Rider attempts to return, hitching a ride with Melissa

Grendene, one of the leading companies of the country's footwear, is using the success of Melissa in the fashion world for trying to revive a brand that was very successful in the 1990 – the Rider, in sandals and slippers – but ended up not resisting the dominance of Havaianas , Alpargatas, which has become a global reference in the segment. The process of resumption of Rider began about two years ago, but culminates with a collection designed in conjunction with Melissa. With the return of the rubber models that have the brand in the past to the walkways, the idea is to give a new life to the Rider. Director of brand and communication of Grendene, Marcius Dal Bó, admits it will be difficult to regain volume power Rider of yesteryear, but sees room for growth. Partnerships as performed with Melissa try to include the Rider in the niche market, and not in the volume which reached two decades ago when his campaigns were captained by advertising executive Washington Olivetto. Among the brand's commercial featured the who used the music of Brazil Pandeiro, Novos Baianos. The gradual fall of Rider's sales took place by the disinterest in the model to which it is associated-what did the Grendene launch brand strips sandals, for a few years – by strengthening the Havaianas and also by some management mistakes, as you admit the brand Executive . Dal Bó explains that in addition to launching the Rider strips Sandals also created conservative design products, with colors such as beige and Brown, who had no relationship with your younger appeal. In a redefinition of portfolio, the Rider will reposition price (with Melissa sandals will be sold over R $100), style (which bet on) and try to fight with other companies that sell products in the same category (such as the Sports Giants Nike and Adidas). Despite these changes, the Rider still has a discreet presence in the Trade sales as a whole, the State found. Today, the main brands of footwear giant – had profit of R $68.5 million in the second quarter of 2018, down 28.4% as compared to the same period last year – are, in order, Melissa, Ipanema and Rider. The portfolio more conservative design that was incorporated into the Rider was passed on to a fourth line, Carthage. Challenge. For the consultant Luciano Cerveira, specializing in the industry of shoes, Grendene is able to rejuvenate the Rider – though hardly do resume the volume I've ever had and hit head-on with Flip-flops. In addition, he points out that the timing is bad for the footwear market, especially for brands that depend on the shoe store. One of the challenges, he says, is the search for new spaces, such as distribution channels and department stores.