Case Study:Reebok Co.
Reebok International Ltd.
HISTORY OF THE COMPANY
Reebok's United Kingdom based ancestor company was founded to enable athletes to run faster. It was one of the first companies to leave South Africa in the apartheid era and has its head quarters in Stoughton, Massachusetts, USA. Its present Chairman and CEO is Paul Fireman.
Tracing back the history of the company, the first running shoes with spikes wee made by Joseph William Foster, in the 1890's and in 1895, J.W. Foster and Sons provided shoes to international athletes. In later years two of the founder's grandsons formed a companion company that came to be known as Reebok, named after an African gazelle.
In 1979, Reebok introduced three running shoes, at an international trade show, which was spotted by Paul Fireman, who negotiated for the North America Distribution license, and introduced them in US that same year. Reebok's sale exceeded $1.5million by 1981, and the following year Reebok introduced the first athletic shoe called the "freestyle" designed specially for women, a shoe for a hot new fitness exercise called aerobic dance. This transformed the athlete's footwear industry, which encouraged women in the aerobic exercise movement and saw the influx of women into sports and exercise.
In the midst of surging sales in 1985, Reebok launched yet another innovative product namely "Step Reebok" in 1989 that generated excitement, which became an international phenomenon for millions to stay in shape. In 1992, Reebok further transformed from a company identified principally with fitness and exercise to one that involved in multi sports creating a host of new footwear and apparel products. It also made strategic commitment by aligning its brand wit a selected few of the world's most talented, cutting edge athletes such as Venus Williams and Allen Iverson and also by signing sponsorship contracts with numerous teams and federations such...
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