company expanded its European market substantially, and the launched a new product line called Skechers Work, aimed at blue collar workers in the service and utility industry. Another newly pro- duced line was Skechers Active, a line of casual for women.

In 2003, Skechers entered into several agreements to license Skechers products. The first agreement was with Paul Davril for the SKX USA men’s and women’s casual . This year also benchmarked the first International Licensing through Mit- sui & Co for SKX branded men’s, women’s and children’s apparel in Japan. Last but not least, Skechers completed an agreement with Federal Jeans for the line, “some- thing’ Else”- a product line in the Skechers branded junior sportswear apparel in US and Canada.

In 2004, Skechers signed an agreement with United Legwear for kids’ socks in US and Canada, with all the design, distribution and marketing done by United. Between 2005-2010, Skechers signed many licensing agreements that further increased mar- ket share internationally.

However, in 2011, the Footwear powerhouse filed a lawsuit against Sears Holding Corporation for infringing on three product lines sold at Sears and KMart and Online under different product names.

2012 was the year Japanese business moved from 3rd party manufacturing to Ske- chers Japan. Playing with fire previously, Skechers settled domestic legal proceed- ings relating to advertising claims where there was false marketing in the form of promising a “toning-shoe” product. This was most notably a tank for the Shape-Ups.

Also in 2012, Skechers signed marketing agreements with big names such as Mark Cuban, Joe Montana, and Tommy Lasorda for the global launch of a new line, Re- laxed Fit from Skechers Footwear. E-commerce sites went up in UK and Germany, while Skechers begun the unveiling 2 lines of low-top sneakers and boots. These were for two target markets, 20-34 year olds and juniors. (Juniors meaning children).

2013, Company announces multi-year partnership with the Houston Marathon Com- mittee, starting the process of Skechers performance division becoming the official footwear and apparel sponsor for the Chevron Houston Marathon.

2 Skechers 2014 was a massive year for Skechers. In May 2014, Skechers publicly spoke about an interest in the LA Clippers. By June, Skechers had filed a lawsuit against Reebok Inter- national for footwear infringing on Skechers GOwalk. One month later, in July 2014, the company filed a lawsuit against USA for footwear infringing on the GOwalk product line. In the same month, Skechers announced the expansion of European distribution center in Belgium, adding a 25,000 square meter facility, making in the largest company operated facility in the region. In September, The footwear mogul filed a lawsuit against DB Shoe Company for infringement on Skechers GOwalk. In November 2014, Skechers opened the Mexico store, making it the 1000th store.

In January of 2015, Skechers Performance became the Official footwear and apparel sponsor of the Chevron Houston Marathon, as well as making all of its Central Eastern Europe Distribution from 3rd party to Skechers CEE.

Organizational Structure

Skechers U.S.A. Inc. is run by founder and CEO, Robert Greenberg with his son and current president of the company, Michael Greenberg, by his side. Together, they are responsible for overseeing the responsibilities of the entire company. Under Robert and Michael Greenberg falls Skechers’ executive employees who take care of specific, day to day operations of the company (Skechers USA Inc. CI A.). Skechers has a Board of Directors whichw is made up of nine members, three of which are Greenbergs. With Greenberg’s five sons, his daughter, and a niece all working for the company, Skechers could be described as a family business that also happen to be an international compa- ny (Gillio, M. E.).

Skechers U.S.A. Inc. has a wide reach. The company sells its footwear in department, specialty and independent stores, as well as through more than 1,100 Company-owned Skechers retail stores and online at skechers.com. Skechers’ accounts include Gen- esco Federated, the May Company, Dayton-Hudson, Dillard’s, Nordstrom, Woolworth Corporation, Foot Action, Macy’s and Finish Line. Among the over 1,000 Skechers stores operating in over 50 countries across 6 different continents, more than 500 loca- tions have opened through partnerships with experienced retailers (By The Numbers). Beyond the , Skechers’ products are available in more than 120 countries and territories through an international network of subsidiaries in Canada, Brazil, Chile, Japan, and 27 countries in Western and Central Eastern Europe, as well as through joint ventures in Asia and distributors around the world. Some of Skechers’ subsidiaries include Skecher International II, Skechers Sport LLC, Skechers By Mail Inc., Skech- ers U.S.A., Inc. I, Skechers USA France SAS, and many more (SUBSIDIARIES OF THE REGISTRANT).

Skechers is headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California. It is traded on the New York Stock exchange under the the symbol SKX (Skechers USA, Inc.). Skechers continually seeks international franchisees that share their strategic philosophy and would like to open Skechers retail stores in up and coming markets. Skechers franchisees are sup- ported by Skechers as each location is backed by a $2 billion footwear companies’ marketing assets, merchandising know-how and operating efficiencies (Skechers USA, Inc.)

