Kara Goucher to Oiselle?

Bocabaton wrote:

AND would it hurt or help Fleshman's brand to have a better known and more accomplished athlete at Oiselle?

Lauren Fleshman + Kara Goucher = Super Badass Mommy Runner Duo

Oiselle would win over ever casual female runner in the US.

That would be dumb for any footwear company because a large part of the marketing is the clothing the athlete wears. Oiselle would be pulling one over on NB or NIKE etc and they are not that dumb.

Why doesn't someone like NB cut a deal with Oiselle to make a line of NB Oiselle shoes designed by women for women? This is assuming Oiselle has no interest in creating their own line of women's shoes. I just think having a reputable shoe brand would give consumers a belief that the shoes are quality. In this case it seems like a win-win. NB gains Oiselle fans who didn't already run in NB shoes and Oiselle is able to capture a part of their customers' whole running ensemble so to speak.

From the Twitter:

https://twitter.com/karagoucher/statuses/430444994944458752

"Thank you to @oiselle and @oiselle_sally for an amazing few days in Seattle. Feeling inspired and empowered. #sisterhero"

NB has a designer line of shoes and apparel with Heidi Klum. They also have a yoga apparel brand, Anue.

http://www.newbalance.com/Heidi-Klum-for-NB/269000,default,sc.html

http://www.newbalance.com/women/collection/Anue-Yoga/264000,default,sc.html

Stiff Kitten wrote:

She ain't cute, ain't hot, is stupid as stone, and is way old.

You're insane or gay (not that there would be anything wrong with that).

She's all American pretty and I love listening to her talk.

Very gracious and genuine.

Obviously loves the sport and is a great family woman- excellent role model.

is oiselle a successful brand? Do they sell a lot of stuff? I haven't made a study of it, but I've never actually noticed a woman wearing the brand.

hard to see how all this endorsement is going to work - i hope it's not a vanity project that will collapse with a lot of abandoned distance runners.

youbet wrote:

Kara is too big for Nike not to have an offer on the table.

What are you smoking? Kara Who? She's NOT too big for them to not have an offer on the table. What has she done in the last 3 plus years of any significance except get older. If she were that good and in demand that much...stay with me now...there wouldn't be a post on this topic as Nike would have already offered her x amount. They didn't and she's a barely even a has been. She's highly overrated, period.

Agreed.

Basically a lot of hype.

She's not making the 2016 team but will milk it for what it's worth, promoting herself beyond belief.

Defines the word opportunist to a T.

Thank you for asking this! I was wondering the same thing.

I've never seen anyone wearing the brand either and I'm the only person I know that has even heard of the brand. I've also never seen it sold (in store) anywhere. I've gone to the website a number of times and have been shocked by how little product there is (and nothing has ever appealed to me at all, let alone enough to fork over $$ for). For the record, I'm a female runner in my early 30's so I think that if I'm not their target audience, I'm pretty damn close.

That's why I asked earlier, can Oiselle afford Kara? I guess I can see that they would be visible to a wider audience which would boost sales (enough to pay for a salary to support Kara's multiple multi-million dollar homes?), but seems risky. Maybe have more of a Fleshman type partnership (isn't Fleshman part-owner now)?

Oiselle apparel is overpriced and uninteresting.

I love what Oiselle is doing.

I do see lots of women wearing their stuff. I also see Oiselle putting a lot back into the distance running community.

They have a large team of ambassadors and I regularly see the Oiselle twitter accounts engaging and promoting those runners. That is not something you see happening with other brand ambassador teams like Brooks and Saucony. They also have built a professional team that may not be a NOP but does have some fast women.

It is a company that supports runners and the running community in what appears to be a very healthy way. I don't know that the company will succeed, but I definitely hope they do.

Kara would be a good fit. Maybe she can't keep a major Nike contract and be on the Oiselle team, but she could piece together multiple sponsors like Meb and Oiselle could be one of her top-tier supporters.

Where do you see people wearing Oiselle? I'm curious. I have never seen a single person wearing anything made by them.

It's odd that they only have dealers in PA, NJ, and NY listed on their site. Is that old info? Seems odd for a group I associate with the PNW to have retailers only in a couple markets in the NE.

Races and group runs.

It is kind of like Lululemon in that it doesn't typically have large logos (other than the occasional bird).

Does Nike still have right of first refusal though?

redux wrote:

It's odd that they only have dealers in PA, NJ, and NY listed on their site. Is that old info? Seems odd for a group I associate with the PNW to have retailers only in a couple markets in the NE.

Those are the dealers close to you (or technically close to the address of your internet service provider's switch that provided your current IP address). Zooming out on the map doesn't seem to reload the dealers.

NJ Possible wrote:

Weary wrote:

Race directors still want her. If she wanted to show at something like the NYC Half, they'd make it worth her while

This is true but not for much longer. That all American girl smile gets lots of woman runners out to races and buying magazines, but it's got maybe another 2 yr shelf life.

Please don't drink in the middle of the day ! Kara nor any female runners get women out to races , I would bet maybe at best only .05% know at given event have heard of her. She will be as good her last race , the woman who wins gains the mantle.

Kara can play out the mommy thing. Oiselle is not a big company and could never meet prior terms of a Nike contract , stipend , bonus structures , travel etc.

Nike does not do shoe only deals as any of the running brands that have apparel lines to sell.