Kara looking to leave Nike, according to WSJ

sorry distance nerds wrote:

EVERY PENNY TO SPONSOR AN INDIVIDUAL TRACK ATHLETES (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF POSSIBLY USAIN BOLT) IS ABSOLUTE CHARITY.

A BUNCH OF DRUNK AGENTS AND DRUNK SHOE REPS PRETENDING THEY'RE PART OF AN ACTUAL BUSINESS WHEN FOR THE MOST PART, IT IS A BUNCH OF EX RUNNERS WHO ARE ALL FRIENDS WITH EACH ANOTHER.

Said the drunk caps lock abuser.

I wonder if research supports this? I.E. How do most people select their running shoes? By what a friend is wearing and recommends? By seeing what's on more people's feet? By what the kid at the running shoe store hocks? (Although at many major sporting goods stores now it is help yourself style.)

I seem to remember reading once that women are notably un-loyal in their allegiance to a brand, and more willing to try on several shoes for the look, or the feel, and also have several brands.

And of course we've all see the person with an adidas shirt, nike shoes, and puma socks.

Don't get me wrong, look, feel and fashion are important. But current trends are always influenced by the highest regarded in their field. Also certainly in sport there is "association with the best". If you look at the fashion industry most new trends are not modelled by the top models but by no names who

Nike signed up the Tiger Woods, Serena Williams to improve the brand association, not to sell golf equipment. Nike sign up runners with significant careers not because people will know their name, but so people in the know in that sport can see what the elites are doing and add credibility, brand image saturation and elite association. Shops, fans and will tend to recommend what the top athletes are wearing, people tend to shop for an image they have seen in a positive light and that has a wider know-on effect to the wider fashion of the sport. It's less direct than the Tiger Woods effect on the brand but it is important for sales of specific brands of shoes.

It's a similar reason why Nike swamped their athletes with fairly uniform neon colour shoes in the last Olympics. People take notice and copy.

A good explanation of how it works is done by Michael Johnson in this link on how kinesio tape became so widely used after 2008 when no-name athletes in the game started using it at the Olympics:

Sadly the video missed the funny moment Jonathan Edwards referring to Paula Radcliffe's technical explanation of how it works says something like "why don't athletes just pinch their bum hole like we used to to get going? I assume you two did it as well?"

I'm happy for track athletes that can get endorsement contracts and especially those that land lucrative endorsement deals. But with the exception of a few athletes I'm amazed that shoe companies think these endorsement deals represent value for money(i.e the sponsored athlete is likely to influence the purchasing decisions of john and jane public). If I were head of a shoe company here are the athletes I'd line up to pay big money for (500K or more):

Usain Bolt

Mo Farah

Jessica Ennis Hill

Blanka Vlasic

Yelena Isinbayeva

Note there is not one US athlete on the list. Kara Goucher, Galen Rupp - you've got to be kidding me - whose purchasing decisions are these athletes likely to influence? On the sprint side there is one, maybe two athletes I'd look at, but now that I think about it I can't even recall which shoe company they're associated with.

It's the hobbyists and soccer moms who buy all of the shoes, apparel, etc. They aren't watching track and field nor will they let a high jumper or pole vaulter from Europe influence their purchases. Women relate to Goucher, so they are probably more influenced by her. People listed to who they feel connected with and who relates to them.

Come on Dude wrote:

It's the hobbyists and soccer moms who buy all of the shoes, apparel, etc. They aren't watching track and field nor will they let a high jumper or pole vaulter from Europe influence their purchases. Women relate to Goucher, so they are probably more influenced by her. People listed to who they feel connected with and who relates to them.

If they aren't watching track and field their unlikely to know who Goucher is since Goucher barely registers outside of distance running circles. For instance I have several friends who follow the sprint side of the sport who I'm sure have no idea who Goucher is. I mentioned Vlasic and Isinbayeva because they are field event specialists who have some recognition outside of their event and have some global recognition.

TrackMuse wrote:

Kara Goucher, Galen Rupp - you've got to be kidding me - whose purchasing decisions are these athletes likely to influence?

I am taking a leap of faith that you aren't simply trolling.

As I said earlier, I coach/mentor/advise a lot of women in the 25-35 age group who are very enthusiastic distance runners. Many of them are thrilled to qualify for Boston, while others simply pursue their own PR. All of them know who Kara Goucher is, and most of them take notice of what she wears: shoe brands, clothing type, kinesio tape, compression socks, etc. Honestly, if you don't think that this demographic has a lot of purchasing power, you are definitely out-of-touch.

To add to the above- 56% of US road racers are WOMEN (15.5 million road racers), and YES, they are paying attention to Kara Goucher and other elite females.

http://www.runningusa.org/state-of-sport-2013-part-III?returnTo=annual-reports

Come on Dude wrote:

It's the hobbyists and soccer moms who buy all of the shoes, apparel, etc. They aren't watching track and field nor will they let a high jumper or pole vaulter from Europe influence their purchases. Women relate to Goucher, so they are probably more influenced by her. People listed to who they feel connected with and who relates to them.

Being an "insider" let me explain a key fact to you - it is about VISIBILITY, not name-recognition.

Hobbyjoggers don't see a recognizable person on the front-row of a RockNRoll event - they see a BRAND.

Why do you think so many sub-elites desperately petitioning to get into the 1st corral get free shoes & apparel?

"it is about VISIBILITY, not name-recognition."

Exactly right. Say what you want about their performances, but the G's are media savvy. Look how a non-story about her contract maybe ending made a main stream news source! They have an uncanny ability to stay in the news, not that there's anything wrong with that.

media savvy runners wrote:

"it is about VISIBILITY, not name-recognition."

Now that summarises exactly what I have been saying as to why sponsoring elite runners is worth while for shoe companies even if they will never be massive names :)