Innovation Hat Trick

Cue:theme song for "Chariots of Fire;" pan down to feet running -- view Reebok running shoe? Indeed Reebok's "ancestor" company made the shoes worn by the 1924 Olympians who were the subject of that movie. Today, Reebok International Ltd., headquartered in Canton, Mass., is a leading worldwide designer, marketer and distributor of sports, fitness and casual footwear, apparel and equipment. Now a subsidiary of the adidas Group, the company operates under the multiple divisions of the Reebok brand, Reebok-CCM Hockey and the Sports Licensed Division. The latter two divisions recently led a major innovative project in partnership with the NHL.

 

Back in 2000, Reebok established a separate division to handle its U.S. sports licensed properties, which includes the NFL, NBA, NCAA, MLB and -- through its 2004 acquisition of the Hockey Company -- the NHL. Although the Sports Licensed Division (SLD) is its own entity, it closely interacts with its counterparts in marketing, sports marketing and product design.

 

Greg Grauel, vice president of licensed merchandise, Reebok Sports Licensed Division, explains, "We are a separate product division from A to Z - from a president to a dedicated sourcing team and so on. We are the only product division that works with both brands - adidas and Reebok."

 

The dedicated teams within the division are separated by brands for each league and consist of performance teams and uniform teams that often collaborate for an end result. Still another team focuses on initiatives for retail.

 

"Whenever possible we try and share as much information and cross pollinate with the other leagues - for example on a material or a technology," says Keith Leach, director of NHL Uniforms, Reebok Sports Licensed Division. "However, with the NHL project, things were particularly specialized. We were changing the entire technology base of the uniform."

 

In fact, the NHL uniform -- which Leach defines as the jersey, the core body and the socks -- had received only marginal modifications throughout its history, whereas other parts of the game were updated.

 

Grauel explains, "The sport and the equipment outpaced the uniform, which was essentially based on how it was historically constructed. Everything else - the sticks, helmets, and skates for example, had technologically advanced."

 

Thus, the "Rbk EDGE Uniform" concept was created through mutual discussions with the NHL and Reebok. It was determined that the next step to advance today's game of hockey was to update the uniform. And while the end consumer is the hockey player, the Sports Licensing Division also serves another consumer -- the fan. Both would benefit from the new uniform.

 

Brian Jennings, senior executive vice president of marketing for the NHL, talks about the genesis of the initiative: "We had been looking at the sport to see if we could enhance the game, but chiefly we wanted to showcase our stars in a way we never had before."

 

In observing the game, they recognized that the uniform was static for a long time. He says, "We looked to Reebok about making changes and together we decided we needed to do a deep dive to achieve our goals."

 

A great deal of innovation would be necessary as the new uniform needed to be lighter with improved ventilation, better moisture management, greater temperature control and increased range of motion, all the while being complemented by a modernized design. Grauel points out, "The younger players coming up played multiple sports throughout their lives. They were used to advanced technology in other sports and questioned the bulky and ill-fitting hockey uniform. They often resorted to duct taping their socks for a better fit."

 

According to Jennings, the revamp began with a chronological look back at the uniform -- from 1917 to present. They wanted to preserve the integrity of the heritage and traditions of the game while going forward. He says, "We set out to respect the past, but represent the future." There were two primary objectives: enhance player performance and increase player protections. Jennings says they went by the mantra, "Fail often to succeed sooner."

 

Leach says that early observation of what the players were doing to their uniforms -- for example, tucking or cutting jerseys and cutting pants -- made it obvious that the uniform was not functioning for their needs.

 

These observations were part of what was called at the time a "seven gate process," which was standard practice for innovating at the Hockey Company prior to acquisition. The observation led to analysis, and moved on to the design and creation of concepts. That led to prototyping and further analysis and revision to get to the final stages of a product.

 

Speaking of prototyping, Leach says they had an advantage when it came to prototyping. This was particularly valuable considering how many had to be made, based on the number of NHL teams and players therein who participated in the trials.

 

He says, "The advantage of the Hockey Company is that everything is produced in its own factory just south of Montreal. We structured a prototyping team to be dedicated to the uniform project. They would then transfer the prototype to the industrialization team who would produce them." He points out that most projects require external prototyping, but in this case, they had their own people in the same facility with the same expertise providing the means to both prototype and produce.

 

So how do you get an entire league -- players, manager, owners -- to change something that hadn't been changed in more than 20 years? Jennings says, "We gained a lot of credibility by going directly to the players and involving those who would actually use the products. That gave us buy-in at that level." Of course managing the process was complex because of all the stakeholders and the diversity therein.

 

Having the players buy in was one thing, but the project would not come to fruition without owners' buy in as well. So, the NHL's commissioner set the tone of importance. Jennings says the owners were given scores of presentations at board of governors' meetings, providing updates and status reports. This engaged them in the process and vested them as partners.

