Sneaker Brand Taps 80s Celebrity to Take On Nike
por Sarah Jean Callahan

The Street: Stock Market / 2023-04-23 19:32

Sneaker brand takes a page out of Nike's marketing campaign with its latest collaboration.

Sneaker brands have been in the news more than normal recently.

Adidas  (ADDYY)  was in the middle of a huge shoe deal with musician Kanye West, or 'Ye.' when the celebrity made anti-Semitic comments that left Adidas in a pickle. Adidas chose to pull out of the deal because it was the "right" decision. It chose to not proceed with the deal after the rapper's unsavory comments.

More negative news hit as Olympia Sports and Shoe City filed for bankruptcy after financial difficulties. Shoe City had been in the red for a couple years, before the company realized the best option was to close its doors. Olympia Sports met the same demise as Shoe City, both filing for bankruptcy leaving shoe brands like Nike, Adidas, Skechers  (SKX) - Get Free Report and other shoe brands as creditors left holding the bill.

Nike  (NKE) - Get Free Report came onto the stage with Amazon's new movie about Michael Jordan and the shoe deal featuring the basketball G.O.A.T as a rookie in "Air: Courting a Legend." The movie follows the story of Nike doing something unheard of at the time, developing a shoe completely around a rookie. This move was risky, but lucky for Nike, the rookie was Michael Jordan, and the rest is, well, history.

Skechers Brings In Mr. T
Skechers is taking a page out of Nike and Adidas marketing campaign books, but in a very different way than its competitors. Nike risked a lot doing a deal with an unknown rookie. Now Nike is featuring lots of rookies and getting deals signed with lesser known young talent hoping for the next big thing, like LeBron James and Kevin Durant, who each got major deals with Nike that worked out for both parties.

Skechers latest marketing campaign is all about nos'T'algia and is using its name which is has the 'T' sound in the brand name, but the 'T' is left out. So, bringing the 'T' to Skechers is none other than Mr. T, known to many as B.A. Baracus from the 1980's NBC-TV show "The A-Team." Mr. T is well known for his distinct look with a mohawk hairstyle, layers of gold chains, gold rings and tank top to show off his muscles. He looks like no one in their right mind would mess with him.

In the Skechers commercial, Mr. T is sporting different Skechers shoes while he participates in several different activities like playing pickleball, karate, arm wrestling and grilling out. 

"The people have spoken and it's about time there was a 't' in Skechers," according to Mr. T. He continued with his famous catchphrase, "I pity the fool who doesn't see how easy I find my way into every comfortable pair!" 

"The letter 't' has never been part of our name but sometimes computers and voice-to-text apps autocorrect it the wrong way," said Skechers President, Michael Greenberg. He continued, "Not that we are considering changing the spelling of our name, but it would have been foolish to say no to Mr. T – the only 't' that belongs in Skechers."

Shoe Brand Marketing Genius
Skechers has partnered with other celebrities like Snoop Dogg and other sports stars like Tony Romo and Cris Carter. Skechers branches out with its latest commercial showing Mr. T, who is a 1980's celebrity and will appeal to a totally different generation of shoppers, instead of those who just want the latest sports stars sneaker to play sports in, Gen X. 

While some older millennials may remember Mr. T, it is more likely that Gen-X will smile and appreciate the 80's muscle man icon and know his iconic catch phrase. Showing that Skechers shoes are great for more than just basketball, but other sports and just hanging out as Mr. T is just chilling by his van, is also reminiscent of the A -Team van.  

Whether Gen-X will choose to buy the Skechers brand over any other may not come down to whether or not Mr. T makes them or inspires them to, but probably more about comfort for this target audience at this point. The shoe commercial bringing back Mr. T is certainly amusing enough on its own. 

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Bed Bath & Beyond Throws in the Towel
Yahoo! Finance: Top Stories / 2023-04-23 21:01



Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY), the beleaguered home goods retailer, has filed for bankruptcy after months of sounding the alarm and taking increasingly desperate measures to come up with enough cash just to stay afloat.

Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sunday, ending its months-long effort to remain liquid.
The company has begun a liquidation sale but will use bankruptcy proceedings to explore selling its assets.
Attempts to raise capital through convertible share sales, equity offerings, and reverse stock splits failed.
The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New Jersey on Sunday, beginning the process of winding down its business. The company has secured $240 million in debtor-in-possession financing with which it plans to finance operations at its nearly 500 stores during the bankruptcy proceedings.

"We deeply appreciate our associates, customers, partners, and the communities we serve, and we remain steadfastly determined to serve them throughout this process," said CEO Sue Gove in an announcement of the filing. "We will continue working diligently to maximize value for the benefit of all stakeholders."

Bed Bath & Beyond, once a thriving home goods retailer, struggled to adapt to a changing retail landscape dominated by e-commerce and everything stores like Amazon (AMZN). The company's woes were exacerbated by the pandemic when physical stores became money pits and supply chain snarls wreaked havoc on inventory management.

The company has been sending up flares for months. The company first warned about bankruptcy in January, when it said widening quarterly losses and negative cash flow called into question its "ability to continue as a going concern."

Bed Bath & Beyond missed a $25 million interest payment in February, sinking its shares almost 50%. The company was able to pay within the one-month grace period, avoiding being forced to immediately pay its entire $1 billion debt.

That same month the company tried to sell up to $1 billion worth of convertible shares and warrants in a last-ditch effort to shore up its finances. But the sale was scrapped late last month after grossing just a fraction of the goal.

Instead, Bed Bath & Beyond initiated an "at-the-market" offering of up to $300 million of stock. But by mid-March, the company's share price had dipped below $1 for the first time since 1992, the year of its IPO.

The company was scheduled to hold a special meeting for shareholders in May to approve a reverse stock split.
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