Brand Builders - IMAGE REPOSITIONING - Techno-Legit at Wilson

- Chuck Stogel

As one of America's first fulltime sporting goods companies, 81-year-old Wilson Sporting Goods has developed considerable equity in its branded products. But history only goes so far, and the company admits its recent past has produced an unfocused stagnation from which the nation's No. 4 sports and athletic equipment manufacturer is finally emerging.

In the past year and a half, Wilson, a subsidiary of Finland's Amer Group since 1989, has taken broad steps to re-energize its operation and reposition its image. The effort began with hiring in senior management execs from many non-sports industries, and continues with strategic redirection in product development and marketing, including high-tech takes on golf balls and tennis rackets, a 67% boost in ad spending and consolidation with one agency to bring a single brand image to market.
With 40% of its sales coming from abroad, ''The company has been an innovative leader in sports equipment for a long time, but that fact has been underplayed,'' said John Riccitiello, president/ceo of Wilson and Amer unit MacGregor Golf. ''We're going to focus heavily on our technology, and make people aware of it.''
R&D has been doubled (from less than $6 million in 1993), and Wilson plans techno-performance pitches for its Sledge Hammer tennis racket, Conform baseball glove, Ultra Distance golf ball, Killer Whale woods and Staff Midsize irons. Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago, now is sole agency on the brand, with a budget boost to $25 million from $15 million last year. The new theme: ''The right equipment makes the difference.''
''We want to differentiate ourselves from the Nikes, Reeboks and others who outspend us in media,'' said Scott Langmack, vp-golf clubs. ''All our equipment, no matter what sport, is performance driven and we're integrating that message behind a single strategy that will identify Brand Wilson' as a technological leader.''
In a break from its conservative past, Wilson spent $2 million on production and placement for a one-time TV spot, its ''David vs. Goliath'' spot (filmed in Japan with a cast of 500) aired during the Super Bowl, pitching Wilson as historically innovative. Sport-specific ads will push new technology, such as how the Hammer's design cuts weight out of the handle, re-contours the head and implements a fan-string pattern, resulting in unprecedented ball control. For Conform, the company has signed a deal as the official glove of Major League Baseball. In golf, the Ultra 500 ball was designed by former NASA employees; 500 dimples give it better lift and straighter direction. Langmack said Wilson's working with golfer John Daly on a prototype metalwood driver, with plans to unveil it at the September International Golf Show.
Wilson began its latest transformation in November 1993, when Riccitiello came on board, Wilson's 10th chief exec in 14 years. With 23% of its revenues from team sports equipment, Wilson leads that field but lags in golf and racket sports, and 1993 revenues grew only 3%.
Program:
Wilson repositioning
Marketer:
Wilson Sporting Goods
Agencies:
Ogilvy & Mather,
Chicago, and in-house
Key players:
Wilson: John Riccitiello, pres/ceo; Jim Reid-Anderson, cao/cfo; Jim Baugh, vp/gm-racquet; Jan Thompson, vp/gm-golf; Chris Considine, vp/gm-team; Kim Ignatius, vp/gm-intl; Frank Garrett, vp-R&D. O&M: Derek Carstens, pres/wldwide clnt svcs; Kristin Koelzer, vp/wldwide mgt suprvr; Mark Hilltout, svp/exc cd; Tom Bell, svp/assoc med dir
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SPONSORSHIP
Guggenheim's New Boss
Fashion designers have always turned to art for inspiration, but it's rare for a fashion company to officially embrace the Muse.
Peter Littmann, president and ceo of Hugo Boss, thinks an art fix, notably a five-year agreement with the Guggenheim Museum in New York, is just the thing to raise the menswear company's profile with customers and retailers as it pursues a global branding strategy. He also hopes it will free up the artistic vision of company employees.
''Hugo Boss used to be a very successful company,'' said Littmann, who joined the Metzingen, Germany-based company in 1993. ''Being a success means you are in danger. If you don't watch out, you could become kind of arrogant. You stop asking questions. You are not wondering anymore. It's a general problem of successful companies.''
The Prague-born Littman appreciates the role of curious artists in business. As an executive at Vorwerk & Co., a German textile firm, he had well-known artists design carpets, some of which were sold at museum gift shops. Upon joining Hugo Boss, Littmann immediately broadened the company look, adding young-spirited Hugo and the more conservative Baldessarini lines to the original, power suit-oriented Boss brand. Sales at the company were flat in 1994 at approximately $520 million. A global print campaign for the three Hugo Boss lines and a campaign for Boss licensed underwear broke last month.
''When I came on, I decided to be more aggressive and more active and become a global brand,'' said Littmann. The Guggenheim fit that design, although the decision wasn't an immediate hit in Germany. ''In Europe, they immediately asked questions: Why don't you do something with a German or European institute?' '' Littmann recalled. But the Guggenheim, with a satellite in Venice, and one under construction in Bilbao, Spain, positions itself as a global museum.
Besides sponsoring three Guggenheim shows a year--the first, underway last month, is a mid-career retrospective of painter Ross Bleckner's work--Hugo Boss will clear space in Metzingen for a Guggenheim library of art books and catalogs. Guggenheim curators also will give lectures on art to employees.
In New York, the partnership also promises to be a boon to the company in terms of trade hospitality. Important clients will be invited to the Hugo Boss show openings at the museum. The company also recently moved into a dramatic new showroom space, with floor-to-ceiling windows looking over Fifth Avenue, once headquarters to the American designer Halston.--Elaine Underwood
Program:
Guggenheim exhibits sponsorship
Marketer:
Hugo Boss AG
Agency:
In-house
Key players:
Hugo Boss: Peter Littmann, pres/ceo; Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation: Thomas Krens, dir
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Building Blocks
POPAI, the Point-of-Purchase Advertising Institute, awarded top honors for in-store displays. Permanent display: Everland Entertainment's Christian Bookstores (Chesapeake Permanent Displays, Winston-Salem, N.C.); temporary display: American Greetings' ''Waving Santa'' (Dyment Co., Erlanger, Ky.); sales promo: Labatt's USA ''Latrobe Company Store'' (Marketing Continuum, Dallas); temporary intl. display: Nestle ''Disney World on Ice'' (Visy Displays, Australia); permanent intl. display: DeBeer's ''Diamond Display'' (Prisme of France).
Dole is taking Barbie to the Easter Parade, giving discounts on Mattel's Easter Party Barbie with the purchase of Dole canned and dried fruits; a sweeps gives away BMX mountain bikes. Dole's volume jumps 250% at Easter; the promo has gotten Dole its biggest retailer order ever. Flair Communications, Chicago, handles.
Campbell Soup Co.'s Greenfield Healthy Foods gives rebates on milk when consumers buy fat-free brownies or blondies. With radio and in-store sampling, promo runs through July via MarketWorks, Ridgefield, Conn.
Copyright ASM Communications, Inc. (1995) ALL RIGHTS RESERVED