Reebok

Reebok International Limited

Type	Subsidiary of Adidas AG^[1]
Industry	Sportswear and Sports Goods
Founded	Bolton, England (1895)
Headquarters	Canton, Massachusetts, United States
Products	Footwear Accessories Sportswear
Website	http://www.reebok.com

Reebok world headquarters in Canton (as seen from public roadway through zoom lens)

Reebok International Limited, a subsidiary of German sportswear giant Adidas, is a producer of athletic footwear, apparel, and accessories. Joe and Jeff Foster founded Mercury Sports. In 1960, Joe and Jeff Foster renamed the company Reebok in England, having discovered the name in a dictionary won in a race by Joe Foster as a boy. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle. The dictionary was a South African edition, hence the spelling. ^[2]

In 1979, United States camping equipment distributor Paul B. Fireman saw a pair of Reeboks at an international trade show and negotiated for the rights to sell them in North America, where they did very well despite being pricier than competitors adidas, Nike and Puma.

In 1999, Reebok developed a new innovative fabric that holds any dirt picked to avoid creating mess. The fabric was later specifically used for all Reebok socks.

1 Sub Brands of Reebok
2 Freestyle and Ex-O-Fit success
3 Human rights and production details
4 List of Reebok Technology
5 List of Reebok Equipment
6 List of Reebok advertising campaigns
7 Endorsements

Sub Brands of Reebok

Above The Rim (A.T.R)
Weebok
Reebok Classic
Scarlett Hearts
G-Unit Footwear
I3

Freestyle and Ex-O-Fit success

Reebok surged in popularity in 1982 after the introduction of the Freestyle athletic shoe, which was designed for women and came out when the aerobics craze started. Not only was the Reebok Freestyle popular as athletic wear, but also as casual wear. As a result the Freestyle became an icon of the 1980s fashion scene with hi-top versions (including two velcro straps at the top) and colors, including white, black, red, yellow, and blue. Reebok continues to produce the Freestyle as it is popular with cheerleading, aerobic dancing, the gym and consumers.

Following the Freestyle success, Reebok also introduced an athletic shoe for men, called the Ex-O-Fit. Similar to the Freestyle, it came in low-top and high-top versions; however, unlike the Freestyle high-top with two velcro closure straps, the Ex-O-Fit only had one strap. One of the designers of this early footwear was the founder's son, David Foster.^[3]

Human rights and production details

Welcome sign at Reebok headquarters

In the past, Reebok was associated with outsourcing through sweatshops, but today it claims it is committed to human rights. In April 2004, Reebok's footwear division became the first company to be accredited by the Fair Labor Association. In 2004, Reebok also became a founding member of the Fair Factories Clearinghouse, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving worker conditions across the apparel industry.

Supplier information, according to the Reebok website as of May 2007:

"Footwear Reebok uses footwear factories in 14 countries. Most factories making Reebok footwear are based in Asia — primarily China (accounting for 51% of total footwear production), Indonesia (21%), Vietnam (17%) and Thailand (7%). Production is consolidated, with 88% of Reebok footwear manufactured in 11 factories, employing over 75,000 workers.

"Apparel Reebok has factories in 45 countries. The process of purchasing products from suppliers is organized by region. Most (52%) of Reebok's apparel sold in the United States is produced in Asia, with the rest coming from countries in the Caribbean, North America, Africa and the Middle East. Apparel sold in Europe is typically sourced from Asia and Europe. Apparel sold in the Asia Pacific region is typically produced by Asian-based manufacturers.

List of Reebok Technology

Reebok Pump
E.R.S
Hydromove
ZigTech
Hexalite
PlayDry
PlayWarm
PlayShield
3D Lite
DMX
DMX10
DMX6
DMX I-pack
DMX Reflex
DMX Shear
DMX Plus
EasyTone
RunTone
KineticFit(K.F.S)
HexRide
U-Form
Hardlink
Bead Away
Griptonite
SmoothFit

List of Reebok Equipment

Vector O-Bat
Premier III Goalie Stick
STEP Reebok
8K Helmet
10K KFS Gloves
8.0.8 O-Stick Hockey Stick

List of Reebok advertising campaigns

Reebok Ad Campaigns

"Planet Reebok"
"I Am, What I Am"
"Run Easy"
"Because Life Is Not Just A Spectator Sport"
"Whodunit?"
"Pump Up, Air Out"'
"Your Move"
"Terry Tate: Office Linebacker"
"EasyTone"
"Very good Very very good"

Endorsements

Reebok continent-by-continent

North America

The company holds exclusive rights to manufacture and market both authentic and replica uniform jerseys, sideline apparel and headwear of the teams of the National Football League since 2002; the National Hockey League, since 1968 under the brand CCM and eventually under Reebok; and the Canadian Football League since 2004. Reebok is also the official shoe supplier to the NFL and Major League Baseball.

NFL Equipment

NFL Equipment was created by the NFL in 2002 inconjuction with Reebok to promote authentic uniform and apparel marketed to the single-entity model.

