Will RBK’s Real Customers Please Stand Up?

By Jesse Purewal, October 18, 2007 — A question for marketers: Is it acceptable to poke fun at one customer segment in order to appeal to a second, different segment?

RBK’s answer: Yes, when you’ve failed to win in the market you originally coveted.

But that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.

You may have seen the “Run Easy” outdoor campaign from RBK (nee Reebok). It combines mean-spirited one-liners with images of pained endurance runners – a bid to show that its brand is on the side of the common folk. The attempt comes at the expense of those uber-runners who presumably go too far in physical pursuits.

When purchased by adidas Group in 2005, RBK owned 9.6 percent of the global shoe market, having melded American sports and entertainment cultures into one identifiable brand. That’s since shrunk by half. Why? RBK hasn’t succeeded at identifying its target customer.

It never gained acceptance in the professional sports arena for shoes. This has limited its visibility among the coveted 18-34 male segment, and made meaningful placement and partnerships at retailers like Foot Locker and Finish Line challenging.

So who is the brand’s target? The serious athlete who demands the durability and responsiveness in his athletic shoes? The guy who does cardiovascular exercise a few times a week to keep his heart rate down? Or is RBK a runner’s brand?

RBK has long lost the battle for the big-spending, performance-focused runner to Nike, Saucony, Brooks, and Asics. And while each of these does manufacture one or more shoes for non-competitive runners, no company has attempted to use media to affiliate itself so closely with that group as RBK is doing now.

But there’s a dramatic contrast among channel messages in the Run Easy campaign that adds to RBK’s customer/brand confusion. While the outdoor and print ads poke fun at “might have been” customers, the company’s website takes a lighthearted, personable approach that appeals directly to the target segment.

RBK’s trying to solve a tough problem. Neither the large segment of value-oriented joggers nor the niche group of performance runners are buying its shoes. The brand is stuck in the middle. Time will tell whether joining with adidas will spell success, but in any case, RBK’s first priority should be to figure out who its customer really is.