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"Trade Talk..."
SPORTS has recently moved into the political arena as one political party after the other vies to obtain top spot in the news by confirming their commitment to more sporting opportunities for our young generation. Competitiveness is no longer a dirty expression and endless arguments are put forward to demand more time and space for more sport on the school curriculum. As if to emphasise the old adage that there is nothing new under the sun, on checking the brand history of ASICS to set the scene for his TRADE TALK this issue, JACK LYNES, our man about the trade, dug back to 1949….but let him tell the story in his way. And as ever, expect the odd surprise or two along the way
IT IS GENERALLY accepted that more sports shoes adorn the feet of followers of fashion than support the feet of sports men and women. That may be the rule, and if there is one brand above all others that proves it by contradiction, ASICS must surely win by a mile or more.Way out in front in marathon terms, and rather lacking as a streetwise necessity.Whilst historically, the major sports brands may have started life with the sports trade as their goal, and mostly continue to devote a serious part of their research and selling to genuine sports activity improved performance, their own commercial success would seem measured in terms of volume sales to the masses, many of whom are closest to exercise when either lifting a pint or putting finger pressure on their remote control. Even the name ASICS, let alone the spelling, can hardly claim to have a commercial ring to it. Once again memories and research and the chance to speak to Ryoji Sekito, their UK Managing Director, whose English is so much better than my Japanese, have been exciting, illuminating, thought provoking and above all, inspiring.
Having suggested that the name ASICS may be less than easy, surely the original Onitsuka is even more of a mouthful. The first ever now famous Tiger Stripes adorned the classic heritage Onitsuka Tiger running shoe at the Mexico Olympic games in 1968, having been introduced just two years earlier, and still to be seen globewise. Back in 1949, and based on the philosophy of ‘bringing up a sound youth through sports’ the Onitsuka Co Ltd., has continuously combined original ideas with, in their words, the ‘applying of epoch making techniques’. Their Tiger trademark originated from the tiger face design on the arch of their first basketball shoes in Japan. Those shoes, looking more like straw sandals,were mocked by the school coach.Not to be deterred, even to see it as a challenge, Onitsuka went to watch the team in practice, observing every foot movement and wondering how best to allow the players to brake and accelerate quickly and safely.Whilst on holiday in 1951, looking at a plate of pickles with octopus he was struck by the fact that the suction cups of the octopus might be the key to his problem. Overcoming the difficulty of too quick a stop causing a stumble, he adjusted the cups and produced the ideal stop, start and stay upright sole.And who would have thought that octopuses and pickles would find their way into ‘Trade Talk’? Only by convincing the coaches who by now were intent on their players wearing Onitsuka, was he able to persuade the shops to stock the brand – a familiar story with lessons equally important for today’s retailers, always assuming that the suppliers remember the shops.
Blisters were next on Onitsuka’s list of challenges, and broadening his interests to running shoes in 1953, inspired by the air cooling system of motorbikes, he invented an early, albeit somewhat primitive by today’s standards, breathable material which together with a double layered impact softening sole enabled top marathon runner Tooru Terasawa,with whom he had been working closely, to run the 42 kilometres and 195 metres, blister free, for the first time.Many top runners, like Zola Budd, ran very well bare footed, hardly a good advertisement for those attempting to make a living from selling running shoes. The late legendary Ethiopian Marathon runner,Abebe Bikila,won the Melbourne Olympic Marathon in 1956 without shoes and is said to have caused Onitsuka some concern until, a year afterwards, on the eve of Japan’s Mainichi Marathon, approaching him for an explanation was told that he did not object to running in shoes, he simply had none in which to run. A day later, the story goes, informed that ‘Japanese roads are dangerously littered with glass,’ wearing the world’s lightest shoes specially made for him, he won, and wore shoes ever after. That story reminds me of the two shoe salesmen looking for business in a remote part of Africa who were both confronted with the same situation. Everyone was bare footed.Whilst one went back to base miserable that there was no market for his product, the other was elated, realising the opportunities to ‘make the market’.What a lesson for the retail trade who with just a little initiative are often able to exploit gaps in their market if they remove the blinkers.