CCM

Logo of Sidney Crosby Rbk SC87 line by Reebok

Reebok acquired CCM and JOFA in 2004, and is now manufacturing ice hockey equipment under the CCM and Reebok brands. Reebok has signed popular young stars Sidney Crosby, Roberto Luongo, and Jason Spezza, while signing Alexander Ovechkin and Joe Thornton to CCM endorsement deals. Reebok has phased out the "CCM" name on NHL authentic, replica, and practice jerseys in recent years, using the Reebok brand since 2005.

Central and South America

The company also holds sponsorships with Mexican club Chivas Guadalajara; Brazilian clubs Cruzeiro, Internacional, and São Paulo FC for the 2008–09 season.

Europe

Reebok Stadium

Reebok advertisement in Basel

The company maintains its relationship with its origins in England, through a long-term sponsorship deal with Bolton Wanderers, a Premier League football club close to the birthplace of the company. When the team moved to a brand new stadium in the late 1990s, their new home was named the Reebok Stadium. Other English football clubs that was sponsored by Reebok were: West Ham United, Man City, and most notably Liverpool FC, which won the Champions League title in 2005 before Adidas, as parent company took over the sponsorship. Most other teams have since switched to either the parent brand (which has a much longer history in association football) or other companies.

In rugby union, Reebok sponsored the Wales national team until late 2008, who won the Grand Slam in the Six Nations Championship in that year.

The UK's Lewis Hamilton is sponsored by Reebok through vehicle signage and training gear. In 2006, former FC Barcelona and France striker Thierry Henry (then playing for Arsenal) signed a deal to join the "I Am What I Am" campaign on 1 August 2006. Ryan Giggs has also done "I Am What I Am" commercials. Also, on 1 August, Andriy Shevchenko started his endorsement deal with the company.^[4]

China

Reebok has sponsored Yao Ming of China since 2004.

Australia and Oceania

In 2005, Reebok signed an exclusive agreement to design and supply all eight team home and away strips for the new Australian A-League competition. Although not an expensive deal, this partnership is paying dividends for Reebok, due to the growing popularity of football and the league in the area. An estimated 125,000 jerseys have been sold in Australia, a record for a single league's sales in a year for a sports manufacturer.^[5]

Reebok sponsors four teams in the Australian rules football league AFL, those being the Fremantle Football Club, the Melbourne Football Club, the Port Adelaide Football Club and the Richmond Football Club, the latter two beginning their association from the 2007 season. They also sponsor the Gold Coast Football Club, who currently play in the TAC Cup and are due to enter the AFL in 2011.

Reebok has supplied rugby league teams St George Illawarra, Melbourne Storm, Manly Sea Eagles and the Gold Coast Titans with club's kits and other merchandise.

In rugby union, Reebok has sponsored the Tasman Makos in New Zealand's domestic competition and the Air New Zealand Cup.

Africa

Reebok sponsors Bloemfontein Celtic in the South African Premier Soccer League.

India

Reebok sponsored sports kits for the new Indian Premier League cricket teams, such as the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings in the first edition of the league held in 2008, however for the second edition held in 2009 the sponsorship was to 4 teams (Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings, Kings XI Punjab) kits.

International sports

Cricket

Reebok is the official sponsor of the International Cricket Council. It manufactures uniform for ICC International Panel of umpires and referees. Also, all the playing kits used in ICC Events, such as wickets, are sponsored by Reebok. It became official sponsor of ICC in 2007.

International cricketers such as Sri Lankan former captain Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lankan Cricketers Sanath Jayasuriya, Ajantha Mendis, Indian captains Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rahul Dravid, Bangladeshi former captain Mohammad Ashraful, Bangladeshi cricketers Mohammad Rafique and Habibul Bashar, endorse Reebok. They are supplied with Reebok cricket shoes, as well as with cricket bats marked with the Reebok brand in the case of Dhoni.The recent cricketers include Yuvraj Singh and Yusuf Pathan.

Athletics

Reebok sponsors world athletes in track and field such as: Carolina Kluft of Sweden, Sholonda Solomon and Aries Merritt of the USA. Reebok used to sponsor the Reebok Grand Prix until adidas took over.

Non-sports

Rapper Jay-Z became the first non-athlete to get a signature shoe from Reebok. The "S. Carter Collection by Rbk" was launched on 21 November 2003 and the S. Carter sneaker became the fastest-selling shoe in the company's history.^[6] Later, Reebok made a deal with rapper 50 Cent to release a line of G-Unit sneakers and artists like Nelly and Miri Ben-Ari have become spokespersons for the company.

Reebok also signed Scarlett Johansson and introduced her own line of apparel and footwear called Scarlett Hearts, an Rbk Lifestyle Collection.

Other spokespersons over the years included: Bar Rafaeli, Dax Shepard, Molly Sims and MTV's Jersey Shore Pauly D and The Situation.