Rollerblade - Brand Insight

TO INSPIRE - conveys all the ways we motivate people to skate: messaging that excites or surprises or gets people to think about the sport — and the brand — in a new light.

PEOPLE - is, intentionally, a broad, inclusive term. It encompasses anyone who is skating now or should be. Our audience is as large as the sport.

TO MOVE FREELY - reinforces the graceful, flowing uniqueness of skating. It signals the deeply satisfying and personal feeling of moving under your own power, on your own time, in your own style.

ON WHEELS - literally grounds the motion in skating and specifies our core work.

Imagine what the world would look like if Rollerblade were successful in executing its mission — a world changed through healthier people, stronger communities, less congestion, less pollution, more joy, deeper interaction with human, physical life. Not a small vision.

These principles are the pillars of the Rollerblade mission. They are filters through which we decide and defend all brand and product decisions. Our brand principles drive everything we do and everything we make

In 1980, two hockey-playing Minnesota brothers discovered an in-line skate while rummaging through a sporting goods store and decided that this design would make an ideal off-season hockey-training tool.

They refined the skate and began assembling the first Rollerblade¨ skates in the basement of their parents' Minneapolis home. It was that same year, when they founded the company that would become Rollerblade¨. Hockey players were soon turning heads as they glided down Minnesota roads in the summer. Nordic and Alpine skiers were also quick to adapt Rollerblade skates to their training regimens. Business grew during the early 80's, but the in-line skate market was undeveloped and limited geographically.

Strategic marketing efforts were introduced in the mid-80's to position in-line skating as a new sport, and grass roots marketing tactics were employed in Miami Beach, FL, Minneapolis, MN, and Venice Beach, CA. Through the middle 80's to late 80's, direct sales were eliminated as Rollerblade sought distribution through sporting goods retailers.

As the 80's came to a close, Rollerblade expanded the market further through in-line skating events, competitions, and other activities specific to the sport; including the new trend of aggressive skating. In addition, traditional marketing tactics and an aggressive public relations plan catapulted skating into the mainstream.

In 1991 Nordica, a member of the Benetton Group, purchased a 50% stake in the company. Cross-promotions with major consumer product companies gave credibility to the market and publicity for the sport was at an all-time high as popularity soared and participation grew faster than any sport in history.

The 90's were filled with further expansion of the market and industry, which was spurred by great strides in skate technology. Lighter, stronger materials, lower pricing, and technologies such as our revolutionary ABT¨ brake, continued making skating more accessible to people of all ages, and athletic ability.