Converse Case Study
Converse: Shaping the Customer Experience
They dominated the basketball courts – both amateur and professional – for more than forty years. The first U.S. Olympic basketball team wore them, and Dr. J made them famous in the NBA. Punk rocker Joey Ramone made them standard issue for cult musicians; indeed, Kurt Cobain even donned a pair when he committed suicide. Today, a broad range of consumers, from the nerdiest of high school students to A-list celebrities, claim them as their own. What are they? Converse All Stars – more particularly, the famous Chuck Taylor All Stars known throughout the world as Cons, Connies, Convics, Verses, Chuckers, Chuckies, Chucks, and a host of other nicknames.
The cool quotient of the iconic Converse brand is unquestionable. But you might wonder just how the brand has maintained its status decade after decade. The answer is this: by doing nothing. That may be an oversimplification, but the folks who run the Converse brand understand that in order to provide a meaningful customer experience, sometimes you just need to stand back and leave customers alone.
The Rise and Fall of a Legend
Converse has been around a long time, perhaps longer than you realize. Founded in 1908 in Massachusetts, Converse introduced the canvas high top All Star in 1917. In 1923, it renamed the shoe the Chuck Taylor, after a semiprofessional basketball player from Akron, Ohio. When his basketball career ended, Charles “Chuck” Taylor became an aggressive member of the Converse sales force. He drove throughout the Midwest, stopping at playgrounds to hawk the high tops to players. Some consider Taylor to be the original Phil Knight, Nike’s CEO, who also started out by selling his shoes at track meets from the back of his van. From the 1930s to the 1960s, Chuck Taylor All Stars were the shoes to wear, even though they only came basic black or white until 1969. But at that time, 70 to 80 percent of all basketball players still wore Converse.
There’s
They dominated the basketball courts – both amateur and professional – for more than forty years. The first U.S. Olympic basketball team wore them, and Dr. J made them famous in the NBA. Punk rocker Joey Ramone made them standard issue for cult musicians; indeed, Kurt Cobain even donned a pair when he committed suicide. Today, a broad range of consumers, from the nerdiest of high school students to A-list celebrities, claim them as their own. What are they? Converse All Stars – more particularly, the famous Chuck Taylor All Stars known throughout the world as Cons, Connies, Convics, Verses, Chuckers, Chuckies, Chucks, and a host of other nicknames.
The cool quotient of the iconic Converse brand is unquestionable. But you might wonder just how the brand has maintained its status decade after decade. The answer is this: by doing nothing. That may be an oversimplification, but the folks who run the Converse brand understand that in order to provide a meaningful customer experience, sometimes you just need to stand back and leave customers alone.
The Rise and Fall of a Legend
Converse has been around a long time, perhaps longer than you realize. Founded in 1908 in Massachusetts, Converse introduced the canvas high top All Star in 1917. In 1923, it renamed the shoe the Chuck Taylor, after a semiprofessional basketball player from Akron, Ohio. When his basketball career ended, Charles “Chuck” Taylor became an aggressive member of the Converse sales force. He drove throughout the Midwest, stopping at playgrounds to hawk the high tops to players. Some consider Taylor to be the original Phil Knight, Nike’s CEO, who also started out by selling his shoes at track meets from the back of his van. From the 1930s to the 1960s, Chuck Taylor All Stars were the shoes to wear, even though they only came basic black or white until 1969. But at that time, 70 to 80 percent of all basketball players still wore Converse.
There’s