Converse History and Road to success

Converse History

In 1908 , Marquis Mills Converse opened his shoe manufacturing company and  he named it ,"The Converse Rubber Shoe Company" .First ,it was specialised for winterised rubber-soled shoes and boots. But the market shifted when the basket ball player Chuck Taylor came along. Converse winterised shoe diversified to athletic footwear market such as Tennis, Netball and Football .The NBA start Chuck Taylor often complained about the shoes and in the year of 1917 , the company introduces its most famous brand The All Star Basket ball Shoes. In 1921, NBA star talked his way into this job and the company made him ambassador and salesman. In 1932 after Chuk Taylor successful promotion his name and signature added on ankle patch and  since then the name remain" Converse Chuck Taylor All Star".In 1936 Olympics, and the shoe with its patriotic red and blue trim became very popular along with all black canvas and leather models of the All Star. In 1949,  a much more eye-catching shoe than the monochrome black models that had been produced up to that time after world war two. That time  Chuck Taylor All Stars were the shoe for professional, college, high school, and all serious players, and these distinctive black or white high tops were part of the look of each team. When Chuk Taylor passed away , it lost its dominance of the market. All the new arrivals like Nike Corporation took the market. And everyone wanted their shoes because it was eye catching and comfortable, so  people gave up the converse. By the early 1970s, Converse had diversified beyond footwear to provide numerous industries--textile, plastic, automotive, paper, paper converting, photocopying, and leather processing--with products ranging from hockey pucks to teeth guards, sports and industrial boots, and rubber compounds for specific applications.

In 1984 the company signed separate agreements with Moon-Star Chemical Corp., Mizuno Corp., and Zett Corp. to handle the manufacture, distribution, and sale of Converse footwear in Japan
Furthermore, In 1995 it entered into a licensing deal with Shalom Children's Wear to manufacture infants' and toddlers' sporting goods apparel. It also purchased Apex One Inc., a designer and marketer of sports-related footwear and apparel that also made products under license with professional sports teams, leagues, and institutions of higher education
 In the 1980's and 1990's the company started to experience bad time and in 2001 the company filed a bankruptcy. The brand re-establish successfully and was purchased by Nike Corporation.

Converse road to success

Now in 2015 Converse selling at the rate of two pairs per second(Fortune,2015).It did not work in 90's when they changed management after management .After Nike bought Converse , they adopted new era. Calhoun ,CEO of converse since 2011 said that ," As a brand with ours history, [as] people who knew what it was to be at the height of your game and knew what it was to be bankrupt, I think we have a healthy sense of just never being complacent .Another adage is you fix your roof when the sun is shinning". Converse changed their strategy and started to keep asking people about converse. Even who do not like converse. As a result , the answers boiled down to innovation, technology and comfort. The expectation of the kids was ready to use ,super functional and super comfortable. Calhoun said that , " It is a good lesson for a company like us to say ,hey ,if that is their expectation, we can fight that or we can understand that and go with that". It's target market is at the moment is kids and now-a -days kids wants something super cool, not professional. That is why the converse design their product in consumer way and they asked the consumer what they want to wear? .It changed the whole platform. Plus Nike is supporting Converse all along with R&D. Coulham said, " You can't afraid to fail" and he also said ,"Chuck Taylor is not going anywhere"(Fortune,2015).They battled through a lot since 1908.Now in 2015 the company is selling at a rate of two pairs per second of everyday. According to Fortune(2015) , It would be hard to come up with another product that so readily generates goodwill.