Essay On Sneakerheads

sale of Nike’s high-margin products to high-end customers. Regardless of the low cost of the World Shoes, they

Sportsman Shoes has been a leader in the shoe industry for more than thirty years. Sportsman manufactures and sells athletic shoes for all types of sports. The company has pursued a low-cost strategy in order to sustain their success. They sell a limited number of shoe designs and have held costs low through manufacturing efficiency and standardized operations. However, the past five years have been a struggle at Sportsman. The shoe market has seen a rise in the availability of low-cost imported shoes that has threatened Sportsman’s competitive position. As a result, company executives have decided it is time for a strategy shift.

But, omnisciently speaking, both entities faced severe scrutiny and criticism from United States and international citizens for their capitalistic business practices. Furthermore, a vast number of American citizens, mainly teenagers, had been killed over Nike Air Jordan sneakers because of their high price tag, while the cost to produce the shoes were rapidly declining due to Nike’s unprecedented offshore production. Bill Bigelow’s, The Human Lives behind the Labels: The Global Sweatshop, Nike, and the Race to the Bottom accurately portrays this capitalistic mentality when mentioning, “children as young as 6 are ‘sold and resold like furniture, branded, beaten, blinded as punishment for wanting to go home...’ For pennies an hour, these children work in dank sheds, stitching soccer balls with the familiar Nike swoosh and logos of other transnational athletic equipment companies” (Bigelow, 113). What is most disturbing to fans of Nike and Jordan were their comments and proposed remedies on the matter. Essentially, Jordan did nothing to curtail the number of kids being killed for his shoes and, as far as his affiliation with capitalistic Nike, Jordan did not want to cause any kind of rift between himself and the corporation that made him millions

The action of reselling these sneakers for a higher price that at retail outlets has become a cornerstone in the industry and sneakerhead culture in general. Resellers, depending on the demand and hype, can make a profit of thousands of dollars by obtaining a pair for retail value, and then selling them back to another consumer for a much higher price. Entrepreneurs that are familiar with this practice have created centralized places to buy and sell Air Jordan’s and other highly-coveted shoes. These can range anywhere from consignment stores, online stock markets, mobile phone apps, and even personal pages on sites like Twitter and Instagram. Stores like New York City’s Flight Club give sneakerheads the option to buy brand new sneakers for a higher price, or they can sell an unworn pair in-store for a 90% profit. StockX is a very popular website that operates like the New York Stock Exchange, with a constant flux in prices all driven by consumer offers and bids. The sneaker craze has transpired into such a large form of profit for hundreds of thousands of people. Many of the top resellers in the industry do not have to work a traditional job to maintain a lifestyle and bring in profit. StockX, Flight Club, and the GOAT iPhone app keep a percentage of each sale made on their platform, and thousands of sales are made each hour. What was once questioned

Gladwell begins by discussing the incomprehensible recovery of then-terminally-uncool Hush Puppies shoes amongst a few of hipsters in Manhattan’s cutting-edge regions in the 1990s, a development which soon extended across the United States and lead to exponential increases in the company’s sales. Using this sensation as an introduction to the book’s methodical theme, the author states that he will recognize, dissect and give details on the mechanisms by which certain trends occur, while others fail.

In this chapter of Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, he talks about rumors, sneakers and the power of translation. Throughout the chapter he kept with the theme of change and the way that things can change over time. The concept of change and shoes throughout this chapter is evident. Gladwell writes, “They expanded their focus to include not just skateboarding but also surfing, snowboarding, mountain biking, and bicycle racing, sponsoring riders in all of those sports and making Arwalk synonymous with active, alternative lifestyle”( Gladwell 194). Many people ask why do they have to produce so much more to compliment everyone in every sport or just for everyday wear? Gladwell explains how companies expanded their mind to appeal to everyone's

Michael Jordan’s, Nike, Adidas and Puma their shoe sales went up in the 1980’s. Amber J. Keyset started to design different shoes starting with Michael Jordans. When one pair was released more people grew into them either for the style or the history behind the pair. “Sneakerhead;a person who collects trade and/or admires sneakers as a form of a hobby, knowledgeability on sneakers”(Powell). Sneakerhead culture impacted the society with its new look and style by making them more desirable and increasing the shoe industry.

