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Whoopi Goldberg celebrates birthday by sharing her favorite things Nov 12, AM. ABC News Live. The asterisk won. Dominating the blogosphere and landing on newspaper front pages everywhere, the campaign garnered millions of dollars' worth of publicity and reinforced the edgy, youthful image of the brand. The common thread between the Barry Bonds ball and Air Force One is they are both ridiculous ideas, so people would say, "Why would you do that?
I thought it would go for more. The Bonds ball was such a loaded object. It was so rich in content. Baseball is the national game. Yet there is the hypocrisy in the baseball culture that helped build it to this level. It was being debated on the Internet. I thought, Take this hard news and make it go American Idol.
It was a social experiment. It was a little P. You had that moment to bid on it. How could you not engage? It was also a little of a liability. Some people were put off by it. But what does your brand stand for? Economically and culturally, we've been on steroids. Everything has a performance-enhancing substance built into the matrix. This wasn't about Barry as much as it was about the system. It's also getting people to see the way I think.
From a marketing point of view, it's something I need to do more of. We had no business buying it at the time. It was a function of Seth and me believing in the skate and street ideas. We originally thought of a license, but then we thought we could double the volume internationally and let it grow organically. It was affordable and with guys we knew.
As much as I was into graffiti and hip-hop, I was also into skateboarding and video games and BMX [off-road bike racing]. Your eyes don't lie.
If something is cool and interesting, you shouldn't look down your nose at it because it makes you scratch your head. Ecko's fast growth has been fed by acquisitions in , it bought the outerwear maker Avirex and licensing. Through licensing, the company has expanded into footwear with Skechers , women's apparel Ecko Red , and children's lines under the Ecko Red and ecko unltd labels.
With licensing, it's all about clearly communicating your expectations. Do they understand your ambition and your brand? You can't guide them by saying, "No, don't do that.
There are certain competencies in one industry that don't carry over. In footwear, the philosophy in merchandising is so different. I went through three different licensing partners. My first footwear licensee, I kept arguing because I didn't understand the differences.
As good as the merchandise is, you need to have a killer at the licensee driving it, someone who refuses to fail. I had good designers at the two footwear licensees before Skechers. It's more about the fact that Robert Greenberg, the owner of Skechers, gives a damn about the brand.
Even in this depressed economy, Marc Ecko Enterprises continues at a reduced pace to open its own retail shops. It's a way to control your own destiny. In a typical wholesale model, you have to go very broad.
With your own shops, you can test things. You don't have to fight for shelf space. And I think it makes you a better wholesaler, more empathetic to the retailer's needs. We also make a better marketing case and create a more romantic context for the brand than you can in a big-box department store. You have to do more narrative-based things with the product.
In the stores, we could have the Star Wars line, which did much more than a billboard could have done. And it's product. You have to operate the brand from the inside out. This spring, Rutgers University will grant Ecko an honorary degree.
Among its distinctive details: buttons that look like pharmaceutical pills. Yes, there's a business plan for it. I want it to get to a critical mass and see where there is a sweet spot that I can take it and monetize it into other areas. You can test things in your own stores or launch things there with less liability.
What Rx will do from the real unsexy, business, blocking and tackling standpoint is it will sharpen our blades for the international commercialization of the Marc Ecko brand. Right now, we don't import denim from Turkey or knitwear from Italy. I can learn from that experience. I don't have product that is Italian made, and Rx is entirely Italian made. Brazil, Russia, India, China -- all those markets are getting better.
As these markets converge, can I take the lessons here and apply them over there? Ecko believes that a large company can retain its edginess. In , he began publishing the bimonthly Complex , a merchandise-oriented magazine aimed at young men, as part of his strategy.
As big as we are and as much press as we get, we're still not a tenth the size of Nike. Nike sells white sneakers to Sears and Bob's Shoes -- how do they get the young hipsters to still love the brand? There's a vortex that surrounds you. You can try to be indie, but you're cutting off your nose. Other people will come in and dilute your brand. If you're going to be big, be big -- but don't be on the sidelines. We created Complex , the biggest men's streetwear magazine in America, and we're showcasing other people's brands in it.
My story now is bigger. The story can't just be about the countercultural thing when I was 19 years old. How to Identify the Vintage Ralph What Is Purple Label Clothing? Levis Jeans Label History.
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