2022 Azbee Awards of Excellence

Category

All Content > Company Profile > Mid Atlantic

Awarded to

Cara Salpini, Senior Editor; Adeline Kon, Illustrator; Julia Himmel, News Graphics Developer; Ben Unglesbee, Senior Reporter; Kaarin Vembar, Editor; Liza Casabona, Deputy Editor

Entry details

Reebok was meant to be a ‘Nike killer.’ How the brand lost its No. 1 spot

Issue or publication date: 7/26/21
Publication name: Retail Dive
Publishing/parent company: Industry Dive
Website home page: https://www.retaildive.com/

About the publication's mission and readership:

https://www.retaildive.com/about/

Description of the enterprising work that went into this entry and its significance or impact on readers:

As the retail industry eagerly waited to learn who would take over Reebok from Adidas, Retail Dive senior editor Cara Salpini sent a “fingers crossed” LinkedIn message to Rebook founder Joe Foster to talk about the company’s start. The message turned into a lengthy interview and inspired Salpini to track down other early former executives, including the longtime former CEO who ultimately sold the brand to Adidas, the brand’s current president at the time, industry historians and analysts.

Months of interviews and research later, Salpini wove together a compelling profile that captured the historical context and cultural significance of the brand, supported by data visualizations, archival photos and audio clips of firsthand accounts of Reebok’s early days.

Published shortly before Authentic Brands announced it would acquire Reebok, the “Nike killer” piece was one of the most-read stories of the year across Retail Dive, and sparked an outpouring of responses from industry sources when it was published. LinkedIn News featured the piece, and The Boston Globe referenced the story in its own acquisition coverage.

While the profile tells the company’s story, it also speaks to the industry writ large: New brands innovate and challenge established brands, and sometimes a confluence of forces undermine their potential. As Salpini notes in the piece, the profile isn’t “just a story of Reebok’s plateauing growth and eventual decline. It’s also a story of Nike’s incredible rise.” And Nike has been the dominant brand since.

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Entry URL(s), if applicable:
https://www.retaildive.com/news/reebok-was-meant-to-be-a-nike-killer-how-the-brand-lost-its-no-1-spot-adidas-sale-of-reebok/603733/

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