Rhetorical Analysis Essays - Social Networking Services,

Dr.Cottrill ENG-101 14 February 2015 Rhetorical Analysis VANS is a company or establishment that was created to be unique and appeal to a different crowd of people from the start. On March 16th, 1966, at street 704E Broadway, in Anaheim, California, Paul Van Doren and three partners opened up their first ever store and the Vans dream was born. The Van Doren Rubber Company was unique in that it manufactures shoes and sells them directly to the public. According to The Vans Story, par.1. Now of course they havent always been as hot as they are now. No shoe company was hot in 1960s-80s. However, in the 90s brands start becoming relevant and people start judging you more on what you wear. People wanted to wear the same thing as Tupac or The Beastie Boys just because, they were famous. So, this forced VANS Company to learn how to compete with the most popular and original shoe brands. Shoe brands such as Nike, Adidas, Jordan, and even Converse. The only way an upcoming brand who is still establishing their identity such as VANS, can compete wit h these already extremely successful companies is by pro advertising. When I use the term Pro Advertising I mean showing off what your brand has to offer through some big name people or important social Medias. For example, Rapper Lil Wayne, is not only sponsored by VANS, but gets paid to advertise their shoes. This was smart on their part because, he has been hot for over a decade and appeals to the abstract minded teenager/young adult crowd. Another example would be the talented Chris Brown who wears vans at majority of the big time award shows he is invited to. Who better to advertise for an already odd company in VANS than one of the most different entertainers in the game. By VANS getting these to oddballs to advertise for them, they are saying we are not your average shoe and Apparel Company. Who cares what others think. Be yourself. However, most Sneaker Heads will probably be one-minded and say VANS is taking the approach of targeting a broad audience of skaters. Which is true. Hence the slogan Off the Wall. They also started off only selling s kater apparel and skateboard-gripping shoes. Their secondary audience is where they get their money from though. VANS goes after a different crowd of people. If you go look at their commenters on Instagram and Twitter you will see a strange group of followers. Which leads me to think it takes a certain crowd of people to consistently buy and wear VANS. A crowd of people that want to be questioned for their style and choice of fashion, but then congratulated for their innovation. People who didnt want to be seen with the same shoes as someone else in the building. People who are against paying more for a small amount of options to choose from. The point Im trying to make is VANS Company has found a way to successfully advertise and stay in competition with Top name brands with some serious help from the social network Twitter. When social Medias became popular in the 21st Century, VANS took off even more. Most brand name shoe companies chose a social networking site like Instagram or Facebook, which would show off their shoes and apparel more than directly relating to and asking their audience for ideas on their next product. However, VANS picked a social media that accomplishes both. This led to them starting their twitter account in 2008, according to their twitter account bio. Now of course they have an Instagram and Facebook, but those are strictly for showing products. On Twitter they upload events and giveaways they having coming up. I went to go search for the VANS Official twitter page and seen multiple pictures of people skiing, snowboarding, hiking, and cycling in the beautiful outdoors with VANS gear on. It made me think if I bought this stuff maybe I would be able to go explore and do all these fun things. Theyre showing that you should buy VANS sports gear and shoes because, they are reliable and durable enough to endure all of these adrenaline rushed or physical activities you