Vans is an American company that manufactures shoes based in California USA.

They produce gear originally made for skaters but are now very common for usual people to wear and also make gear for other sports like Bmx-ing, Surf and skiing

WHAT IS IT

One of vans unique selling points is that it does many collaborations with other brands/ companies and artists they even do collaborations with Charites to raise awareness . They make limited shoes making a high demand for themSome collaborations include Star wars , Supreme , Disney and Odd Future

Vans also has its own customizer where it allows people to chose which shoes they want to customise and pick patterns, colours, materials and stitching . This makes their products more personal with the consumers and makes them feel like they have some control

HISTORYVans began on the 16th of March 1966 in Anaheim California. founder Paul van Doren had three partners and due to those four people Vans opened its first store. Shoes were quickly made, people ordered in the morning and was ready by the afternoon. Vans became widely known by skateboards due to its functionality to remain on top of boards resulting in sales going up in the 1970s, 1995 Vans were the shoe of choice for the skateboarding culture. One of its main designs that pumped Vans popularity was the Vans slip-Ons, these shoes were all the cool kids wore and it was a rage in southern California and sales began international. Van made other designs for different sports such as baseball, basketball and even skydiving. Even though vans was selling really well they started to run out of resources and right after they went bankrupt. During the 1970s the company continued to grow, Skateboarders who liked Vans’ rugged make-up and sticky sole were seen wearing Vans all over Southern California in the early 1970s. In 1975 the Vans “95” known today as the “Era” was designed by professional skateboarder Tony Alva and skateboarding figure Stacy Peralta which boosted their sales.2000s, Steve Van Doren and the son of Paul Van Doren, remain with the company, as does his sister Cheryl and his daughter Kristy. In 2000 and 2001, Forbes

Since the late 1960's vans were targeted for core sports athletes, enthusiasts and followers. It was also aimed at skateboarders.

Today, the company hasn't changed much as they still have a similar target audience however the company has broadened and diversification has taken place which has made the brand more available to a bigger audience.

Now they can cater to a much larger market as there are over 200 shoe styles both in male and female styles and sizes available for infants which means it's now also available for younger children too.

I've noticed Vans is most commonly worn by young adults and teenagers. This is probably because Vans are heavily involved in youth music scene. With the Vans Warped tour, vans are ensuring their brand is appealing to younger generation.

Vans aren't too expensive, they are sold at the average branded shoe price with basic vans costing from £40, making it more accessible to everyone.I'd say vans are targeted to mainly 15-27 year old male and females who are either in low, middle or upper class.

TARGET AUDIENCE

PAST ADS Vans Paradehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACNnzM040J8&feature=youtu.be

Parameterhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esgsrK6ua0I

Star Warshttps://youtu.be/omjMG1JU21s?t=39s

Vans previous adverts usually all have one common element which it its skating roots, they almost always feature someone skating in them or a group of young people wearing the footwear and having fun. They always emphasise on were they started as in the star wars advert the theme is the 1966 bowl skating craze which vans was very popular with.

Vans also promotes their shoes in forms of short documentary's or mini series on a certain person / skater and their experience in the skating world and what vans is to them inspiring people to wear the shoes

COMPETITORSVans is a well known brand that majors in a lot of different areas when it comes to clothing. This also means that there are a lot of other companies that are doing the same this as the vans company. 3 companies that are currently the vans companies biggest competitors are converse, Nike SB and DC ,all which are well know brands that are similar to vans.

Converse - Converse are an American shoe company that consist of sportswear and lifestyle brand footwear. Converse has been around ever since 1908 and in 2003 the company was purchased for $305 million as a subsidiary by Nike Inc. One of there most known and legendary models of converse are the Chuck Taylor which was well known by a lot of the youth. Knowing that there model of sneakers was very well known they remade the model and made the Chuck Taylor II. One of the thing that make converse and vans alike are that they are both brands that pro skaters use. Nike SB - Nike skateboarding, also known as Nike SB, is the a line under the well known brand Nike Inc. Nike SB are a skateboard concentrated brand that supplies shoes, clothing and equipment for skateboarding. In 1997 Nike Inc decided to reach out to there skateboarding community and made its own line for skate shoes but because of there competitors at that time like DC, Globe, Vans etc. they was not able to fully lift the company off of the ground. It was only until 2002 Nike SB released the Nike SB Dunk Low model which had a padded tongue and collars and a similar sole to the major skateboarding trainers and that one model was the model that launched off Nike SB’s career and has now made them one of the best skateboarding trainer companies along with vans, converse, DC etc.

DC shoes – DC Shoes is an American company that specializes in footwear for action sports, including skateboarding and snowboarding. This company also does bags, accessories, hats, shirts and posters. DC shoes is also one of the skateboarding brands that are highly praised when it comes to skateboarding, so much that DC shoe is seen as one of the forefathers when it come to people mentioning skateboarding shoes. In March 2014 DC Shoes was brought by quicksilver for $87 million. This is one of vans biggest competitors because it has gained such high respect from everyone. But on the other hand the shape of the shoes for vans plays a big advantage as not that many people like DC Shoes trainer designs

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