Skechers 3 Skechers marquee stores, among Skechers’ global retail presence, are found in high profile, high traffic, high tourist locations. Their retail store formats include concept locations and outlet locations. Concept locations are destination centers for consum- ers that serve as a living catalogue for the latest trends. They focus on eye catching presentations. Outlet locations are found in major premium outlet centers. Outlet locations are known for style and value as well as their efficient, impactful self-serve layouts (By The Numbers).

Goals and Mission

The company’s mission statement is “to be the first choice of Skechers footwear by providing an exceptional and exciting customer experience for the entire fami- ly.” Along with their mission statement, their strategic intent is “to become the most successful footwear company worldwide, by operating a high-performing, custom- er-driven business that sets the standard in every market we serve.”

Both of these statements hit a couple of common key points or ideas. The first one is the idea of the customer. Their whole business model revolves around the customer and his/her needs. Skechers constantly works to keep up with the most current fashion trends so that they may provide the customer with exactly what they want. Within the idea of a customer-orientated business model lies the goal of providing quality products. It is of the utmost importance to the company that their products meet their high standards of quality because that is what the customer deserves and wants. Aside from their internal goals, they aim to continue expanding and getting their name out to new people and places (Careers 2015). Their market- ing strategy is best summarized by Michael Greenberg (President of Skechers) who once said, “There’s no limit to creating brand awareness” (Skechers USA Inc History, 2015).

Keywords • Lifestyle • Diverse Styling

• Athletic • Varied Product Offerings

• Affordable • Celebrity Endorsees

• Flexibility • Casual

• Comfort

• Trendy

Unique Selling Points

• Skechers offers many rainbow/colorful schemes on their shoe designs that are unique to them.

• One of the few companies to offer specially made to improve walking perfor- mance.

• The only company to offer Goga Mat (yoga mat material) in their shoes (skechers. com).

4 Skechers Competition As both a casual, lifestyle footwear brand and an athletic, active footwear brand, Skechers has many competitors. In order to compete in the footwear apparel in- dustry Skechers focuses on a few important strategies for survival. Efficient pro- duction is important and Skechers knows this because they outsource almost all of their manufacturing to Asian countries where the cost of production is considerably lower. Brand image is another important component to their success and is achieved through large advertising campaigns and hiring celebrities to endorse their products. Skechers places their shoes in television shows and specific movies, mainly on per- sons between the ages of 12-24 to create positive brand images. Successful celeb- rities such as Ashlee Simpson, Carrie Underwood, Kim Kardashian, and Jamie Foxx have all promoted Skechers brand. The image they aim for is youthful and trend set- ting. Lastly, Skechers concentrates on product differentiation through superior quality and by offering a large variety of product lines for their consumers to choose from.

In the lifestyle footwear category, Skechers competes with Decker Brands, which includes UGG, TEVA, Sanuk and HOKAoneone. From fashion-oriented to outdoor, athletic to casual, Decker Brands meet the specific needs of different groups, activ- ities, jobs and individuals (About Decker Brands). Similarly, Skechers prides itself on offering the same diverse categories of products. Decker Brands is competition for Skechers as they share the same market. Sketchers, however, offers their products at a lower price than its competitor. For example, a pair of short boots from UGGS average from $195.00 to $240.00 while a very similar Skechers version costs around $75.00.

Skechers competes with NIKE in the sports footwear market. NIKE designs, devel- ops, and sells a variety of products and services to help in playing and soccer (football), as well as in running, men’s and women’s training, and other action sports (Company Profile). Nike takes first place in the sports footwear market with Skechers falling behind in second place. While Nike dominates most of the market, Skechers seems to be pinching some of its market share (Poppick, S). The growth in Skechers’ sales and market share has mostly come from its casual and walking segments. Additionally, Skechers competes with NIKE by keeping prices low. While NIKE athletic shoes typically sell for $80 to $160, Skechers’ athletic shoes can be purchased for $65.00 to $75.00.

Timberland LLC Company is best known for making men’s, women’s, and kids’ footwear. Timberland manufactures hiking boots, boat shoes, sandals, and dress and outdoor casual footwear (Our History). Like Timberland, Skechers sells oxfords, boots, sandals, sneakers, training shoes, and semi-dressy shoes. Skechers and Timberland are competition because they offer the same categories of merchandise and share the same market. Skechers, however, offers their footwear at a lower price. A pair of Timberland boots sells for around $160.00 while a similar pair of Skechers boots sells for $85.00 to $99.00.