Blinkers were certainly never in the repertoire of Kihachiro Onitsuko. On the tenth anniversary of the ‘Tiger’ brand, just a year after he had bought it, he gave 70% of the shares to his employees, giving each a stake in the company, their company.And in 1972, his dream of one complete sporting goods company was realised. GTO, a manufacturer of sports clothing and nets, Jelenk who made knitwear, and Onitsuka came together to form ASICS, the initials being an acronym of an ancient Latin phrase, ‘Anima Sana In Corpore Sano’ translating to ‘a sound mind in a sound body’.And it would seem that just such a sound mind in a sound body is to be found in Mr. Ryoji Sekito who was born in 1959, took a degree in Japanese Literature at Kwansei Gakuin University and was a keen amateur boxer.After an initial six years with ASICS in Japan, he was seconded to Germany. Seven years with ASICS in the Netherlands, where he was Marketing Manager of European Sales before becoming Managing Director of ASICS UK, five years ago. ASICS employ 4000 people worldwide with just 70 employees in the UK. The decision to have a direct UK presence rather than agency representation with which they launched (I was there, at the Café Royal) emphasises the importance they accord to the UK market. ASICS exhibit and sell at the London Marathon Expo, London Triathlon Expo, the Vitality Show, Intersport, STAG, Allied, The Outdoors Trade Show, and at cricket and rugby showrooms. In the (unofficial) shoe count at New York City Marathon 2006, ASICS accounted for a remarkable 60% and no less than 43% in UK monitored events during the year. With the current concern that goods be produced under fair trading conditions, I was assured that, in Mr. Sekito’s own words,“ASICS receives constant positive feedback on its trading in the ethical consumer media”, China being the main source of product. It was obvious that this Managing Director was managing well and had his eye firmly on the ball. Indeed,my search for a one word description resolved quickly, and that word is ‘focused’. ASICS have a strong focus on staff training with support tools helping retailers to recommend product with further consumer education programmes on their premises, as well as at key consumer shows and race events; with dedicated field marketers ensuring effectiveness.With a 24 hour turnaround delivery service it all seems in marked contrast to other brands with popular logos who perhaps do not show the independent trader the same consideration. Badminton shoes, which in my early trading days was where it all started is still very much ‘on the menu’,with the ASICS presence continuing to grow in what Mr. Sekito described as “this strong UK sport”.
INNER MUSCLE technology is the name given to this year’s exciting innovations. This is claimed to help training in all sports for improvement in stride length and strength via the sprinter, and not forgetting that man (and woman) do not run by foot alone, there are positive posture benefits also in the new inner Muscle top. This latter technical garment joins a new classic UK range called the Eikoku collection for running and fitness folk. Gel has long been associated with ASICS footwear and now their newly launched Gel-Kinsel promises new standards of support and comfort for runners and HG10 technology should seriously help those wearing the AW07 football and rugby ranges.
Just as in those early days, in addition to sponsoring or supporting some 70 race events across the UK every year through their elite athletic sponsorship programme,“we also aim”, said Mr. Sekito, “ “to encourage youth to reach their goals with the aid of our ‘Potentials’ programme.” Further focusing on the future, he said,“”We have seen better educated consumers entering the market, hungry for information about products before making their purchasing decisions, which is good news for all performance brands. A greater health consciousness across the UK will also be a real benefit to the UK sports industry and the long term health of the nation”. It may be a cliché but his description of stockists and sellers of ASICS products as “retail partners”with whom he aims to work closely and bring further innovation in products and services to the market which are second to none, both for the trade and the consumer had a definite ring of reality about it.
I am looking forward to sampling the latest tennis shoes on court this spring.Hopefully, ASICS products will put a spring into many retail sales this coming season, and we will see their share of footfall in the marathons gain a few more points. Let’s raise a glass to our sports trade. Here’s to “A Sound Mind and a Sound Body”“ASICS!”
