Search History
*  #4 (Roots) in TI (152 records)
   #3 (roots) in TI (152 records)
   #2 (rootws) in TI (0 records)
   #1 roots (2472 records)


Record 1 of 1 in CBCA Fulltext Business 1/99- 6/99

TI:  Tip of the hat to the Roots boys
AU:  McCann-Julie
PN:  Marketing-Magazine
SO:  Marketing Magazine, v.103(48) D 21/28'98 pg 19.
Illustrations
FA:  Fulltext: 591 words
IS:  0025-3642
CI:  Roots-Canada-Ltd
CZ:  Roots Canada Ltd
PT:  Most-Recent-Update; Journal-article
SF:  Illustrations
PD:  981228  
PY:  1998
AN:  4397972
LN:  SHORT
FT:  A few sightings were inescapable this year for Canadian urbanites: a new VW
Beetle, a red Roots poorboy hat, an iMac ad and a black or white Roots
poorboy hat. As Canada proudly watched its Winter Olympians in Nagano this
February-crowned, of course, in that darn hat-they were constantly
reminded of and thrilled by the nationalistic magic of Roots wear.

The company had scored yet another marketing coup. Roots boys Michael
Budman and Don Green had strutted in and taken over in 1973 with a
negative-heel shoe, then ruled the '80s with a beaver-logoed sweatshirt.
Now they'd leapt beyond simply having celebrities wear their clothes to
having Olympians wear their clothes. As our athletes stood in the global
spotlight, their official red and white Roots gear was tied to the company
as much as the country.

While he ``pardons the pun,'' Richard Talbot, retail consultant at Thomas
Consultants International in Toronto, says, ``you have to take your hat
off to them for the way they've sold their hats.'' They've adorned the
heads of celebrities such as ice skater Katarina Witt (autographing a copy
of Playboy) and directors James Cameron and Spike Lee, as well as
politicians, average people and even royalty.

``That one issue of taking a street kid cap (where the hat had its origins)
and getting it on Prince Charles' head, that's got to be the world's best
marketing thing for the year,'' says Talbot.

But the company didn't stop at Olympic wear. With the help of Toronto
agency X Unlimited (the company has no AOR, working contract by contract
or in-house), Roots produced its first TV spot, using gold-medal
snow-boarder Ross Rebagliati as the face to launch a new line of jeans.
Sabaa Quao, president and creative director at X Unlimited, says it worked
closely with Bud-man, Green and Rebagliati on the ``these are my roots''
theme to create something ``refreshing and innovative but still consistent
with their long-standing equity.''

Quao, himself a former Roots store employee from his university days, says
everything wound together-the products, the marketing, the legend-has
propelled the company to its current international level. ``It's not just
the advertising, it's the whole thing about sponsorship and the Olympics,
and you see them at the film festival,'' he says. ``It's the constant
overlapping of the brand into a wide range of categories.''

It's often noted how ironic it is that two Detroit natives have managed to
market Canada to Canadians and the world better than any Canadian-born
retailer has. Anthony Stokan, a retail and pop culture analyst and partner
at Anthony Russell & Associates in Toronto, calls Roots the ``benchmark of
retail excellence in this country.'' He praises Budman and Green's timing,
vision and the quality of their products.

And the company isn't letting up. Its largest store ever just opened in
Toronto's Eaton Centre, the Roots home line of housewares and furniture
was launched and a book called Team Spirit, chronicling the company's
25-year history and the cultural reasons for its success, was released in
November. In the new year, a 20-room Roots lodge will open in Reef Point,
B.C, done up in Roots style and complete with a retail shop. And Roots and
NHL Enterprises have formed a three-year licensing and retail agreement
for North America giving Roots the licensing rights to current NHL clubs
and heritage marks, starting with the 1999-2000 season.

This is one busy company, whose owners show no hint of turning their ears
away from emerging trends, whispers of soon-to-be-hot stars or the
good-luck fountain.

-Julie McCann


FC:  Copyright 2000. All rights reserved by original publisher and copyright
holder.  No part of this data may be reproduced, published, sold, 
distributed or stored in any manner other than as sanctioned by law 
or set out in a separate license agreement from the original publisher
and copyright holder.
YC:  1999
UD:  990600