Before I knew it, I had reached the third chapter...
The previous section was too elaborate, not good! This section should be as simple as possible, and it would be more interesting to describe it with more context of the times and market environment.
This section only talks about stories that make people laugh.
As mentioned before, in the early days, the sales task of Kaixiao was mainly undertaken by Jack Purcell, and Jack Purcell was involved in Hollywood. This caused Kaixiao to become popular only in the entertainment industry in the 1950s and 1960s. At that time, smiling was niche and noble, and it was a status symbol.
As open smiles became popular among celebrities and the tennis shoe market, in 1959, Keds borrowed and improved the design of its Court King shoes and launched a "smiling" open smile.
This change caused B.F. Goodrich to revisit a pair of shoes that had been forgotten for many years. Finally, in the 1960s, the Goodrich Company officially launched the Smile.
* Here I would like to add to my mistakes in the previous chapter: Smile was only commercially available in the 1960s, not the 50s as mentioned before, my bad.
Goodrich initially put Open Smile under the name PF, when Jack Purcell only represented a pair of shoes.
When Open Smile came out, the copywriting mostly emphasized "Class" (i.e., "powerful") to illustrate that compared with Keds Court King, Open Smile is an authentic and superior existence.
With the good sales momentum of Open Smile, Goodrich gradually separated Open Smile into PF for independent promotion and sales. Later, they even registered a new brand for it to save face - **Jack Purcell?**.
When Laughing was first released, Jack Purcell only had one pair of shoes, and Goodrich required its sports shoe brands to produce multiple models. For example, PF has many styles under its name:
Since it has become a brand, you can’t just sell that pair of shoes. In the late 1960s, Jack Purcell gradually added other styles. In order to distinguish each shoe, Goodirich named each pair of shoes. What we are used to calling "open your mouth and smile" is the most famous Jack Purcell LTT brand owned by Jack Purcell.
* "LTT" = "Lace to Toe", which means "tie the shoelace to the toe position".
Windjammer, a new member of the Jack Purcell? family:
I don’t know if you have noticed that the Jack Purcell? trademark on the posters and shoes that appeared before is only the signature, and The logos we see today are different.
In 1971, Goodrich Company redesigned Jack Purcell's trademark, adding two mustaches, and it became the classic "signature" and "beard" logo we know today:
The Jack Purcell? trademark that appeared on posters from 1971 to 1973 was subsequently changed.
This logo continues to this day and appears on almost every pair of smiling heels.
At this point in the story, we need to insert a little extra:
Yes, that’s right, the original heel logo of Open Smile did not have a beard:
* A boy with a beard is a boy. Does to man mean? O__O "…
Everyone, please pay attention. When you go to the mall and you find someone smiling and followed by a logo with nothing but a signature, if the price is right and you like the look, buy it quickly— —Because that means its design prototype is from before the 1970s. It is either a replica or a limited edition, absolutely high-end and rare.
For example, CDG x Converse:
Converse By John. Varvatos:
These are super hard-to-find styles! ! If you have a pair like this, please accept my admiration!
OK, end of story! Back.
In 1972, Jack Purcell continued to launch two new shoes:
Another extra:
Pay attention to the pair with three stripes at the top of the poster. Style - what do you think of when you think of three stripes?
Bingo, Adidas.
Adidas entered the U.S. market in 1968 and set off a rush to buy with a design that was different from traditional American sports shoe styles, leading many local brands to copy the "three stripes" design. For example, during the same period, Converse launched a pair of styles called "Coach Suede":
It has a strong knockoff flavor, and it feels like Converse and Adidas are put together, which seems so inconsistent...
It’s basically the style of a Chinese manufacturer, isn’t it!
Starting from the 1970s when this copycat trend spread, the story of Converse being attacked from both sides in the leisure and sports markets began. Well, since I’m talking about laughing now, I’ll talk about it specifically when I talk about Converse.
(The history of Addict, John Varvatos, Chucks low-tops, Keds PF...
How many holes have I dug for myself? I don’t even know how to write this article. When (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻!!!)
Shit has another extra story so soon, come back once again
As the commercial sale progresses. , Jack Purcell? LTT has gradually gained the favor of many celebrities
For example, George Harrison, the guitarist of the Beatles;
And Elvis Presley;
And the French Open champion, Stan Smith’s old rival - Cliff Richey;
** Stan Smith is the tennis player who will later sign with Adidas and endorse the famous style "Stan Smith" (also known as Green Tail in China) . History is so interesting, and there is always something to do with it.
*
Jack Purcell? once reached a sales volume of 2.9 million pairs a year. Such a good market response will naturally be jealous of competitors, so in addition to Court King, there are more designs based on Jack Purcell? LTT on the market. Style:
It’s almost like changing the logo and changing the name. It’s quite similar to the style of today’s low-end brands that “design is all based on copying”.
