Reebok

Not many of you reading this have been through the Atlanta International Airport, but those who have probably know a little history about it. Since the beginning of Delta Airline passenger service (in 1929), Atlanta’s airport has served as the global hub for the airline. That means, thousands and thousands of travelers pass through the airport daily, nightly, and just about every other time to get from their home to anywhere across the country. The airport also served as the busiest airport of 1996 when Atlanta hosted the Summer Olympics. That said, it is one of the best places for retail. Amazingly, this is a recent revelation. I can’t remember the first time I started seeing recognizable retailers inside of airports, but I remember that as a kid, they were always the weirdest stores, usually owned by the airport itself. It was, of course, beneficial to the airport because if you had to return something, you’d have to go back through the airport to do so. Or just don’t buy it at all. So far in this particular airport, I’ve seen a Zegna, a Ferragamo, and a Bvlgari store all in one area. And guess what, it’s a smart placement for these stores because it is pretty much guaranteed that the prospective customers, travelers, have the money to spend while traveling, and probably enjoy doing so. How nice is it to show up at your destination feeling gratified with retail therapy?

While in the Atlanta airport on this fateful night (2am pacific time), I happened upon a strange and unexpected sight. A Reebok store. It’s amazing that for most of us, we know what Reeboks are: we know what they look like, what their logo is, and how available they are, yet most of us don’t own a single pair. We probably haven’t owned Reeboks since our childhoods. Recently, however, Reebok has found the small strength that they have left in them and they went for a hail mary. In non-football terms, they saw that their competitors with solid, recognizable brand identities such as Nike (Just do it.), and Adidas (Impossible is Nothing), are winning on the home-front among consumers because they are constantly propagated in every outlet of media with consistent and powerful brand messaging. Not to say that Reebok doesn’t have a unique brand, but their message clearly wasn’t strong enough to compel consumers to buy their products over their competitors. However, with this new push from Reebok, and hopefully a stronger push of more stores throughout the nation’s upscale shopping malls, the ailing company will be able to rebuild their brand. If you aren’t already familiar with the brand messaging behind Reebok, look at their early 90s ads of “Reeboks let U.B.U.”. While they weren’t the best or most compelling ads, they established a certain feeling that Reeboks are custom to you. The message being that with a large variety of styles, individuals of all personalities can find shoes that match them.

Of course, all of this can be quickly discounted to say that Reeboks are much more popular on the East Coast, namely the New York area, where they even have a Reebok themed Sports Club/LA (the most upscale gym). What we Californians will see in the future is a strong push by Reebok into our daily lives, where they should hope to stay.

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