verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message k swiss type subsidiary industry sportswear founded 1966 ; 50 years ago 1966 headquarters westlake village california united states products athletic shoes parent e land website www.kswiss.com k swiss inc. is an american footwear company based in westlake village california . 1 the company designs develops and markets a range of athletic shoes under the k swiss brand . contents 1 history 2 marketing 3 references 4 external links history edit k swiss was founded in 1966 in los angeles california by the two swiss brothers art and ernie brunner who became interested in tennis after emigrating to the united states . in the 1990s steven nichols boosted k swiss s marketing budget and hired a number of key individuals from large companies such as procter and gamble and began a marketing blitz around the k swiss brand . award winning creative director mindy gale lead her ny based agency team in developing and producing k swiss advertising and publicity campaigns from 1997 through 2008 . the i wear my k swiss multi media campaign ran for five consecutive years targeting young urban consumers in print and on tv . a re branding campaign appealing to a wider contemporary female target featuring anna kournikova rolled out in 2007 . advertising campaigns encouraged users to personalize the trademark stripes under the slogan put your spin on it . the brand includes their color changing k swiss tongue twister in 2003 the stripe shifter and more recently their band em footwear styles . k swiss purchased the majority stake of australian brand royal elastics in 2001 . 2 in 2003 they acquired 100 % ownership in the company . in july 2011 an advertising video was released wherein the fictional character kenny powers was reported to have purchased 51 % of k swiss stock . 3 in january 2013 the company which posted 195 million in losses between 2009 and 2012 4 was sold to korean firm e land world limited for 170 million . 5 the following may e land named a new executive team to oversee the newly formed k swiss inc. including truman kim as chairman and larry remington as president and ceo . 6 marketing edit in september 2014 the company updated its brand identity . keeping the k swiss name it unveiled a new marque . the new identity was created by a recently appointed internal creative team and plays up the company s heritage as an american tennis brand . all aspects of the new brand s design including its 1966 typeface and tennis court colour palette hark back to this identity . 7 the company has been sponsoring events that appeal to their market as well as events which are likely to shape buying attitudes and help generate a positive reaction . one such example is the sponsorship of ireland s first sneaker convention run by dub city sneakz in d n laoghaire which k swiss sponsored . 8 in august 2016 a k swiss commercial featuring park bo gum playing chess game against a player named the great wall was deemed to be insulting to china among chinese social media leading to demand that park should no longer be welcomed in china after choosing to feature in this commercial . 9 in k swiss china s subsequent apology the dance scene was explained to be taken from the drama reply 1988 and had nothing to do with any political situation but some of park bo gum s chinese fans have expressed their dissatisfaction with the company s apology as it takes no responsibility for the damage that park bo gum might have incurred due to the issue . 10 references edit contact us . k swiss . retrieved on january 12 2010 . note m royal elastics . wikinvest . retrieved 14 december 2015 . kenny powers is new k swiss mfceo . youtube . 11 july 2011 . view filing data . sec.gov . korean firm pays 170m to get toehold in u.s. with k swiss pacific coast business times . pacbiztimes.com . k swiss inc. private company information businessweek . businessweek.com . k swiss new brand retains american heritage . transform magazine . 7 october 2014 . ireland s first sneaker convention in partnership with k swiss . air million . 8 august 2015 . humiliating korean k swiss commercial enrages chinese netizens fuels anti korean sentiment k.swiss company apologizes after park bo gum s cf controversy external links edit los angeles portal companies portal media related to k swiss at wikimedia commons official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title k swiss & oldid 736612124 categories companies established in 1966companies based in los angeles county californiasporting goods manufacturers of the united statesathletic shoe brandsshoe companies of the united statessportswear brandscompanies formerly listed on nasdaq1966 establishments in californiahidden categories articles needing additional references from january 2010all articles needing 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