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© History Oasis
Nike (1988)
Dan Wieden created Just Do It from a strange source. Urban legend says he was inspired by the convicted murderer Gary Gilmore's last words before his execution: "Let's do it."
After creating the campaign, Nike's revenue jumped from $877 million to $9.2 billion in ten years.
The first ad showed 80-year-old Walt Stack jogging across the Golden Gate Bridge at 5:17 AM (his daily routine for decades). When asked why, Stack said, "I just do it."
The Nike slogan worked because it didn't sell shoes. It sold permission to stop overthinking.
Reebok (1987)
Reebok launched this slogan during the aerobics boom, targeting women who exercised to those vintage 80's video tapes.
The launch of Life is Not a Spectator Sport coincided with the release of the Freestyle—the first athletic shoe designed for women doing aerobics. The women's shoe featured soft garment leather and was low profile. You could get it in white, pink, or other pastel colors.
The campaign was so successful that for a short period of time, Reebok was outselling Nike.
You might remember some of those vintage commercials featuring everyday athletes, like people in church basements doing step aerobics, running in local parks.
This popular campaign has since been revived.
Converse (1970s)
Converse didn't need marketing for decades because famous basketball players wore Chuck Taylors. Charles "Chuck" Taylor joined Converse in 1921 as a salesman and spent his life promoting the shoes. His signature went on the ankle patch in 1932.
But by the 1970s, competition arrived in the NBA. New brands started to flood the market. Converse had no choice but to create advertising because competitors started paying athletes for endorsements.
Made For You was the brand's first slogan, and it emphasized custom fit and the shoe's connection to individual players.
Adidas (2004)
This campaign featured Muhammad Ali's face reconstructed from vintage photographs, paired with his voice: "Impossible is nothing. Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men."
Adidas shot commercials with David Beckham, Laila Ali, and Tracy McGrady. The campaign ran in 93 countries. And they plastered the message across murals around the world.
Three words (Impossible is Nothing) that flipped a negative into a positive. Adidas positioned itself against Nike's dominance by suggesting that even that gap was closeable.
Puma (2010)
With After Hours Athlete, Puma targeted the bowlers, dart players, and late-night foosball competitors. The campaign, created with the help of Droga5, celebrated people who stayed out until 6 AM instead of waking up at 6 AM.
The slogan came with a 90-second film showing pool games in bars, bowling leagues, and people running for cabs in the rain. The voiceover described the challenge of "surviving buzz kills, third wheels, cock blocks and cabs in the rain."
This was part of Puma Social, a new footwear category for people who were active socially, not athletically. One tagline read: "It's a lot more fun to take a 5 AM cab than a 5 AM run." Another: "Give 75 percent."
The campaign won the Film Craft Grand Prix at Cannes.
New Balance (1990s)
While Nike and Reebok threw millions at athlete endorsements, New Balance ran this contrarian campaign. Print ads showed regular people exercising.
The company maintained this position for years, spending advertising money on product development instead of celebrity contracts. New Balance manufactured shoes in the United States (still does for some models) and offered multiple width sizes.
This anti-marketing worked for their target audience. Serious runners who cared more about fit than flash. New Balance grew steadily while staying privately owned and profitable.
Keds (1960s)
Fun fact: Keds owned the word "sneaker." The company trademarked it in 1917, though the trademark eventually became generic.
The name came from the rubber soles being quiet. For the first time, people could sneak around in their shoes. Before Keds, people wore leather-soled shoes that made loud clicky noises that you could hear from a mile away.
In the 1960s, Keds leaned into their heritage as the original sneaker. The campaign featured the product's simplicity: canvas, rubber, done. No technology claims, no performance promises. Just the shoe that invented the category.
Vans (1976)
This wasn't a slogan at first. Off the Wall was skater slang for doing tricks on vertical ramps. Vans printed it on the heel tab because that's what their customers said.
The phrase became the company's identity. Vans gave away shoes to skaters at the Venice Beach skatepark. They built relationships with BMX riders. The marketing budget included free shoes and supporting competitions.
Vans made their waffle sole sticky enough for skateboard grip tape. They reinforced the toe caps because skaters destroyed that part first. The product was the marketing.
Dr. Martens (1990s)
Dr. Martens became punk rock footwear by accident. The boots were designed in 1947 by Dr. Klaus Märtens for injuredGerman soldiers. They featured air-cushioned soles for comfort.
British workers adopted them in the 1960s. Then skinheads wore them. Then punks claimed them. Then grunge musicians made them mainstream.
The Rebel campaign in the 1990s acknowledged this countercultural history while selling boots to suburban teenagers. The company featured musicians and artists who wore Docs, turning subcultural credibility into mass marketing.
Sales peaked at 15 million pairs in 1994. Then the brand became too mainstream for the rebels and too rebellious for the mainstream.
Skechers (2000s)
In the 2000s, Skechers ran Super Bowl ads featuring dogs making fun of other shoe brands. They signed Britney Spears. They put wheels in kids' shoes.
The Nothing Compares campaign was deliberately vague because Skechers made dozens of different shoe types. Athletic, casual, performance, fashion. The slogan could mean anything.
They targeted price-conscious buyers who wanted the look of athletic shoes without the athletic price. The company grew into a $6 billion brand by competing on style and value.
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