He Slept In Train Stations, Then Turned It Into A Billion Dollar Shoe Brand!

because when you're great and new we love you man we'll build you into something that doesn't even exist you're going to change the world beginning as a traveling salesman with nowhere to sleep but train stations kachiro sakaguchi was considered delusional with barely any experience or money to fund his project his Ambitions of going global were considered delusional but inspiration from an octopus helped rocket his small company into a multi-billion doll shoe brand on the way though his arrogance created a rival bigger than any other threatening to destroy his own business and all others in the industry this is the story of asex chapter 1 moving up born in the northern side of toori kihachiro sakaguchi was destined to be an entrepreneur after serving in the military during World War II he only worked for 3 years at a big company before for becoming fed up with management and corporate culture to sakaguchi there was a much higher purpose to life he was devoted to a singular mission to improve the health of the population believing that this would lift the spirit of an entire generation and for him the best way to get people active in sports was by manufacturing quality shoes this kind of activity would instill values of discipline and purpose amidst the vacuum of postwar Japan the problem was that sakaguchi had no experience after being adopted by his wife's family a common practice in Japan he had a new name kahiro onitsuka which would form the basis of his new Venture the military had instilled a strong work ethic in him working tirelessly onitsuka eventually came up with a prototype his first shoe was designed for basketball players but when he tried them with a local high school the team's coach wasn't impressed onitsuka began focusing on increasing the grip of the bottom of the shoe for weeks he ruminated on how best to do it and one day while he was having a meal with his mother who had made octopus and cucumber salad a brilliant Innovation came to him the octopus's suction cups lining their arms for grip provided the perfect model for grip onitsuka knew then that if he could harness this function for The Souls of his new shoes then they would provide the grip that the basket ball players desperately needed even armed with the idea though onitsuka didn't find immediate success chapter 2 a tiger is born his company onitsuka tiger took hard work to get off the ground the year was 1952 and in the context of Japan's post-war rebuilding effort the economy was bouncing back and onitsuka was determined to see his company flourish he had no savings to fall back on and was reduced to sleeping on the the benches of train stations while he tried to sell his new shoes visiting gyms and basketball courts eventually his tenacity paid off the high school basketball teams that used onitsuka tiger shoes began to see results winning tournaments and championships soon after words spread about the increased grip and performance of the shoes attracting interest from other teams the following year kihachiro onitsuka turned his attention to longdistance running talking with professional marathon runners he learned that blisters had become a routine part of long-distance running seemingly unavoidable picking apart the mechanics he learned that it was an excess of heat on the body that's when he developed the onitsuka Tiger shoe first used at the 1951 Boston Marathon it featured a split toe elastic band and breathability inspired by the Japanese Tabby Soxs it was used by Japanese athlete shigeki Tanaka who ran to Victory marking the arrival of tiger on the international stage in 1952 though the onitsuka factory was ravaged by a fire which halted production of the onitsuka marathon Tabby rising up was something even more popular called the merup a foam sold shoe that took off immediately and in the following years onitsuka would develop the magic Runner featuring a sophisticated air circulation system made up a vent intake invent exhaust to keep feet cool while running chapter 3 creating a rival onitsuka was becoming so well known in the sporting world that it was attracting commercial and academic attention these worlds combined in 1962 when onits sua's headquarters in Kobe were visited by a budding American businessman his name was Phil Knight and he was a former Runner and PhD approaching the Japanese company with a proposal to export the product to the US market Knight had recently finished his PhD at Stanford in business the thesis he wrote specifically about Japanese shoe companies having a huge potential in America in the presentation to onitsuka Executives he pointed to all the research he's gathered the size of the market the dominance of other Japanese products like cameras and of course the quality of their shoes at the time Adidas was the dominant shoe brand but Knight could see the opportunity to undercut them offering a cheaper price and Superior Quality kihachiro onitsuka and his team were excited by the prospect to join the American Market the only problem was that Phil Knight doesn't yet have a Distribution Company and so after a handshake of agreement with his new Japanese Partners Phil returned to the United States where he quickly formed a business with the name Blue Ribbon Sports Phil was now the executive licensed distributor of onitsuka in America and after much anticipation he received the first first order of shoes in 1964 which he was easily able to sell to Old track coaches and running teams but Messi management quickly deteriorated the partnership quickly onitsuka shipments would routinely arrive late and another distributor threatened legal action against Phil after they had been offered exclusive rights by onitsuka 2 this was eventually settled in 1966 when Phil flew to meet kihachiro onitsuka personally negotiating an offer that would clear things up he was able to convince onitsuka to keep Blue Ribbon sport as the executive distributor but things were about to get bumpy for both parties chapter 4 the birth of a giant but that was on paper in practice business between the two parties was unsustainable marred by inconsistency delivery and communication between the two parties never improved Phil grew suspicious that onitsuka were meeting their Japanese demands first before sending the left left over stock to the states failing to keep its only American distributor happy was going to have huge consequences in the future under its nose onitsuka had created a monster that would soon grow much bigger than any had ever imagined Blue Ribbon sport stationed out of Oregon was steadily On The Rise despite onitsuka sabotage in just its second year of operation in 1965 the company made $20,000 in sales equal to almost $200,000 today allowing them to open their first retail store the following year Phil Knight had founded the company with his former