Brand Research

ASICS

'ASICS is a Japanese athletic equipment company which produces footwear and sports equipment designed for a wide range of sports, generally in the upper price range. The name is an acronym for the Latin phrase anima sana in corpore sano which translates as "a healthy mind in a healthy body".

In recent years their running shoes have often been ranked among the top performance footwear in the market.'

ASICS logos:

'ASICS Ltd. began as Onitsuka Co., Ltd on September 1, 1949. Its founder, Kihachiro Onitsuka, began manufacturing basketball shoes in his home town of Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Soon after the range of sports activities widened to a variety of Olympic styles used throughout the '50s, '60s and '70s by athletes worldwide. Onitsuka became particularly renowned for the Mexico 66 design, in which the distinctive crossed stripes, now synonymous with the company brand, were featured for the first time. In 1977, Onitsuka Tiger merged with GTO and JELENK to form ASICS Corporation. Despite the name change, a vintage range of ASICS shoes are still produced and sold internationally under the Onitsuka Tiger label.

The name ASICS is an acronym of the Latin phrase anima sana in corpore sano, which translates to "healthy soul in a healthy body", which derives from Juvenal's aphorism mens sana in corpore sano or Thales' saying Νοῦς ὑγιὴς ἐν σώματι ὑγιεῖ. Since 2007 there has been a larger emphasis placed on this acronym, and its translation has been truncated for advertising purposes to "Sound Mind, Sound Body".

In its 2006 fiscal year, ASICS generated 171 billion yen in net sales and 13 billion yen in net income. 66% of the company's income comes from the sale of sports shoes, 24% from sportswear, and 10% from sports equipment. 49% of the company's sales are in Japan, 28% in North America, and 19% in Europe.

On 4 October 2011 it was announced that ASICS will be the new official kit manufacturer for the Australian Cricket Team, replacing German manufacturer Adidas.^'

^{ASICS store in Leeds:}

The ASICS website

First impressions of the website I felt it lacked any engaging content, which I think is down to the amount of colour, and possibly the adverts that were being usesd on the front page. It navigates really easily and everything is really easy to find. The site was really interactive which I liked, although it did not interest me and It felt really outdated. I think some engaging content, maybe an interactive banner with an interesting advertisement that is going to make you want to look around the site. It did not have a shopping feel to it, it felt more like it was a website giving information on sports science.

Sneaker Shopping

'Packer Shoes has another ASICS collaboration on deck that's coming in 2015.

After two successful releases this year, which saw the Gel Kayano Trainer infused with some inspiration from New Jersey, Packer Shoes takes on the widely popular Gel Lyte V silhouette.

An out-of-focus photo was recently shared on Instagram, revealing the runner decked out in hot pink and purple accents. There's also a tab on the heel counter of the model, which we assume to be Gore-Tex branding. Considering the sneakers are positioned atop a large puddle of water, the weatherized property on the Gel Lyte V makes sense.

Keep your eyes peeled for official shots because the collaboration is already set to release next month.'

The ASICS adverts were really varied, and quite different to one another. I think to create a strong brand presence you have to keep your identity consistent across all platforms of communication. I actually really liked a lot of the adverts, they were really interesting and engaging, they tended to focus on the science behind the shoe. I want to step away from the scientific element of the shoe, and focus on ASICS being more of a fashion brand.

ASICS "Better Your Best" - Trail Runner Christian Schiester

The ASICS GEL-Nimbus® 15 featuring FluidRide

ASICS - Better Your Best

ASICS Running | RUN. AND RUN with Muscle Support gear

ASICS Made of Sport: I am made of all the days you don't see not just the one you do

ASICS Running | Outrun The Sun - Part Four

Asics "Next" Commercial

ASICS - Better Your Best - Triathlete Helen Jenkins

ASICS GEL-Nimbus 16 Running Shoe

Existing Sport brands

I looked at four existing sports brand which were aimed towards 16 - 25 year olds, and looked into how they used their advertisements.

Adidas

Advertising

The adverts for Adidas were varied, some were focused on photography based imagery where as others were very artisticly led. Personally I preferred the artistic photos as I felt they were more propelling than the photography adverts.

Nike

The Nike adverts all feature the recognisable Nike font. I like the adverts with just the shoes on, but wasn't to fond of the others. They are very consistent through out.

Reebok

I really didn't like the reebok adverts. They felt very dated, and the brand identity was not consistent through out.

Puma

Again with the puma advert, it didn't feel like there was a consistent brand identity. They did however manage to reflect their sporting identity, but lacked a little personality. I think if I am to reproduce ASICS adverts I will try and push the personality of the brand.

Existing Brand Guidelines

I looked at a range of different brand guidelines, to see how companies use their logo and identity. I feel that the branding guidelines have to reflect the identity to which your brand has, but for a lot of the ones I looked at they were very minimal and didn't feature a lot of information. I was able to gather enough information to help me form my own. Out of the brand guidelines that I looked at I really liked the ones for Beano comic, as it best reflected who Beano are.