Practicing International Management Case Off The Wall with Vans and VF Corporation Paul and Jim Van Doren and two partners formed the Van Doren Rubber Company in Anaheim, California, and began selling plain, rubber-soled shoes. Boring, right? The Van Dorens manufactured shoes on the premises and sold them directly to consumers. On their first morning of business, they sold 12 pairs of shoes and profited a few dollars each. Today Vans is an immensely popular global shoe and action sports apparel brand. The companys proving ground is anywhere young people are found skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding, or riding BMX. The Van Dorens embraced the skateboarder subculture and its defiant, renegade values and attitudes. This subculture developed its own fashion, art, music, and vernacular that defined the lifestyle. Vans adopted its Off The Wall logo from skateboarders who created new tricks by skating off the walls of empty swimming pools. Vans says it shares with customers the core values of creative self-expression, authenticity, and individuality. Vans received an unplanned publicity boost from the film, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which starred actor Sean Penn as a defiant teenage surfer/skater/musician. Penn fell in love with his personal pair of Vans Classic Slip-Ons and insisted on wearing them during filming. The films cast of characters was a strong reference group for teens both inside and outside the skater subculture. Superstars of action sports endorse Vans products and collaborate to design new merchandise. Vans first endorsement deal was to pay Stacy Peralta $300 to wear Vans shoes exclusively during competitions. Peralta and fellow skater Tony Alva later helped redesign the Vans #95 (Vans Era), the first shoe ever designed by and for skateboarders. It didnt take long for sales to grow beyond the United States. International sales coincided with a global spread of the skater/surfer popular culture trend. Eyeing Vans success, VF Corporation purchased Vans in 2004 for $396 million. VF Corporation also owns iconic global apparel and accessory brands The North Face, Timberland, JanSport, Eastpak, Napapijri, and Supreme. Vans soon expanded its product mix and began marketing to consumers who were not into an action sport, but were interested in wearing hip street fashion. It also launched an aggressive expansion of its global retail presence and opened flagship stores in China, Europe, India, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere. Vans carefully nurtures future generations of customers by educating them on the original spirit and creativity of skateboarding pioneers as the sports appeal as a global popular custom grows. Its Vans Park Series builds and donates state-of-the-art skateparks to cities worldwide, such as Montreal, Quebec; Paris, France; Malm, Sweden; and So Paulo, Brazil. The company also has a strong marketing presence on social media. Its photo- and video-heavy content shows celebrity athletes and hip youth enjoying Vans shoes and apparel. The content skillfully blends product information with sports culture to create brand awareness and loyalty. Vans takes seriously its societal responsibilities, too. It employs all nationalities, religions, and lifestyles at the Vans headquarters in Costa Mesa, California. Vans and VF Corporation regularly make the Worlds Most Ethical Companies list and earn 100 percent on the Corporate Equality Index. Vans says inclusiveness helps fuel its innovation, differentiate it from competitors, and advance the social mobility of its associates. Vans parent, VF Corporation, transformed its global operations in 2021, it says, to become a more consumer-minded, retail-centric, and hyper-digital enterprise. The company moved its brand operations center from Hong Kong to Shanghai, China. It moved its global supply chain base of operations from Hong Kong to Singapore. And it created a services center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to perform business support functions such as digital technology, finance, and human resources. The competitive moves made by VF Corporation should benefit Vans. Many Vans products are manufactured in and ship from Asia to the rest of the world, including Europe and the United States. Since its purchase by VF Corporation Vans sales have grown tenfold to around $4 billion annuallyan amazing feat. From its humble beginnings Vans is now a global powerhouse that is riding high among youth culture today. 144 Self-review This won't affect your score Think Globally: "Off The Wall" with Vans and VF Corporation 1.Identify all the chapter topics and concepts you can within the case. How is each one illustrated in the case? 2. In what ways has Vans and its parent company, VF Corporation, benefitted from globalization? 3.Vans employs professional athletes in the design and marketing of its products. What are the benefits and potential drawbacks of this marketing strategy? 4. What other reasons, besides those that VF Corporation gave, might have influenced its decision to move operations out of Hong Kong, China?