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| © Skechers |
"Opportunities multiply as they are seized."
--Sun Tzu
Howie Long is an NFL All-Pro defensive end and Hall of Famer who played 13 seasons for the Los Angeles and Oakland Raiders. Long is now a studio analyst for Fox Network's NFL coverage.
While preparing to write the February Strategist Post, Long appeared in a larger-than-life display advertisement that took up one-third of page 5 in Section 1 of a recent edition of the Orlando Sentinel newspaper.
In the ad, he wears a white T-shirt, light grey khaki pants, and a navy letterman's jacket. The 6' 5" former tight end and defensive lineman from Villanova University holds a college football (the one with stripes) in both hands and wears dark grey, hands-free, slip-in Skechers shoes (similar in style to the one above).
The copy reads, "No bending over. No touching shoes. Just step in and go."
Howie Long's endorsement and those of other football stars, including Joe Montana, golfer Brooke Henderson, and entertainment figures like Martha Stewart, Willie Nelson, and Snoop Dog, have helped make Skechers--a Fortune 500© company with global sales of $9 billion in 2024--the third-best-selling shoe behind Nike and Adidas.
Skechers backstory
How did a footwear brand based in Manhattan Beach, California, come to offer over 900 shoe styles and have 5,000 stores in 120 countries without generating much media attention?
The correct answer is slowly.
In 1983, Skechers founder Robert Greenberg and his son, Michael, started L.A. Gear (with endorsements from Wayne Gretzky and Kareem-Abduhl-Jabbar) after an unsuccessful attempt to sell roller skates. Skechers emerged after the Greenbergs left L.A. Gear in 1992 over a dispute with the board of directors. The original plan was to distribute Dr. Martens's shoes, but that arrangement left the Greenbergs with little say about product development and quality control.
They really wanted their own shoe--and control over its fate in their hands.
The strategic concept
A careful reading of Skechers' history shows that the Greenbergs, with Robert, now 84, as chair and Michael as president, learned from their decade-long experiences that to be successful, one must concentrate on a few things and do them well.
Product innovation (comfort technology) is the driving force behind style, quality, and affordability. Together, they create a brand identity that must be carefully guarded, and that's what the Greenbergs do: guard the brand.
Packaging the strategic idea is one thing. Executing is another.
Marketing plays an important role with generous ad spaces, glossy magazines, large billboards, and television advertisements featuring celebrities wearing Skechers shoes.
Despite the more contemporary ad campaigns, Skechers still has an image problem, reinforced by ads like the one with Howie Long. They're associated with selling "old people's shoes." (I have a pair of Skechers and their slip-in golf shoes, which is an unpaid endorsement.)
Product diversification continues across new markets. Skechers is expanding into team sports like soccer and basketball.
Harry Kane of England's national soccer team has a lifetime endorsement deal for Skechers' soccer cleats. The NBA's Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers and Julius Randle of the New York Nicks endorse basketball shoes.
Filling in the holes
An important lesson about Greenberg's achievement is that they found market gaps--young professional athletes, women, families with children, new lifestyles, and, yes, older adults--and are filling them in. Skechers now offers a pickleball shoe made of Goodyear rubber that retails for $115.
What's common to all products? The calculated idea that comfort, style, quality, and affordability are a winning combination.
Skechers got a boost from Nike*, which closed its stores after the pandemic to focus on wholesaling and direct-to-consumer sales. Nike's price points don't often go below $100, while Skechers offers a variety of styles for less. Their GORUN shoe sells for $45 at Walmart. Children's shoes are around $30 on Amazon, which appeals to price-conscious parents.
In addition to being helped by other shoe companies that stick to their specialties, such as Hoka, which markets to hardcore runners, Skechers is benefiting from cultural changes: people wearing sneakers and sports apparel for non-sports occasions, like the office and social occasions.
Sometimes, a strategy needs a break from the competition or marketplace to succeed.
An original work
Robert and Michael Greenberg have built a remarkable business, but they would be the first to say they haven't done it alone. Any creative idea pursuing that much growth requires others to achieve its aims. Widespread knowledge among associates of how Skechers differs and why is fundamental to its financial fortune.
No idea or business constructed by human powers endures forever in its original form. Maintaining product innovation as Skechers' heart and soul while profitably seizing the right opportunities is an investment in its future but not a guarantee.
*Nike is suing Skechers for design infringement. Skechers said it will "vigorously" defend the 2023 patent suit.
Strategist.com
© Bredholt & Co.
