Proudly Filipino

In the last few years, athletic footwear has become the ultimate status symbol for aspiring athletes. In fact, basketball shoes have become so high-priced that many students and working people feel it is a waste of money to just wear them on the court, and even wear the shoes to parties.

"What’s happened over the last few years is that a wide gap has grown between the big players in the industry and the low-end local athletic shoe manufacturers," explains Philip Go, chairman of Sporteum, the new player in the sportswear market. "During the time of Rubberworld Philippines, that middle section of the market was filled by brand like Kaypee and Grosby. But, since then, there has been a vacuum. And that is a very big market."

I recall that Crispa import Billy Ray Bates was so enamored of Grosby shoes that Rubberworld had to create new, outrageously colored models just for him. Way before Michael Jordan wore black and red, Bates was sporting Philippine-made basketball sneakers in black, red, green, gray, yellow and other eye-catching combinations. This continued well into his days with crowd darling Ginebra to the early 1990’s.

Go was connected with Rubberworld for sixteen years, until Adidas headquarters in Germany decided to put up its own office in the Philippines. Go was the natural choice to run operations here. As a matter of fact, the Philippines was probably the only country in which a foreigner was not needed as country manager of Adidas.

The brand with the three stripes went on to great success here, especially with the ascendance of Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant. But, despite all of that, Philip dreamt of having another brand to fill in an important segment of the market.

"The big brands like Nike and Adidas have become such premium items that people now use them as pamporma," he adds. "Sometimes, the shoes cost so much that you don’t even want to use them to play. So real players are now looking for shoes that we call pangharabas."

When he left Adidas in January of 2001, Go was still dreaming of his new brand. He was able to acquire the rights to distribute, design and even manufacture Brooks sports shoes, an American brand made popular by tennis sensation Jimmy Connors in the 1980’s. Inevitably, he came upon Accel, a new international brand of sports shoe manufactured in the same places abroad that the major brands are. Accel, spawned from the word accelerate, now sponsors the FedEx Express in the PBA.

"We can now proudly say that a high-quality international brand is available to cater to the needs of the mid-range market," he declares. "If you look at our shoes, you’ll see the quality and the materials are the same as other brands, at a much more affordable price."

Traditionally, local or international brands in many industries that are run from within the Philippines are eventually forced out or bought out by their multinational competitors. Some just find a safe little niche and stay there. But none of them manufacture footwear or actively seek their share of the market. Accel does.

The proof of the pudding, as the cliché goes, is in the eating. Actor Mandy Ochoa, who has been a tennis player all his life, initially refused to wear Accel’s tennis shoes. Now, Accel is the sponsor of Ochoa’s Rock ‘N Roll tennis events, which involve national players like Adelo Abadia and Joseph Victorino and actors Zoren and Kier Legaspi and Miguel Vera playing against varsity teams. Abadia has even worn Accel in Davis Cup qualifiers.

"Of course, my orientation was always the name brands," Ochoa admits sheepishly. "So I was afraid to try something different. But when I tried the Accel tennis shoes, I even got two: one to play in, and one to wear when going out. Besides, I’m proud that a Filipino brand is now this competitive with multinational brands."

A look at the history of industry leaders like Nike shows that they built their brand strength on characterizing themselves as the rebels against the institution. Young people seeking their own identity didn’t want to buy the sneakers their parents were wearing. Today, that same position in the market is more open, since Nike and its competitors have become so strong that they are now the big players, and have cornered the top section of the market.

On the other hand, a visit to the Sporteum showroom in Pasig reveals a blossoming of various models and colors, at one-third to one-fourth the cost of foreign brands.

"Filipinos are very creative, Go says proudly. "Our designers are young people who know the pulse of the market, and the reaction has been very good. And our quality control in our factories abroad is excellent. Now we can show the world that Filipinos can be leaders and make a difference in the sportswear and footwear industries. And it doesn’t have to be so expensive."