Boks: dress threads By Alison Fahe

NEW YORK–Charged with establishing a global identity for the one-year-old Boks brand, Ammirati & Puris’ first work for the casual shoe line aims it squarely at the twentysomethi

“What we need to do is to get a brand established,” said Steve Fireman, president of the Boks division of Reebok International.
In March, Ammirati won the $8-10-million account, which had been at Toth Design in Carlisle, Mass.
“What we did was to more clearly define our target audience as 18-to-29 year olds,” said Jens Bang, Boks’ vice president of marketing. To appeal to the 46 million Americans in that age group, one that spends some $17 billion on footwear and apparel annually, the new print campaign uses a hip, irreverent tone.
The ads, which will break in October, show photos of young people alongside headlines like, “You’re closer to birth than you are to death. Act like it.” Copy on another ad reads, “This is a pair of Boks. They’re Dress Treads. They can handle coats and ties. They prefer old jeans and tee shirts. Sound familiar?” The campaign introduces the tagline, “Boks. Not sensible. Just slightly rational.”
The print effort will be augmented with radio spots, breaking in early September, and TV next spring.
This first series of print ads will run in the U.K. and several additional overseas markets virtually unchanged. “It’s the lifestage that unites the target audience” around the world, said Bang. “Young people are facing the same problems in Europe as in the United States. They’re concerned about health and the environment and they’re coming out of school.”
Overseas media will be bought by Euro RSCG in Europe and Leo Burnett in the Far East and South America, two Reebok shops.
At home, Ammirati could be in line for more business from Reebok. The agency was recently invited to pitch a Reebok assignment along with Leo Burnett and lead U.S. agency Chiat/Day, where the entire Reebok account is said to be shaky.
The invitation seemed unusual since it was believed that Boks wanted that brand to be separate from the Reebok business.
Fireman wouldn’t comment on that pitch saying only, “Ammirati’s a very competent agency, if they were to get more business from the main athletic company, that’s fine with me.”
Copyright Adweek L.P. (1993)