Social Media and Digital Marketing (WK1) - Design Blog

For this week's Design Blog, I want to talk about shoes. More importantly, a shoe brand most of us know and love. We've been instructed to choose a company that we'll work with for the next 4 weeks, and I chose Vans - a brand that is near and dear to me for various reasons. Firstly, I've attended Vans Warped Tour since I was in high school. I have dozens of fond memories of showing up to my local tour stop on the hottest day of the summer, and running around with my friends seeing our favorite bands. Secondly, Vans are my favorite brand of casual sneakers. They offer an abundance of styles and variations, while always being reliable. They have a long history and constantly release original and creative designs and collaborations, while never compromising their quality and what they're known for. 

Vans created its signature branding in 1966, and it's still recognizable today. According to Google, "Vans' branding timeline began with the 1966 founding of The Van Doren Rubber Company and the debut of the #44 deck shoe (now the Authentic). Skateboarder culture in the early 1970s drove early growth, leading to the 1976 creation of the #95 shoe (the Era) and the "Off the Wall" logo. Major branding milestones include the 1977 debut of the "Sidestripe" on the Old Skool and the Classic Slip-On, followed by national fame from the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High in 1982, and ongoing branding through events like the Warped Tour." 

In addition, 13-year-old Mark Van Doren (the son of then-president and co-owner of The Van Doren Rubber Company, James Van Doren) created the original Vans skateboard logo in the '70s. It was designed as a stencil so that it could be spray-painted onto Mark's skateboards. The brand has maintained its logo throughout the years, while adding variations (such as the skateboard logo), but never fully straying from the original.

Vans's core branding is minimalist yet instantly recognizable. With the reliability of its products and familiar branding, Vans has established an overwhelmingly positive relationship with its clientele. The way they achieved authentic, deep-rooted cultural relevance is genius, and they did this by supporting an already existing lifestyle and making a superior product that the community genuinely needed. They're a brand OF the culture, not just marketing to it. 

This is a simple reminder to those of us who are building a business (like myself) that often, less is more. 

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