coach Bill boerman and the two began experimenting with their own shoe designs in the early 1970s partly to ensure a reliable supply of stock and much like kahiro onitsuka Bill boerman had a brilliant brain wave one day at his dining room table instead of an octopus's suction cup though he was inspired by the shape of a waffle iron a raised Square pattern that resembled the shape of a waffle the waffle tread soulle later dubbed the moon shoe gave more grip and a lightweight product this proved to be a winning formula the shoes were a hit and Blue Ribbon Sport rebranded with a more familiar name Nike chapter 5 taking over onitsuka could see the changing tides and sensed they were losing control of the American shoe market to the newcomer Nike was already armed with simple and effective marketing the soon to iconic swoosh logo and running shoes that rivaled asex and with production located in the United States Nike was going to be much quicker to adapt and roll out to the most important Market in the world onitsuka attempted to take over Nike in its early days he offered the distributor who had once arrived at his office begging for the opportunity to cash out but even with the lure of capital and experience against them Nike's Founders Knight and Bowerman refused to bend they knew that they had a valuable company on their hands and if onitsuka was desperate to get his hands on it that meant they shouldn't sell in 1972 the partnership between onitsuka tiger and Blue Ribbon sport officially ended Paving the way for Nike's dominance the 1960s had been a roaring success for onitsuka highlighted by the 1968 Mexico City Olympics where the entire Japanese team used onitsuka shoes for the first time streamlining its branding to focus on the new iconic Tiger Strike two vertical lines crossing two horizontal waves that originated from the heel of the shoe this design first appeared on the Mexico 66 design by the end of the decade onitsuka had established itself as the Supreme running brand high above that of its competitors Adidas with the release of the tg4 marathons the Cortez and the Bangkok models in 1977 the company's name changes from onitsuka to asex merging three separate companies as6 is an acronym for the Latin phrase anaa Inc corano translated to English it means a sound mind in a sound body this Credo encapsulates the company's commitment to Performance Health and Fitness above all else as6 was going to need all three to endure the storm of what came next chapter six fighting for spotlight the 1980s would be a decade of bold Innovation for as6 as they headed in a complete different direction to their Rivals at Nike who released the Air Max and Air Jordan moving dominantly into the Casual Footwear space the sneaker industry was emerging especially in the United States but A6 resisted A6 kicked off the 198s with the release of the fabra superlite basketball shoe that integrates a super lightweight Eva material and over the next few years A6 models more advanced adding Air Flex holes and stabilizer pillar structure and becoming lighter then as6 developed gel a silicone cushioning material an Innovative response to Nike Air's cushioning system as6 gel is a soft substance placed in the midsole of the shoe that increases protection and shock absorption it is used in multiple layers creating a soft foam for both the heels impact especially this was the standout feature of generations of as6 shoes but they weren't done yet by 1990 as6 unveiled its research in Institute of Sports Science in coob Japan the facility features tennis courts pools gymnasiums and several Laboratories specifically made for testing researching and developing sports equipment all of this is designed so that as6 stays ahead of the curve maintaining the highest level of performance for its athletes and consumers by now the company's product range covered tennis track and field volleyball wrestling and many others and the company's tentacles had spread all all over the world through Asia North America Europe and the Pacific their bigger battle however had been in the media chapter 6 culture wars while Nike opted for Mass Appeal advertising through celebrity endorsements as6 remained committed to focusing on sportsware exclusively as6 sponsored hundreds of athletes none more famous than tennis Superstar Novak jokovic as well as National and Regional sports teams the company is still the official manufacturer of the Australian cricket team and the world Athletics organization but A6 still broke through with some notable appearances in pop culture in 1978 martial artist Bruce Lee wore a pair of onitsuka tiger Mexico 66s during the film Game of Death later um Thurman sported a similar gold pair of Original onitsuka Tachi shoes in the 2003 movie Kill Bill and into the 21st century as6 realized the appeal of these more more retro styles of shoes and so under the original onitsuka tiger label A6 re-released popular models like the Mexico 66 and ultimate 81 Beyond Footwear as6 has branched out to clothing and today the brand collaborates with designers and athletes on a range of products and in 2007 heiro onitsuka died at the age of 90 he was active in the company he founded up until his final days in 2018 to celebrate what would have been his 100th birthday as6 released a range of products featuring a sunflower painted by kihachiro onitsuka chapter 7 today in 2021 as6 had $3.6 billion of global turnover last year operating in 1,900 direct outlet stores dotted around the world it has also expanded its portfolio with the acquisition of outdoor Brands haglofs and RunKeeper to diversify its product range last year asex made the controversial decision to pull its products from independent retailers in the United Kingdom selling its products online and in bigger retailers going forwards they are not the first Big Brand shoe to do it with Nike and Adidas taking similar measures in some countries over 40% of as6 sales are online which is removing the incentive to maintain an in shop Presence at smaller Outlets Nike is now significantly bigger than its old partner as6 in fact Nike is the largest athletic shoe supplier in the world but the A6 approach of continuing to innovate towards more effective sportsare has earned it a loyal customer base of athletes and fitness enthusiasts Nike's dominance did not Crush as6 as it did with many of its other competitors instead the company remains a valued part of the athletic world even though kihachiro onitsuka began developing shoes with no experience his dedication to Quality consistency and a mission to reinvigorate a generation created one of the most successful Footwear Brands Japan has ever seen

Channel: Business Stories

Views: 25,336

Keywords: Business Stories, asics, asics documentary, asics story, asics history, asics ceo

Id: d0l4aYbe53k

Length: 15min 7sec (907 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 23 2023