Skechers 5 Market Engagment

Skechers markets its products under several different lines that target specific cus- tomers and their needs. Each line has its own unique characteristics that target a specific niche such as kids, sports/performance, business/dress, and work savvy/ lifestyle. For each line, Skechers has a different target market. What makes Skechers successful is their ability to effectively market to each differnet target. When Skech- ers reaches out to the popular kids shoe,Twinkle Toes’, customers, those cusomers are probably unaware that Skechers is also marketing to others about athletic foot- wear. Skechers talks to each consumer in ways that are different and engaging. In doing so, Skechers has generated trust in the minds of consumers as they have delivered on the promise to build footwear that is effective for the purpose intended.

Skechers Kids offers a range of infants’, toddlers’, boys’ and girls’ boots, shoes and sneakers. The kids line includes embellishments or adornments with fresh colorful fabrics from the adult Skechers lines. They offer a wide variety of ‘light up’ shoes that are appealing to kids. In order reach children, Skechers uses popular celebrity endorsers, television and movie appearances and kid-oriented commercials (Celeb- rities in Skechers [Blog Post]). The Skechers Kids commercials are often made up of engaging cartoon story-lines. Within the story lines, kids see robot superheroes, child scientists, and kids like themselves sporting the Skechers Kids line. They also partnered with Cabbage Patch Kids so that young boys and girls could match their dolls (Commercials. (n.d.).

Skechers Sport line features lightweight performance-inspired athletics, classic ath- letic-inspired styles and sport sandals and boots. This category focuses on comfort and performance. Sketchers’ sports and performance line targets health conscious, active men and women ages 19-40. Tow engage this target market, Sketchers aires commercials featuring healthy men and women sporting Skechers’ sports/perfor- mance products ((Commercials. (n.d.)). They also feature famous athletes in their commercials, such as Sugar Ray Leonard, to make engage their target market (Ce- lebrities in Skechers [Blog Post]).

Skechers’ business and dress line appeals to men and women in professional and formal environments. This category includes casuals and dress casuals. The line is comprised of black and brown shoes that feature shiny leather and dress details (Skechers USA Inc (SKX) Full Overview). To engage this target market, Skechers fea- tures older, more relatable celebrities sporting the business line.

For the work savvy and lifestyle niche, Sketchers offers a line of men and women’s casuals, such as field boots, hikers and athletic shoes. Skechers work line is de- signed for men and women working in jobs with certain safety requirements. These durable styles are constructed on slip resistant, long-wearing soles, and feature breathable lining, oil and abrasion resistant outsoles (Skechers USA Inc (SKX) Full Overview). Skechers reaches this specific client basis in their commercials. The commercials highlight the important features of the shoes and feature them in a work environment ((Commercials. (n.d.)).

6 Skechers Current Marketing Efforts

Skechers’ current marketing effort is mainly centered around Skechers’ active foot- wear lines. In their efforts, the company uses celebrity endorsees including Demi Lovato, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Ringo Starr to appeal to different target markets. Popular singer and former Disney star, Demi Lovato, appears in the Skechers’ Color- ful Comfort footwear campaign marketed towards active, adolescent girls who want comfortable, sporty footwear in a variety of styles. In Lovato’s campaign, the signer advertises Skechers Sport with Memory Foam. legend, Sugar Ray Leonard, is featured in Skechers Relaxed Fit Sportswear campaign. In the Relaxed Fit Sports- wear campaign, Surgar Ray Leonard targets active people of ages 15 to 60 who are looking for both comfort and performance. Furthermore, iconic drummer, Ringo Starr, promotes Skechers’ Relaxed Fit Footwear line. The Relaxed Fit Footwear line cam- paign targets men and women ages 19-60. The global Skechers footwear marketing campaigns extend across all platforms, including television, print, online, outdoor and point of purchase (Celebrities in Skechers [Blog post]) .

Skechers’ recent ploy to increase brand loyalty and awareness among young adult women by hiring Demi Lovato can be seen in their most recent Ad campaign. The Ad campaign, launched soon after the release of “Cool for the Summer.” taps into the star’s positive health change and draws emotion out of the Lovato following. Many young girls, especially between the ages of 7 and the time to graduate as a senior year of high-school, up to Demi as an influence for their life. (Go behind the scenes with Demi 2015) Demi not only is enjoying the royalties associated with the brand ambassador position, but she is also story telling. Story telling is extremely important and it seems that Skechers is moving close and closer towards storytelling in everything that they do. Demi has already brought the brand much popularity, but it is only up from here.

