Skechers is back in the good graces of US women and running ahead of its competitors.
After a series of spring 2012 lawsuits alleging serious injuries caused by Skechers’ Shape-Up toning shoes, which saw female perception drop nearly by half, the Manhattan Beach apparel company is now back atop its rivals.
Before the suits were filed and eventually escalated to class-action, Skechers’ impression levels among women were solidly ahead of an average of its rivals, including Nike, Adidas, Reebok, and Puma. After the two-month long perception drop in mid-2012, the brand began a slow recovery to parity with its competitive set, but still below its pre-lawsuit Impression levels.
It was not until mid-April of this year when Skechers and the Federal Trade Commission reached a $40 million settlement on the fraud class-action suit that the company began its ascent back to pre-crisis levels, and back ahead of its rivals.
Skechers and its rival sneaker sector were measured with YouGov BrandIndex’s Impression score, which asks respondents: "Do you have a generally positive or negative feeling about the brand?" Results were screened for women 18+.
Pre-crisis in mid-April 2012, Skechers had an Impression score with women of 43, while its rivals’ sector had a 38 score. Skechers dropped to 24 by June 8th while its competitors averaged at 34.
Around mid-April of this year, when the FTC announced the lawsuit settlement, Skechers had a 30 Impression score that went up a full 10 points to 40 one month later. The rivals sector average score was 35 at the time of Skechers' comeback.
Impression: Skechers, Sneakers Sector
