Fitness director says 'be own hero'

Reebok Korea Brand Director Chad Wittman speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the brand’s 2015 Fitfest event at Jamsil Olympic Stadium in Seoul on Oct. 11. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Five years after embracing tough fitness, sportswear brand shows confidence in future growth

By Nam Hyun-woo

Five years ago, global sportswear brand Reebok made a huge change to its image, shifting its focus from elite athletes to ordinary people.

That seemed a desperate choice for Reebok, which was in fierce competition with Nike, and it found itself lost without its own identity after it ceded partnerships with major professional sports leagues or teams to other competitors, including parent company Adidas.

After Reebok set its path to tough fitness, represented by its close partnership with Crossfit, the company is now making efforts to inspire ordinary people, not just stars.

In recent years, Reebok Korea has established a significant reputation by releasing products that cater to so-called fitness enthusiasts and bid a successful farewell to its old image of being sandwiched between other sportswear titans.

“Ironically, sports put people in the stands or on their couches eating and drinking,” said Reebok Korea Brand Director Chad Wittman during an interview with The Korea Times. “We don’t think there is anything wrong with sports _ we’ve also been a sports brand and were for a lot of our history. But now we are calling for people to be their own hero _ get off the couch, get to the gym and participate, not just stay as the spectator of their lives.”

The shift was huge. Reebok, whose core products used to be footwear endorsed by stars such as Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson or Yao Ming, now focuses “100 percent” of its resources on making fitness products, according to Wittman, and has become the world’s largest brand fully focused on fitness.

“Most of our competitors have some of their resources in training or running, but we focus all of our resources on fitness products,” he said. “Global headquarters, all of our designers, developers and marketing people only focus on fitness. You won’t see us signing a celebrity or a sports star who does not fit our brand.”

Instead of traditional sports stars, Reebok now reaches for Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters Ronda Rousey and Kim Dong-hyun. “We’re interested in these guys not because they are celebrities but because we believe they fit into our brand,” Wittman said.

The effort to reintroduce the brand to customers came drastically with the second major logo change in its 122-year history, replacing its Union Jack and vector logos with a delta, which Wittman says symbolizes the brand’s campaign to be “physically, mentally and socially fit.”

“We believe the tough fitness that pushes you to the limits helps create the best you can be physically, mentally and socially. And ultimately you become more human when you experience this journey.”

To transform itself, Reebok ditched the conventional marketing strategy of hiring big stars as pitchmen to depend on their sales power. Instead, the brand holds big fitness events every two months or so that bring the country’s enthusiasts together, providing them with opportunities to experience the benefits of pursuing fitness.

“Sales come quicker if you have big names and go slower the way we’ve been going, but we think that the slower way is OK because it’s stronger in the end,” Wittman said.

He said the shift has been successful, especially in Korea. According to Wittman, Korea is one of the top five markets in the world for the company.

“Our business is good here and we have ambitions that by 2020 we’ll be the No. 1 fitness brand in Korea and globally, such that we will become the brand of choice for the fit generation, who are between the ages of 25-35,” he said.

“And we want to be the No. 3 brand in Korea overall, including sportswear and fitness. Right now, we think we’re somewhere between No. 4 and No.5, but we’re growing fast and we’re on track.”

The company is being tested as other global sportswear brands, such as Under Armour, make inroads into Korea. But Wittman said he welcomes the competition and stresses that it shows how the world sees the Korean market.

“There are going to be a lot of brands coming to Korea,” he said. “There’s no question. Korea is a great market, with many eager buyers. I welcome the competition. Competition makes us better. If we’re the only brand, that’s the bad side. They will come and they’ve started to come already and that makes us all better, and I’m not surprised by it.”