consumer psychology

This is a fascinating article that dives into one of my favorite brands that I consistently wear, which is why the article caught my eye in the first place. Vans had an absolutely genius plan for marketing their product. They were a small company started by two brothers, and they did not have much money, but the way that they marketed their brand was the way that their company took off. Vans knew that they could not compete against big name brands for major sports athletes to gain publicity, so, instead of investing in big sports athletes, vans looked at what was unique about their brand. With their products being inspired by a group of surfer/skaters in Anaheim, California, they had a different culture surrounding their product than other big companies. They invested in a few up and coming skaters to wear their shoes in competition. It was very cheap to sign these skaters to the brand, only a few hundred dollars, but once these athletes took off and made a name for themselves, all while rocking the vans shoes, business began to take off. From there, the rest was history. The culture of surfing and skating alone paved the way for vans to expand their brand because they found such a unique category of athletics that no brand had targeted before. This is a true example of marketing genius.