It all started with a Jumpman and a swoosh, it was more than just a shoe it was the start of a culture. What most people look at as just a shoe to protect their feet has a story behind it and a deeper meaning to me and many others than “just a pair of shoes”. Don’t put on a pair of shoes unless you know how to wear them right. For every pair I own I could explain the troubles I went through and the people I met to get each sneaker. The best feeling was opening that fresh shoe box and taking out that paper wrapping. Putting on each new pair of sneakers is like taking a breath of fresh air each pair crisp as bacon. I am one among many sneakerheads, people who love to buy, sell, trade, and collect rare shoes. There is a culture, lifestyle, and history behind sneaker collecting. Most people would think dropping hundreds if not thousands on a pair of shoes is crazy but I believe sneakers are essential.

Customers make purchasing decisions based on the information they have among products and the values of goods a company offers. For that reason, companies have to promote their products to increase products awareness. In order to achieve organizational goals, companies must understand the market’s needs to ensure the success of their businesses. Such information can be gained through research. The industry that will form the basis of this paper is Western Canadian Shoe Association. The three brands under study are Reebok, Adidas, and Nike.

He began by discussing the incomprehensible recovery of then-terminally-uncool hush puppies shoes in the midst of a few of hipsters in Manhattan’s cutting-edge regions in the 1990s, a development which soon extended across the United States and resulted to exponential increases in the company’s sales. Using this sensation as an introduction to the book’s methodical theme, the author states that he will recognize, dissect and give details on the mechanisms by which certain trends occur, while others fail.

I think that that will solve a lot of the problems.” TJ Jacobs, a self-proclaimed Sneakerhead and shoe store employee, offers an explanation to the reason why Michael Jordan releases a limited amount of shoes. “It wouldn’t be an exclusive shoe or as popular if everyone could get it. The shoe wouldn’t have the same value.” Jacob says he not only camps out for shoes for himself, but he buys pairs that he can sell to people who couldn’t get a pair. He says that he once bought a pair of Jordan Galaxy Rookies for $400 and sold them for $600. There is a lot of money and time invested in the marketing and selling of Jordan sneakers, and the brand continues to

The primary target market of TOMS is males and females between the age of 19-24 that want to combine the creativity of being a trend-setter with the satisfaction of being socially responsible. This age range is a part of what is known as Generation Y, or the Millennials. Generation Y has brought a trend of social awareness and activity. From 2002 to 2005 the number of people volunteering went up 25%. This generation is all about giving back to the people, so Toms allows this group to give back by purchasing their shoes. TOMS has also done its homework on this group as well. Utilizing social media, TOMS reaches out to over 488,000 twitter followers, 280,000 Facebook fans, and several thousands of YouTube users. TOMS understands that generation Y prefers hands on involvement. In order to make that happen, TOMS fans are allowed to take part in a yearly One Day Without Shoes movement to understand what it is like to be shoe-less. In addition to the giving back and the social movements, TOMS shoes let young adults be expressive in their style. The plain shoe design makes way for creative minds to manipulate the shoe as anyone may please. TOMS is mainly focused in the U.S., but the shoes are available in over 30 countries globally

This further strengthens brand loyalty as consumers develop further attachment to the brand when they are self-involved in the design of their footwear.

Basketball is a sport that relies a lot on the player’s footwork. You will realize that athletes in basketball normally make sharp cuts, jump around and move in all directions in a quick manner. The player must wear the right basketball shoes in order to do this. This will give the player a god opportunity to succeed in this game. The right pair of basketball shoes will provide the desired protection, traction and avoid injury while on the court. This is the reason why you should pick the right pair of basketball shoes. There are several things that you should consider when choosing the right basketball shoes. These include:

Understanding customer needs will help Nike to define new market opportunities and drive innovation and revenue growth in every aspect of its organisation. The most basic concept underlying marketing is that of human needs. Human needs are states of felt deprivation (Kotler and Armstrong, 2006). Customer logic is derived from evaluation of a company and its product based upon customer needs, customer benefits, and product features. For branded athletic shoes, Nike has to understand customer needs on a global level as the products are sold