Business

Serena seeks to dominate the fashion industry with an “S”

serenawilliams.com

By Editorial Team

Serena has been known for her extraordinary taste in fashion and her burning desire to create her own clothing line. With today’s launch, Serena’s dream has just come to fruition with “Serena” – her new clothing line for women exclusively sold on www.serenawilliams.com.

Serena mentioned that the road to launching her own line was not easy and met with a ton of rejection from industry experts. When asked by wwd.com about what motivated her she stated, “I’ve never been fully creative, so that’s what this is. I’ve always been limited. I’ve done things for HSN but I’ve always been limited, with the customer and with the fabric selection; [there were] things I couldn’t do. They gave me so much knowledge, though, and so much practice and so much training. And with Nike, obviously there are so many things I can’t do. This is what I studied. So I was like, ‘I really want to be able to start doing what I want, how I want it, and letting people see my vision in fashion, how I want it to be seen.’”

The “S” collection is not high-end priced like most clothing brand launches with her pieces starting at $35 and up to $250. During the wwd.com interview Serena defined her target customer: “The customer is a girl or a woman who believes in herself, or wants to believe in herself; maybe she’s feeling unconfident that day,” Williams says. “And someone that is unapologetically themselves, and that maybe they stand out; maybe they stand out because they are strong or they’re beautiful or they want to not be the norm. Our woman is someone who looks at fashion as a compass to show who they are, to show what they are.”

After viewing her website one can gather that she is receiving support for distribution and production, etc. however you don’t get the impression that this will be a quick rise to the top of fashion like say a Kanye West. With many of her items still in stock it will be critical for Serena to add scarcity to her marking mix, but that will be harder to do given that her customers are “practical, common female shoppers.” You won’t see the fanatical resellers using bots and other outlandish methods to purchase her product. You can simply go online and purchase items that are affordable and not have to fear that a bot took your order during checkout. This is such a refreshing shopping experience, but the ability to sell out the online product completely in the first few days is what gets the attention of big box distributors. As such, most designers go high-end initially then cut back on the extras to attract the common man (or woman in this case). Most designers end up creating an affordable version of their gear at maturation, but Serena is definitely flipping the script by starting with the basics and working her way up the value ladder.

With her success on court over the last decade, Serena is hoping to transition gracefully into the fashion world as a major designer with the same level of domination she exhibits on the tennis court. Lets stay tuned for her upcoming moves off court and potential collaborations with more establish designers and distributors to help push the brand into the mainstream as a serious contender among the likes of major department store labels.

Business

Osaka seeks #10 in 2019

WTA Tour

By Editorial Team

Naomi Osaka is seeking #10 in 2019… This is not a ranking goal as she has climbed that ladder to the top spot after winning the Australian Open, but rather a business goal.

With nine major corporate sponsors in the bag as of today, Naomi does not appear to have easily balanced her off-court business success. She only has one semifinal finish at Stuttgart since the AO where she retired due to injury against Anett Kontaveit.

The clay court season has not been friendly to Naomi, but she plans on raising her level on grass courts at the Birmingham Classic this week heading into Wimbledon. The draws for the world number one have not been easy either; she faces Maria Sakkari in the first round.

In addition to winning matches, Naomi must manage her branding potential by maintaining a good image and growing her global market presence.

If there is space on her sleeveless shirt or racket bag Stuart Duguid of IMG is sure to find room and solicit a killer deal. Stuart has been the marketing genius behind the recent surge in Naomi’s branding power.

The endorsement list for Naomi is both staggering and impressive. It’ll definitely require a skilled team to track the many contract renewals and re-negotiations.

Yonex – January 2016
Wowow – June 2016
Nissin Group – December 2016
Citizen – August 2018
Nissan – September 2018
Shiseido – November 2018
All Nippon Airways (ANA) – January 2019
MasterCard – April 2019
Nike – April 2019
#10 = BareMinerals *
* Updated on 06/20/2019

Naomi not only has a new team on the court led by Jermaine Jenkins, but also a strong off-court presence that is fully equipped to handle even more sponsors waiting the wings for her next major title win. These hefty sponsorship dollars are in addition to the $11.3 million in career prize money that she has accumulated to date.

Her 10th endorsement deal may come well before her next title as momentum is gaining within the Japanese business markets. Being able to tap into both American and Japanese cultures, Naomi’s team can capture a very diverse mix of companies willing to spend big dollars for the 21 year old’s endorsement.

All bases seem to be covered within her well assembled sponsorship portfolio, however there is still room for more American based companies ranging from gaming software to investment banking. The 10th bag will drop for sure if she is able to repeat her US Open title this year, but expect more companies to step up to the plate in anticipation of Naomi becoming a household name like “Serena” or “Venus.”

Business

Osaka grows branding empire

Farzanah Farveen

By Editorial Team

Naomi Osaka’s branding junket continues as she secures major Japanese endorsement deals spanning from automotive to skin care. The US Open title win has unlocked multiple opportunities keeping agents and lawyers busy well into the holiday season. Naomi has secured standard on-court sponsorship from Adidas and Yonex, but with her Asian background she is able to tap into a huge consumer market filled with big pockets willing to make her the face of many products.

Her existing off-court deals with Nissan (car manufacturer), Nissin Food Groups, Citizen (luxury watch brand) and Wowow (Japanese cable broadcaster) were recently topped this month by Japanese personal care company – Shiseido. Shiseido made Naomi their brand ambassador for an undisclosed amount over the next three years.

“Shiseido never stops innovating and changing to best support the lives of consumers worldwide through beauty. With our ever-stronger foundations and upgraded global structure, such as Osaka, we are always striving to improve ourselves. We are never satisfied, always challenging the status quo. As Osaka gives her best, we too are taking on various new initiatives, challenging the world and reaching for new heights,” the brand said in a release.

Earlier in March 2018, Shiseido launched a new three-year plan that will see the company implementing new strategies to accelerate growth and be among the top three companies in the global prestige cosmetics market, while maintaining its presence in Asia Pacific and Japan. The three year-plan is the second phase of its six-year medium-to-long term strategy titled “VISION 2020” developed in 2014.

It can be expected that more global brands within the US could make investments in Naomi’s international appeal, but she must continue her rise to the top by wining more titles and keeping the spotlight on her tennis talent.

Business

Donald Young launches watch brand ahead of US Open

unclejack.co

By Editorial Team

Wristwear endorsements are not uncommon within the sport of tennis as evident by some of the top players on tour including Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka and Chris Evert sporting everything from Audemars Piguet to Rolex. Over the last few days Donald Young has put his name on a new brand called Uncle Jack. Donald’s sports watch with red band is set to launch at the this year’s US Open.

Donald has missed several main draw appearances due to a major losing streak in the first half of the year, but all was not lost as he made a comeback with some great wins recently in his homestead of Atlanta where he defeated the giant, Ivo Karlovic, for the second consecutive time 2-6, 7-6, 7-6. Immediately following the BB&T event, he was able to qualify for the maindraw of the Citi Open in DC and secure one of the biggest wins of his career against former world number 2, Stan Wawrinka.

Maybe the tides are turning for the 238 ranked tennis star as he now promotes new Uncle Jack watches named after him in collaboration. Uncle Jack watches are not of the same caliber as a Rolex, but they are made in Australia and are supposedly worn by top athletes and global taste masters according to their website.

Neither Donald or Brandon Ellis (Uncle Jack co-founder) were available for comment leading up to the launch, but several fellow ATP Tour players have already put in their requests for the limited 100 count edition DY Watch.

Catch Donald and his new watch in New York next week as he competes in US Open qualifying in anticipation of making an appearance in the main draw.