1. Nike
Nike’s latest ‘Just do It’ marketing campaign featuring ‘Colin Kaepernick’ has proved to be beneficial for the company this year as it helped grow their online sales of footwear products across the world. Nike, the world’s largest sports footwear brand is reinventing itself for the digital era.
Although it is in the early innings of a transition, the company is taking several steps toward its goal to become a retail tech company and some of these tactics are already appearing to be working. Nike is also getting its flagship products right with shoes like Nike Air Max 270, ZoomX, React, and VaporMax has landed with customers.
2. Adidas
With its roots in Germany, Adidas has become one of the top shoe companies and shoe brands in the world. The company produces more than 900 million sports and lifestyle products with independent manufacturing partners around the world. The company generated sales of approximately $25 billion in 2017. These staggering numbers alone are the testaments that Adidas is quite a large and multifaceted company.With more than 1000 stores across the world, the shoe brand has risen to extreme heights of success. Adidas has not only become the symbol of sports fashion but also has presented a collective image of street, pop-culture, music, sports and other fashion statements, creating its existence through its remarkable communication strategies.
3. New Balance
Unlike its rivals, the Boston-based multinational corporation, New Balance, shuns celebrity endorsement. The company claims to underline substance over style by highlighting lesser-known athletes. Besides manufacturing men’s and women’s shoes for basketball, tennis, golf, hiking, running and cross training, New Balance offers fitness apparel and shoes for kids and owns shoemaker Dunham. The company’s products portfolio also includes Aravon shoes for comfort performance, Warrior hockey wear, PF Flyers footwear, and Brine, a leader in field hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and volleyball. The company is striving to expand beyond the US and it recently opened its first UK store on London’s Oxford Street.4. ASICS
ASICS is one of Japan’s top shoe companies and other equipment. Since its foundation in 1949, ASICS has been one of the global footwear brands that are committed to nurturing the youth across the world through sports to contribute to society. Over more than six decades, the company inherits its values and provides own products while capturing the changes in the social environment. ASICS recently announced the launch of its new product ‘Solution Speed’ tennis footwear which is designed to enhance agility and speed during the game. The Solution Speed shoe feature three of company’s advanced technologies including Court Specific FlyteFoam, TWISTRUSS, and FLEXION FIT.5. Kering (PUMA)
Kering is one of the world leaders in apparel and accessories that develops an ensemble of powerful luxury, lifestyle and sports brands, some of those including Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Volcom, and Puma. Its Puma brand provides an impressive and versatile collection of shoes/footwear, apparel, and accessories. Over the past few decades, Puma has consistently evolved to introduce a diversified product portfolio that includes Puma Suede, Basket, Roma, Easy Rider, and many more. Puma’s motorsports collection includes co-branded sneakers with leaders including Ducati and Ferrari. The brand’s latest technologically advance sneaker Faas, is endorsed by the fastest man in the world, Usain Bolt.