 

As mentioned, the younger generation of players grew up using a lot of the technology and understood what the project was bringing to the table. Jennings notes, "The greater challenge was making sure that the players who had played in the current uniform was a primary reason the fitting and practice sessions were so absolutely critical to the project.

 

One of the most unique factors in this project was the access Reebok had to its end consumer -- the player -- enabling extraordinary insight. Leach says very controlled field testing began in Montreal with a group of athletes that included retired NHL players, minor league players, college and major junior players, and they were the first users of the product. After a few back and forths, the testing moved to the NHL players association.

 

A practice session was scheduled with the involvement of the equipment and general managers. Leach explains that the players wear the same technology of uniform in practice as they do in games, broken out into solid colors like blue, black and red, because they practice with their line mates by position.

 

"We built the new technologies in these solid colors as well, to cause as little disruption as possible to the daily routine and balance of the NHL players who participated in these practice sessions," he says. They also fitted each player correctly - something that has never been done before.

 

They addressed the players at the beginning of practice, describing the new technology so the players would understand what to expect. "When they came off the ice, we asked - player by player - what they thought," says Jennings. Leach adds, "This was outstanding because it resulted in a database with insight from nearly 700 players."

 

Jennings admits that they could not "Band-Aid every cut," but when aggregated, the comments could be taken into consideration for overall improvements. He notes, "We are living in an age of mass customization and personalization so the players were impressed that we were willing to work with them in this way." In fact, Leach says, they were more enthusiastic than expected. Some pushback and negativity was expected simply because there was "change" involved. "But the players were excellent; they gave great feedback and loved being involved," he says.

 

Going into the project, Leach indicates they expected the most feedback on the jersey -- it seemed to be the biggest change -- however, that was not the case. "We got a lot more feedback on the new Rbk EDGE sock than ever anticipated. The current sock is one size, made to fit everybody -- just a big long tube," he details. Once the players used the new sock and realized the advantages of the technology -- both in moisture management and fit -- they wanted to see it in multiple sizes. It took many revisions and resulted in three specific sizes customized to the players needs. Jennings states, "Manufacturing used to dictate the design, but now design can dictate manufacturing. This has been shift in the entire consumer goods industry."

 

The new Rbk EDGE Uniform platform doesn't just benefit the player; it will translate to the growing trend in high performance and technical apparel for the consumer. Actually, this was a requirement of the project. Grauel says when creating a uniform design for athletes, cost is not a top priority. After all, a player is considered an asset - sometimes they are million dollar assets - and the goal is to make the best garments for the protection and performance of that "asset."

 

However, when the uniform redesign neared the final stage, the pro development team met with their retail counterparts to make sure the design could be commercialized at a price that would make sense for consumers. Grauel illustrates this with an analogy. He says, "It is no different than when Porshe makes a race-car -- certain attributes of the racecar will wind up as features in the car that is taken to the consumer."

 

Leach dubs what will soon hit the retail racks "a lifestyle product." The "authentic jersey," will be reproduced in the same exact size and to the exact specifications of the player who wears it -- something Leach mentions is rare within the licensed apparel industry.

 

It will also feature much of the new technology incorporated in the actual game jersey. "Performance apparel materials are migrating from the ice to the standard consumer who enjoys the benefits of wearing performance apparel in their everyday lifestyle," says Leach. In addition, there is a lower priced version of the jersey that will be offered; it has the same look as the "authentic jersey," but without all of the technology. Dubbed "premier replica jersey," it will be a take down of the high-end technologically advanced materials to materials that are more cost-effective for a less expensive product.

 

The Rbk EDGE Uniform was launched "as a tease" at this year's All-Star game; both teams had the new look with the new fabrics, new technology and overall change. Subsequently, each team has or will publicly unveil their new team uniforms individually between the June NHL Entry Draft and the start of the NHL 2007/08 pre-season. In year one, the Rbk EDGE Uniform will be utilized by all NHL players. In the 2008/09 season the Rbk EDGE Uniform will be offered to the amateur and youth hockey retail and institutional markets.

 

All 30 NHL team specific jerseys will be available to consumers by mid-September, a complement to the opening of the new NHL Store Powered by Reebok, located on 6th Avenue in New York City, and slated to open in October. With 3,750 square feet of retail space, the store will sell NHL-licensed clothing, headwear, accessories equipment and Rbk footwear and clothing.

 

The store will also feature a hockey-themed Starbucks, an XM satellite radio studio for live broadcasts, high-definition projection screens and monitors will show NHL clips and games in real time. Customers will be able to play next-generation NHL video games or access the NHL.com Web site at interactive stations. A wall made of real ice will serve as a backdrop for store merchandise and The Stanley Cup will be on display at certain times. Jennings says, "When you walk into the store, hockey will be brought to life in a way no other retail store has done before as we try to engage our fans in new and innovative ways."

 

Jennings calls the NHL's alliance with Reebok the "cornerstone" of the Rbk EDGE Uniform project, and believes such a partnership enables success. "It demonstrates how well you can innovate when you put the right technology and resources behind an idea," he says.