This is a blessing in disguise for her. Now she gets the freedom to run in an actual super shoe and destroy her PRs like Rory Linkletter and Scott Fauble (well, HM anyways) did.
LOL. She was super critical (and yet honest) at New York last year about "finally having a legitimate super shoe" or something like that. After those comments, I'm not suprised Hoka is moving on.
Honestly Hoka needs to revamp their roster of sponsored athletes. They are all in their mid to late 30ies and all decent but not great runners. Hoka is quickly being overtaken by other brands and looks like a "has been" that was all the rage in the early 2010s and is now far behind.
Seriously how many of you race in Hokas? Or even just run in them daily? I barely see any Hoka shoes in fellow runners these days. But I am not in the US that might also be a factor. Revamping who they sponsor to give the brand a fresher younger look is the only way. Kellyn might be bitter about it but Hoka has nothing to going from keeping her on the roster. And she is barely active on IG just rarely posting about her unruly toddlers.
Do you think the board room of the Deckers corporation cares how any of their sponsored athletes do? Maybe a tiny bit. What they predominantly care about is how many shoes they're selling and what the margin on those shoes is. Hoka is just another name on their roster, along with Ugg and Teva. Race flats are a tiny part of the market, barely a blip on Deckers' bottom line.
Where I'm at, which is a pretty active area, Hoka is by far the most worn running shoes. On a bigger stage, on the race side, this year's Hawaii Ironman, 4 of the top 20 men were wearing Hoka Rocket X2's.
The school I used to coach at... I remember when I started wearing Hoka's, nobody on our XC teams wanted to wear them. Now, at least 1/3 of the team is in them, not racing but for their daily mileage. That's what Hoka wants, because those athletes might buy 1 or 2 pairs of spikes during college, but they're going to buy easily 10-15 pairs of trainers.
Honestly Hoka needs to revamp their roster of sponsored athletes. They are all in their mid to late 30ies and all decent but not great runners.
Will probably continue their strategy of just bringing in Kenyans (+Wildschutt) that come through NCAA. They seem like the only NAZ athletes I see having success.
I don't know anything about her really but to your point she only has 25k instragram followers.
A really rough rule of thumb is promoted posts on Instagram cost 100$ per 10,000 followers.
From a purely marketing perspective- they are paying her 100k+ and getting the social media reach equivalent of 250$*however much she posts. Not a great deal.
Its a good perspective to keep in mind when thinking about contracts and why some athletes are pushing socials/videos/podcasts/etc. so hard
Unless you're in the top handfull of runners winning majors, it's shame that to be a successful female runner that you have to be a model first and a runner second. Sucks, but that's the way it is and I don't see it ever changing.
Not always. Des has built a massive brand on social media.
kellyn taylor just posted a cryptic instgram story with no context about companies failing to support their employees when they hit a certain age - something about being "cast aside without a single word from those in charge"... is this about her or somebody else at NAZ elite??
LOL!!! That's life, Kellyn Taylor! Get used to it. It happens everywhere. Like the great Ric Flair has said, "Whether you like or not, learn to love it!! WOW!!!"
Hoka is focusing their efforts on trail running , said championships and their trail team which is highly competitive at global events. Walmsley and other Hoka trail runners bring far more visibility to the brand. Their trail team is competitive on the global stage.
kellyn taylor just posted a cryptic instgram story with no context about companies failing to support their employees when they hit a certain age - something about being "cast aside without a single word from those in charge"... is this about her or somebody else at NAZ elite??
LOL!!! That's life, Kellyn Taylor! Get used to it. It happens everywhere. Like the great Ric Flair has said, "Whether you like or not, learn to love it!! WOW!!!"
No, they don't. Other than a couple of supernovas (Walmsley), they ignore the trail/ultra scene. Courtney MF Olsen just set a world record in the 50-mile, and they never said anything. They don't care about their roster. A company that consistently undervalues great athletes and has no loyalty. It's been this way for several years.
I don't have a link but she just posted this on her Instagram story.
It reads: "Toxic culture: A toxic work culture is a workplace environment that's characterized by negativity, dysfunction, and a lack of trust. It can be harmful to employees and the company as a whole. To that...saving for future reference."
wow, talk about shots fired.
I hope Ben Rosario isn't her Secret Santa at this years NAZ Elite Christmas Party.
I wonder if she realizes her negative comments about NAZ Elite management trickles down to her teammates. if she has a problem, make it specific or confront them in person, not online. it makes her look like a petulant child.
Will probably continue their strategy of just bringing in Kenyans (+Wildschutt) that come through NCAA. They seem like the only NAZ athletes I see having success.
yeah but Futsum Z. and Wesley K. and Mercy C. are all going to have 0 social media reach which many on this thread are saying is the top priority for their usefulness to Hoka since their performances are not yet super amazing either. solid. but nothing special enough to drive shoe sales...
NAZ Elite is literally the worst team in the sense of marking. They have no it factor and a compete overall is needed. If you want to do something to not be appealing NAZ Elite has done that. Maybe Hoka is getting smart and starting over
NAZ Elite is literally the worst team in the sense of marking. They have no it factor and a compete overall is needed. If you want to do something to not be appealing NAZ Elite has done that. Maybe Hoka is getting smart and starting over
listened to Kellyn on the "I'll Have Another" podcast recently, she said Hoka basically ghosted her after they dropped her and the only time they ever reached out was when they threatened to sue her for talking about how disrespectful of a company they were. ouch.
listened to Kellyn on the "I'll Have Another" podcast recently, she said Hoka basically ghosted her after they dropped her and the only time they ever reached out was when they threatened to sue her for talking about how disrespectful of a company they were. ouch.
The sponsorship model essentially means you’re a billboard for the company.
Does anybody believe that HOKA has sold significantly more shoes because of her presence?
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