Skechers 7 Skechers’ Current Marketing Efforts Across Social Media

Additionally, Skechers has expanded its marketing efforts through the use of social media. Skechers encourages its customers to use hashtags such as #SpottedInSkechers and #ShoecationSweeps. Using the #ShoecationSweeps, Skech- ers’ consumers helped illustrate how the signature comfort found in every pair helps to make Skechers a travel partner at any destination. #ShoecationSweeps winners received a travel prize pack that included a pair of Skechers, sunglass- es, a DK Eyewitness Travel Guide, and a cooling mask and sunscreen from Peter Thomas Roth (SKECHERS). Skechers maintains social media profiles across a variety of platforms such as Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Pinterest and Twit- ter. Their Twitter accounts are segmented based on target markets, geography, and product line. Their strongest social (Skechers Facebook) media platform is Facebook, with over 1million people who like their company page. However, their Facebook and Insta- gram profiles are linked together so that no content is specific for any one platform. This weakens Skechers’ reach to differ- ent consumers across platforms. Skechers posts across their social media platforms primarily focus on promoting the com- fortable benefit of their shoes as well as the company’s social responsibility emphasized by their BOBs product line.

Skechers’ Pinterest account has several boards targeting multiple segments. Pinterest is important because it targets millennial females and allows this segment of consumers to picture themselves in Skechers. Skechers Pinterest accounts are segmented like their Twitter accounts, based on product line and location. (Skechers Facebook)

Skechers’ Instagram accounts are also segmented by prod- uct line and geographic location. The account is directly linked to Skechers USA’s Facebook profile. The account has an active follower base with many comments, tags and likes on each pictures. Most of the pictures feature models wear- ing the shoes without their heads in the frame. The only time a full body is shown wearing Skechers is if it is a celebrity endorsement.

(Skechers Instagram) 8 Skechers Skechers’ Current Marketing Efforts Across Social Media (cont’d.)

Skechers also manages a YouTube channel where it fea- tures behind the scenes videos with stars like Demi Lovato. It also acts as an archive for Skechers’ many TV commer- cials. In 2009, Skechers Marketing Channel ran a series called “Schmitty, McFunkle and Stump” featuring cartoon teenagers on the street talking about Skechers shoes. In an era with so many popular YouTube stars that have huge subscriber bases, Skechers could consider the possibility of enlisting a Youtube star that reaches a younger audience (Skechers Youtube) as a “celebrity” endorser.

Skechers’ twitter accounts are also segmented by location and product line. Sketchers USA currently has 26.5 thousand followers and 4,304 tweets. The account makes sure to retweet or mention its celebrity endorsers as well as use trending hashtags to market to a younger tech- nologically savvy population.

(Skechers Twitter)

Skechers 9 SWOT Analysis

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

Celebrity endorsers help Relatively low market Expansion International- Increase in labor costs in achieve a high level of share (3.3%) ly: specifically the Middle the US and China brand awareness East and Central America

Sales revenue has been High Loan Rates Growing emphasis on Footwear Industry con- consistently increasing in healthy, active lifestyle sists of a lot of big brand the past 3 years that has a need for such competition footwear Many different brands to Litigations: $40million Growing e-commerce Scrutiny of the toning appeal to different target lawsuit settlement be- market footwear markets cause of Shape-Ups Large International pres- Dependent on small Positive public outlook Fashion trends change ence group of loyal customers, on the global footwear quickly difficulty retaining cus- market tomers Large, diversified dis- Market over-diversifica- Growing demand in Eu- BOBs may be considered tribution centers and tion ropean market knockoffs of TOMs channels

BOBs promote business’ Perceived to not match social responsibility competitor’s quality

10 Skechers 3C Analysis

Company

1. Skechers is great at new market penetration (History 2000)

2. Choosing Brand ambassadors (Go Demi 2015)

3. Skechers excels at spreading brand awareness. (Skechers 2015)

Aspirations:

1. The brand wants to become the top grossing International Footwear brand (New York Times 2015).

2. Skechers strives to resonate with everyone all over the world (Webstory Tellers 2013).

3. Skechers will continue to produce more product lines increse engagement (Boudway 2015).

Resources:

1. Skechers has extensive market share in athletic footwear. (SKX 2015).

2. The company has international reach in over 120 countries worldwide (Ske- chers Retail 2012).

3. Unique outlook on the athletic apparel market (Motley Fool 2015).

Customers

1. A small group of consumers make up 25% of Skechers’ sales

2. Try to target all market segments with their diverse lifestyle and perfor- mance product lines: men, women, and children

3. Celebrity endorsers like Demi Lovato, Christina Aguilera, and Britney Spears appeal to the urban teen girl segment.

4. Skechers has also signed Marathon runner Meg Keflezigh along with other famous athletes to compete with other athletic footwear brands among the athletic young adult and adult segments.

