Go Logo! A Handbook to the Art of Global Branding

(RAY)

10-14998 Job:10-14996 Title:RP-Go Logo

10-AC53740 #175 Dtp:221 Page:178

001-208_C53740.indd 178 10/27/09 8:09:15 AM

Text

Go Logo! A Handbook to the Art of Global Branding178

(continued on page 180)

I

started playing tennis at about ten years old and got my first new racket at the end of

six weeks of music camp in Colorado at age twelve. My parents drove from California

to pick me up, and their surprise gift was a brand-new Jack Kramer (racket, that is).

It seemed like all the good players had a Kramer. This was one of the first forms of

branding that affected my life. The Steinway piano was another, in my opinion, the best you

could play. In a famous old ad, created by David Ogilvy early in his career, it was called the

Instrument of the Immortals.

At sixteen, I was put on the “free list” as a favor to my dad. Wilson Sporting Goods, which

made the Jack Kramer racket, had a rep named Hugh Stewart, who gave the best juniors

free rackets, in hopes of promoting the brand. He was a good friend of my dad, and, even

though I didn’t deserve to be on the list, I soon got to that level. It was a big deal, and you

could do this as an amateur.

I attended the University of Southern California on a tennis scholarship. In the 1960s, USC

and UCLA were the top tennis colleges, and it was the goal of the top juniors to play at

one of these schools and maybe win the NCAA tournament. USC had George Toley, the

best coach in college tennis, at the time. He won ten NCAA team championships, and his

players won numerous individual singles and doubles titles.

As an amateur in college, I was able to continue to get rackets from Wilson, and, of course,

the university provided clothes and shoes. Once on the pro tour, it was the goal of the top

players to get clothing, shoe, and racket contracts; you wanted to get all your stuff for free

Some People Think I’m a Shoe

STAN SMITH, Former Professional Tennis Player

and Tennis Events Entrepreneur

Stan Smith is an entrepreneur, author, professional tennis player and coach, and

winner of many titles in a long career. He dominated tennis in the early 1970s,

winning the United States Open in 1971 and Wimbledon in 1972. In his career,

he has won thirty-nine singles titles. He also represented the United States in

the Davis Cup for ten years, helping to win the coveted championship seven

times. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1986. He

is the chairman of Stan Smith Events and Stan Smith Design.

10-14998 Job:10-14996 Title:RP-Go Logo

#175 Dtp:221 Page:178

(RAY)

001-208_14996.indd 178 10/15/09 4:43:16 PM

10-14998 Job:10-14996 Title:RP-Go Logo

#175 Dtp:221 Page:178

10-14998 Job:10-14996 Title:RP-Go Logo

#175 Dtp:221 Page:179

(RAY)

001-208_14996.indd 179 10/15/09 5:29:49 PM

Text

179Twelve Key Determinants to Creating Successful Brands

An example of the wide range of colors

and styles in the Stan Smith line

Some People Think I’m a Shoe

10-14998 Job:10-14996 Title:RP-Go Logo

#175 Dtp:221 Page:178

10-14998 Job:10-14996 Title:RP-Go Logo

#175 Dtp:221 Page:179

(RAY)

001-208_14996.indd 179 10/15/09 4:43:16 PM