Analyzing the original American sport brand: Converse Shoes

Converse is an American original sportswear brand that designs, licenses, and distributes sports shoes, sneakers, skating shoes, apparel, lifestyle brand footwear, and accessories. The brand has a long history since 1908 and has acquired a huge loyal customer base, mainly targeting men and women with a preference for sporting casual wear from the age group of 18 to 24. Converse Shoes are famous in the sports industry.

Converse became a subsidiary of Nike in 2013. Long before that the company had ventured into making military footwear during World War II and had dominated the American athletic shoe market for over half a century.

Today the company’s product portfolio has diversified under the Converse, Cons, Chuck Taylor All-Star (‘Chucks’), Star Chevron trademarks, and Jack Purcell, One Star. Converse as of 2019, owned 199 retail stores in the USA and 63 stores across the globe.

Strengths of Converse:

• The brand offers mid-premium range shoes, apparel, and accessories with creative and attractive advertising
• Converse launches special edition range for special occasions
• Captures international trends and designs
• Option of customized designs for shoes and skateboards
• The brand is affiliated with an NGO named RED, working towards AIDS relief in Africa
• Brand ambassadors of Converse are famous sports celebrities
• Converse adopts a lean manufacturing system, resulting in the least costs and minimum wastage
• Strong support from Nike helps boost the brand operations

Weaknesses of Converse:

• Existing brands put up a tough competition, meaning limited growth in market share for Converse
• Nike can cannibalize converse products

Opportunities of Converse:

• Well established global presence
• Huge scope of product development as the brand is fashion-sensitive
• Product portfolio can further be diversified into high-value items like bags, shirts, etc.
• Implementing more vigorous promotion and advertising through e-commerce platforms

Threats for Converse:

• Converse too deals with the industry’s fashion and price sensitivity
• The brand is at a risk from local markets
• Fake imitations of the brand’s products
• As converse is a global brand it is at a risk from economic fluctuations and recession

Converse is an all-time favorite brand when it comes to the sporting preferences of the youth. The brand personifies durability, trend, and adventure.

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