5. 12-24 year olds make up Skechers’ core targeted audience

Customer Needs:

1. Comfortable shoes they can wear all day at work or school

2. Stylish shoes they can wear everyday

3. Performance shoes for athletic activities

4. Need to appeal to Maslow’s esteem and self-actualization needs

Skechers 11 Customer Buying Behavior:

1. Families and discount shoppers make up the largest group of consumer that purchase more than once

2. Parents by shoes for their kids because they are less expensive than their competitors

3. Children’s feet grow fast so parents are less likely to pay for expensive shoes until their children stop growing How much do they buy?

4. This year, Skechers has risen to No.2 most loyal customers this year be- hind Nike and who are tied for No. 1 among athletic sneakers (Mahoney, 2015).

5. 20% of 100 million shoes manufactured are sold to children (Greenberg, 2014)

Competition

1. Skechers top three competitors include: Nike, Timberland, and Decker Brands.

2. Nike

• offers its customers extremely popular and well-respected products.

• As a brand, Nike is much more popular than Skechers.

• Skechers cannot offer the recognition and admiration that comes with Nike products.

• Nike’s products are, however, more expensive than Skechers.

3. The Timberland Company

• focuses specifically on outdoor footwear. All of their efforts are fo- cused on designing and producing the highest quality outdoor foot- wear.

• Skechers does not focus specifically on outdoor footwear but are spread amongst a variety of different footwear lines; therefore, Skech- ers cannot offer the quality of outdoor footwear that The Timberland Company offers.

4. Decker Brands

• offer a variety of lifestyle footwear options. Each brand tailors to a specific lifestyle need.

• focus on developing the highest quality footwear in each lifestyle cate- gory and can offer their customers the best of the best products.

• Skechers does not only develop and sell lifestyle footwear. Skechers cannot offer the highest quality lifestyle footwear; however, Skechers can offer very similar styles and products at a lower price. 12 Skechers Advertising Problem Consumers 18 to 23 years old do not believe that Skechers are a current and fash- ionable brand. Objective We want consumers ages 18-23 to believe Skechers are relevant.

Core Message Skechers are cool.

Key Consumer Benefits 1. Customers will feel like they fit in with their peers.

2. Using Skechers’ performance products will lead to more respect and honor for the user.

3. The user can feel better about themselves and more accomplished after having im- proved their performance and gotten more done while using Skechers products. Support

1. Skechers shoes come in a variety of designs and styles. There is something for ev- eryone so that not only will the buyer like the shoes but their friends and family will also find them appealing. By using these shoes, they will continue to stay fashionable and peers will regard them as having good taste and not stand out in a negative light.

2. Skechers Performance shoes are highly technology-driven so that they will increase the user’s performance while playing sports and engaging in other physical activities. This technology includes a midfoot strike design in running shoes as well as mem- ory foam included in many of the shoes. Having an improved performance will lead to more prestige and honor from peers becuase they will admire your performance abilities.

3. Along with honor and admiration from peers, one can feel confident in themselves knowing that they are performing at their very best. The shoes allow them to accom- plish more while using them and allow the user to take full advantage of their maxi- mum, personal potential.

Skechers 13 Target Audience This is Robert. Robert is a 20 year old college student. Robert goes to school at the University of Georgia and lives in Athens, GA. Athens falls into the city-start up cate- gory, with low income households without kids. Robert is part of the Micro-City Blues social group. He works after school as a bar- tender. In his free time, he plays video games, goes fishing, or works out with his friends. He is currently in the Striving Singles life-stage group. He drives his dad’s old Toyota. He is highly motivated by image awareness and believes that he must be considered cool to be successful in life. This leads him to be open to

new ideas, as he is always trying out the next (Arruda 2015) coolest thing, so that he can be the first one to tell his friends. He is very perceptive towards anything that comes off as hypocritical. He values individuality and resists conformity. He is an experiencer. Because of his low-income and dependency on his parents money, he only purchases products that he believes will be necessary or that will improve his social standing. He needs products that are high quality and are dura- ble. Robert is an extremely loyal customer and once he finds a product that he likes, will likely recommend it to his friends.

Brand Brainstorming

14 Skechers Mood Board

Skechers 15 Message Diagrams and Deliverables

Gigi Hadid Instagram

myskechers “Supermodel, Gigi Hadid, knows pressure. Hadid keeps her head on straight by believing in herself, sticking to her morals and focusing on family and friends. Use the hashtag #myskechers and tell us how you keep life on track? #gigihadidformySkechers #mySkechers #ownwhatyou- know”

Core Message: Skechers is cool. Messaging: To reach our target audience, we are establishing a campaign that can create a personal experience for the consumer with Skechers. We want the consumer to see that Skechers are relevant, and believe that if we use celebrities relatable to the target audi- ence that we will be successful in achieving this goal. To do this, we have created a simple Instagram post. It consists of just a picture of our endorser, Gigi Hadid, and then contains the words “MySkechers.” It is an extremely simple post because we want the viewer to focus on that fact that simplicity can be great. We believe that keeping the Instagram post very basic will make the consumer zone in on the fact that Gigi Hadid wears Skechers, and then they’ll want to try Skechers too. We will really hit home with the caption, where we will allow the audience to engage through hashtags, creating that more personal experience and allowing user feedback/involvement.