Of course, wholesale plagiarism is the most spineless behavior, so the two brands that imitated Open Smile have now gone bankrupt.
It took 35 years after Kaikaixiao was born to slowly become the darling of the market, but fate is not that simple - in 1973, Goodrich decided to abandon the sports shoe business and sell its sports shoe brand PF , Jack Purcell? packaged and sold to Converse.
In the same year, because PF and Converse owned the vast majority of the market share of basketball shoes, Converse was sued for monopoly and had to sell PF.
Jack Purcell? does not belong to basketball shoes, so the copyright remains with Converse. Since then, Jack Purcell? has officially bid farewell to B.F. Goodrich and entered the Converse era.
Jack Purcell, which is incorporated into Converse, is in an awkward position - Converse has self-developed tennis shoes and casual shoes, which conflict with Jack Purcell's market positioning.
Being a non-biological child, Converse, the stepmother, only casually bundled Jack Purcell with one of its brands called Coach shoes to promote it in the early stages of taking over, and then put it into limbo. Jack Purcell? is back to being under the radar again.
In the 1980s, due to the impact of Nike, Adidas, Reebok and other brands of basketball shoes focusing on the development of cushioning technology and new advertising methods, the aging Converse did not respond in time and still used the crude thickened insoles of 50 years ago. with traditional marketing models.
While Nike is sparing no effort to create an "anti-traditional" and "technical" brand image through "air cushion" technology, Converse still does not pay attention to the update of product technology and is still reaping the benefits of celebrity endorsements. .
As the two superstars Larry Bird and Michael Johnson enter their late careers, Michael Jordan has become the new favorite of NBA fans. This is similar to the situation of the sponsors behind them - in the late 1980s, Nike replaced Converse. Become the leader in the U.S. basketball shoe market.
In fact, due to the momentum created by many pop music icons from the 1960s and 1970s, Converse has long gone beyond being a pure basketball shoe brand and has become a banner representing the American spirit. Young people do not buy Converse just to play basketball. Mostly to imitate idols.
Realizing this, Converse began to focus on the casual shoe market.
At that time, young people preferred Nike or Adidas when choosing casual shoes. Converse was in urgent need of a "ace style" to disrupt the situation - Jack Purcell?, which has a long history and is worn by many celebrities, was reawakened.
In 1989, Converse launched this advertisement with a classic photo of James Dean wearing a smiling face——
The rebirth of Jack Purcell seems to be coming again (why should I? Say "again"?). However, bringing old classics back to the stage may not necessarily be successful. It depends on whether there is the support of a new generation of icons.
Jack Purcell was lucky enough to meet an excellent spokesperson when he came out again -
Kurt Cobain.
In 1991, Nirvana released the world-famous album "Nevermind". Sales exceeded one million in just a few days, and Grunge style swept the United States.
The underground music represented by Nirvana caused an uproar among young Americans, causing countless fans to imitate their behavior - deviant, drug-taking, restless, and bohemian;
and , Converse on the feet of lead singer Kurt Cobain.
Kurt almost exclusively wears Converse when appearing in public, and he wears it with his mouth open and smiles most frequently.
Open your mouth to laugh because Kurt’s fame has finally become a big hit after more than 80 years since its release.
Not only does he laugh, but Kurt has a huge influence on Converse - if the punk music represented by the Ramones has given Converse the outline of "Rebel", Kurt Cobain has completely laid the foundation for Converse = "uninhibited". ” tone.
To this day, Converse is still consuming the brand image brought to it by Kurt Cobain.
After Kurt Cobain committed suicide wearing Chucks at home in 1994, Converse and Smile were completely deified by fans who loved Nirvana, and sales surged, becoming a dark horse in the casual shoe market.
With the blessing of Kurt Cobain, the god-level icon, Converse also began to operate Jack Purcell well, making the smiles continue to appear in front of our eyes.
Entering the 21st century, Kaixiao has become as famous as Nike Air Force 1, Adidas Superstar and Converse Chuck Taylor All Star.
There are countless examples of celebrities wearing open smiles:
Since its birth in 1935, it has gone through obscurity, a short period of popularity, and being hidden until it is now popular again. It is ill-fated to wear open smiles. ——There was a time when Converse almost gave up on this 81-year-old shoe model.
(The teacher no longer has to worry about my essay getting zero points for the final question)
It is a pity that Jack Purcell, who designed the smile, cannot witness the grand occasion of Jack Purcell? .
On June 10, 1991, Jack Purcell, the designer of the smile, passed away in Toronto at the age of 87.
Smiles never die, R.I.P.
Tips & News:
1. With the increase in styles, Jack Purcell has now become a huge "series", and the familiar "Open Smile" is just one of them. A shoe type called LTT: