Saturday 13 December 2008

Murray ditches Fred Perry

Fred Perry pulled of a coup by getting in early and signing up Andy
Murray in 2004, but I've always thought that they never really made
the most out of having one of the rising mens stars wearing their
threads.

Handled properly it could have been the perfect platform to
reinvigorate their brand.

However, it sometimes felt like their heart wasn't really in it.
Murray's outfits were often a bit dreary and unimaginative, especially
when compared with what Nike serve up for Roger and Rafa.

So it wasn't a massive surprise to read Neil Harman's report in The
Times today (link to follow) that the World No 4 is rumoured to be
switching to K-Swiss.

Apparently the deal will be formally announced at the Abu Dhabi
exhibition.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cool! Now it won't just be me, Mardy Fish and Tommy Haas wearing it! That's my shoe and apparel of choice.

Pamala Knight said...

I like K-Swiss and they do a decent job with their marketing in the tennis section. Some days it appears that only Nike and Adidas put forth any effort to get a return on investment with their signed tennis talent.

When Venus landed that historically huge Reebok contract and then the company proceeded to use (or not) her in ways that did nothing to forward their brand, drive sales or increase name recognition, I was baffled. So whenever a tennis star leaves or gets dropped by an apparel sponsor, it leaves me to wonder why that company's marketing executives don't understand that the tennis players job is to PLAY TENNIS and it's their job to capitalize on that in whatever way will benefit them all.

Okay, rant over. Just sad to see Fred Perry not making the most of their opportunities. I wore them exclusively when I was a teen.