16 Skechers Gigi Hadid Instagram (Con’t.)

Target Audience: Gigi Hadid is the person highlighted in this Instagram post. She is within the age of our target audience (18-23). She has proven to be extremely successful, and is very well versed with the fashion industry. The target audience looks to people like Gigi for fashion tips, and therefore when they see her in Skechers, they’ll want to be in Skechers too. Because Gigi is very young, lively, and has unique style, she is perfect to represent our target market. She is relatable and has great power to be an influence over consumers purchasing decisions. To create this advertisement we wrote MySkechers in a handwriting styled font to show a basic and personal feel. The colors are blue, purple, and grey to give off a sense of unity and represent Skechers main brand colors. These colors are cool, but not too vibrant. They keep the simplistic feel that we are trying to create. Audience Member Needs: We are targeting a young audience that really focuses on indi- viduality and the ability to express them selves. With that being said, this Instagram post meets the needs of affiliation and exhibition, just like our wild card event does. People are trying to fit in and be cool. Giving them a personalized fashion experience where they can fit in with the crowd brand wise, but also stand out with the customization of what they put on their body. This will allow the people ages 18-23 to feel like they are something great and that they matter. They’ll feel like they look good. They’ll gain attention from friends and other people, when those people ask them what they are wearing, or where they got it from. This will raise their self-actualization and esteem levels. They’ll feel like they fit in. They will feel like they matter. Format: Instagram is such a popular social media site, and we feeling using it can only help raise our brand awareness even more to our specific target market. 18-23 year olds consider Instagram the most popular form of social media that they use, which is why we thought posting a photo would give us the most exposure. Instagram allows us to post something simple and then really grab attention with a photo caption. Instagram also al- lows for photos to be shared on other social media sites, which raises the level of exposure for Skechers as a brand.

Gigi Hadid Instagram Process

Skechers 17 Gigi Hadid Instagram Process (cont’d.)

GIGI wzAttempt

Logo process

18 Skechers Gigi Hadid Instagram Process (cont’d.)

GIGI Final

Skechers 19 Jimmy Fallon Instagram

myskechers From humble beginnings on SNL to his own late night talk show, America’s funny guy, Jimmy Fallon, has never ceased to bring joy (trying to figure out a different way to say this). Though we may not be stand up comedians, the power of laughter and smiles remain the same! Use the hashtag #myskechers and tell us you favorite way to make someone smile Jimmy Fallon Instagram Process

Jimmy Attempt 1 20 Skechers Jimmy Fallon Instagram Process

Final Jimmy

Core Message: Skechers is cool. Messaging: For the most part, Skechers has been able to success- fully reach all age groups except for one: young adults. Being that we are within that target audience, we were able to pull a lot of information from our own experience and that of our peers. The goal of the campaign is to make Skechers a brand that can speak out to the target audience and place it amongst the other competing shoe brands. We want the focus of the ad to be not only Skechers but the person wearing them. Drawing from the pong theory, we kept the visual clean and simple so that only the celebrity endorser wearing the Skechers will be highlighted. This will allow the audience to take in the message without getting overwhelmed and wanting to reject the message altogether. The caption on the post will also speak out to the audience because it will be simple, short, and make them more involved by asking them a question at the end.

Skechers 21 Target Audience: Jimmy Fallon will be the focus of this ad. He is still young enough that the target audience can relate to him but also old enough that young adults can look up to him. He is successful, funny, and always outgoing and fun to be around. These are all charac- teristics that the audience admires and thus makes them want to listen to and be influ- enced by Fallon. His signature is displayed at the bottom of the picture as a way to show his individuality as a signature is unique to each person. The mySKECHERS logo uses a more handwritten style of typeface for the “my” to also play off of the uniqueness quality. To create a sense of unity amongst the whole campaign, the colors used in the picture are greys and blues which give off a cool and mature feel that the audience will be attracted to. Audience Member Needs: The target audience is young and facing an important milestone in their lives where they are transitioning into grown adults and finding themselves. These young adults are in need inspiration and role models that they can aspire to be. Fallon is the perfect example of the type of person they aspire to be and the needs they have which are recognition, exhibition, and affiliation. They can feel inspired by his success and ev- erything he has accomplished and can admire the qualities that make him so likable. Like him, our audience strives to be outgoing, funny, and confident. While they want to be these things so they may have a sense of belonging and fitting in, they simultaneously have a need for novelty which makes them want to find those features that makes them unique and stand out from everyone else. That is the idea behind mySKECHERS. It is a way to belong to something bigger than themselves while staying unique and true to themselves. Format: Social media is synonymous with the target market we want to reach. Instagram has almost a 60% share of social media and it considered by young adults as one of the most important social media sites. Instagram is also more versatile in that a post on the site can also be posted to Facebook, Twitter, and countless other sites. That cannot be said for the other way around. To skip out on Instagram would be to miss out on reaching huge numbers of our target audience.

Non-static Deliverables

Core Message: Skechers is cool. Messaging: Skechers has long been able to appeal all sorts of audiences. They have product lines available for all age groups with a variety of lifestyles. When researching this client, our group came to the realization that one of the only markets Skechers has yet to target is young adults. Being that we are within that market, we already had the building blocks for what would become the campaign. We began by mindmapping Skechers and then college as that is the market we want. After observing our brainstorming and realizing the image that most of the target market has is not a favorable one, we began to find those ways that would convince them otherwise. They think Skechers is immature and irrelevant, as well as unoriginal. To change this image, we decided to tone back the visuals to give it a sleeker, more mature look. Thus we went with cool colors such as blue and purple. We also made them more relevant by choosing celebrity endorsers that the target audience likes and respects. Our writing is simple and straight to the point so that the audience can easily remember it and does not get distracted mid-message. Target Audience: For the commercial, we wanted to hone in on current trends tthey will stop short of their joke because they will realize those are not ugly or unfashionable shoes. Instead, they will want to know where they can get them themselves.

22 Skechers Non-static Deliverables

Audience Member Needs: The audience has a need for diversion that this commercial fulfills with the humor. Having reached the point in their lives where they no longer live with their parents, they feel a need for independence and the new Skechers image will provide them with the uniqueness and confidence that they want to see. The new image the com- pany will portray will stand out from all the other shoe brands because it does not take itself too seriously. Being unique and original will draw others to them and so they will be able to fulfill their need for affiliation and recognition. The shoes are badge products that will show the world that the wearer is cool, confident, and independent, thus fulfilling their need for exhibition. Format: As a dynamic deliverable, a commercial is ideal. It can be featured on television, appear before videos on YouTube and similar websites, and pop up on websites. YouTube and other social media are a staple to this audience. The versatility of this commercial allows Skechers to put it where it will best reach the audience.

Skechers 23 Non-static Deliverables Process

24 Skechers Wild Card: Benefit Concert Core Message: Skechers is cool. Messaging: The basic background on our event is that it is a benefit concert located in Manhattan Beach, California. It will feature Ellie Goulding and Justin Bieber, with the mon- ey raised going to Children’s Miracle Network. We chose Children’s Miracle Network as the organization to work with because it has so much student involvement across the country. People ages 18-23 connect to Children’s Miracle Network because it allows them to be a part of something bigger than themselves. It also allows them to create an impact in the world. Children’s Miracle Network chapters are located on so many college campuses that the target market we are trying to reach already knows about the organization or even has ties to the organization, which is why it would be a good fit for drawing in a crowd. From Skechers standpoint, Children’s Miracle Network will create an attraction to Skechers because their children will be put in the shoes, and the idea that Skechers is helping make a difference will be inserted into the lives of our target market. When purchasing a ticket to this benefit concert, you will receive your official ticket. In addition to purchasing the ticket, you will have the option to pay extra and purchase an all access pass. Target Audience: Ellie Goulding and Justin Bieber are two of the most relevant people in music currently. They appeal directly to our target audience, and with them as the per- formers, we will easily be able to pull out a crowd for this event. They are successful and unique as artists, and that’s the image that Skechers wants 18-23 year olds to take away from their shoes. To create the ticket and all access pass, we used blue, purple, and grey tones again main- taining the simple, classic look and tying back into the brand colors that Skechers uses. We kept a simple typeface, but added more design elements, such as pops of color, to the tickets because they don’t have a celebrity image to draw attention to them. The all access pass consists of a picture of Ellie Goulding to show that because of the extra monetary donation to Miracle, those fans are getting something extra, a cool experience with Ellie.

Wild Card: Benefit Concert Ticket Final

Skechers 25 Wild Card: Benefit Concert Ticket Process

Ticket Process Attempt 1

Ticket Process Attempt 2

Ticket Process Attempt 3

Ticket Process Attempt 4

26 Skechers Wild Card: Benefit Concert Ticket Process (con’t’d.)

Ticket Process Attempt 5

Ticket Process Attempt 6

Ticket Process Final

Skechers 27 Wild Card: Benefit Concert VIP PASS

BACKSTGAE VIP Manhattan Beach

ELLIE GOULDING

SKECHERS BENEFIT CONCERT 2016

VIP Pass Final

28 Skechers Wild Card: Benefit Concert VIP PASS process

VIP PASS Attempt 2 VIP PASS Attempt 1

BACKSTGAE VIP Manhattan Beach

ELLIE GOULDING

SKECHERS BENEFIT CONCERT 2016

VIP PASS Attempt 3 VIP PASS Attempt 4

In addition to the ticket and all-access pass, Skechers will release a commercial raising awareness about the foundation that the benefit concert is supporting. The commercial will be aired at the concert to show first hand what Children’s Miracle Network does, and hopefully warrant more donations at the concert.

Skechers 29 References

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Germano, S. (2015, May 18). Skechers is No. 2 in US sports footwear maket. Re- trieved from MarketWatch: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/skechers-is-no-2-in- us-sports-footwear-market-2015-05-18

Grace, E. (2015, June 29). Why is it Important to Wear Proper Shoes While Working Out? Retrieved from Livestrong: (Richardson, 2011)

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30 Skechers References(cont’d.)

Greenberg, R., & Weinberg, D. (2014, June 4). Mad Money: “Skechers’ Weingerg: Growing Damatically Everywhere”. (J. Cramer, Interviewer)

Hampp, A. (2011, January 31). How Skechers Shaped Up Into No. 2 Footwear Brand. Ad- vertising Age. Retrieved from http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20141027005175/ en/SKECHERS-Named-Company-Year-Footwear-News

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Mahoney, S. (2015, May 22). MarketingDaily. Retrieved from New Balance, Nike, Skechers Lead in Sneaker Loyalty: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/250433/new-bal- ance-nike-skechers-lead-in-sneaker-loyalt.html

Peterson, T. (2012, March 21). Skechers to Incentivize Product Reviews Through Rewards Program. ADWEEK.

Richardson, C. (2011, Dec 25). The Importance of Balance in Fitness. Retrieved from Calo- rie Count Blog.

The New York Times. (2015). Retrieved from Skechers USA Inc.: http://topics.nytimes.com/ top/news/business/companies/skechers-usa-inc/index.html

90s Skechers Kids. (2012, February 20). Retrieved October 6, 2015.

Careers at Skechers. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2015.

Dreier, P. (2014, June 25). Footwear Giant Skechers Can Run, but It Can’t Hide From Abu- sive Labor Practices. Retrieved October 2, 2015.

Form 10-K. (2014, February 1). Retrieved October 3, 2015.

Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008. (2009, February 20). Retrieved October 3, 2015.

Jones, R. (2015, April 30). Skechers Could Be the Second Most Popular American Sneaker Brand Behind Nike. Retrieved October 3, 2015.

Keulen, P. (2015, June 3). If You Like , You Have Got To Love Skechers. Re- trieved October 2, 2015.

Lachapelle, T. (2015, June 24). Skechers So Hot That It May Be Worth a Look for Nike: Real M&A. Retrieved October 2, 2015.

Larson, P. (2011, September 18). Skechers Go Run Review: First Impressions. Retrieved October 1, 2015.

Skechers 31 References(cont’d.)

Lordan, B. (2012, May 1). Skechers Will Pay $40 Million to Settle FTC Charges That It De- ceived Consumers with Ads for “Toning Shoes” Retrieved October 25, 2015.

Wu, B. (2015, August 14). Skechers Growth Isn’t at Nike’s Expense, Nike Stock A Long Term Buy. Retrieved October 2, 2015.

Powell, M. (2014, April 28). Sneakernomics: Who Will Be The Next Nike? Retrieved October 3, 2015.

SKECHERS Announces First Quarter 2015 Financial Results. (2015, April 22). Retrieved October 26, 2015.

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Skechers Eesti. (n.d.). Retrieved October 26, 2015.

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Skechers USA Inc (SKX) Company Profile | Reuters.com. (2015, October 1). Retrieved Oc- tober 1, 2015.

Skechers U.S.A., Inc. SWOT Analysis. (2014). Sketchers U.S.A., Inc. SWOT Analysis, 1-8.

Tierney, J. (2015, February 6). Customer Engagement Sky High at Nordstrom. Retrieved October 3, 2015.

Facebook, Skechers. url: https://www.facebook.com/SKECHERS/?fref=ts

Instagram, Skechers. url: https://www.instagram.com/skechers/

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Youtube, Skechers. url: https://www.youtube.com/user/SKECHERS

Arruda, William (2015, August 25). Prepare For College With This Simple Prep For Suc- cess Plan. Retrieved September 15, 2015. http://blogs-images.forbes.com/williamarruda/

32 Skechers