Mommy Runner wrote:
BTW , Desi has the fastest two times by any american woman at Boston in its history.
Last time I checked 2:22:02 (Flanagan 2014) is faster than 2:23:54 (Linden 2014) or 2:22:38 (Davila 2011).
Mommy Runner wrote:
BTW , Desi has the fastest two times by any american woman at Boston in its history.
Last time I checked 2:22:02 (Flanagan 2014) is faster than 2:23:54 (Linden 2014) or 2:22:38 (Davila 2011).
ESPN watcher wrote:
Per the Runner's World article, Skechers wanted to announce the deal right after Meb won, but the final details had not been worked out. The endorsement was announced two weeks later because they needed to iron out the full contract. The rumor mill keeps churning and churning...
I can't believe Skechers didn't want this timing. Ride the Meb euphoria wave and enjoy the publicity, 2 weeks later when it's ebbing out launch this news, seems well thought out timing to me.
I always saw them as a good fit. Meb gave the shoes athletic credibility and Kara is very marketable.
smartest response yet..
ESPN watcher wrote:
Phrases like "mediocre talent" and runner with no potential, used to describe Ms. Goucher make me laugh. A bronze medal in the 10,000 meters at the 2007 World Championships and two time Olympian is not mediocre. She may be on the down slide of her career and she may not have won as much as her statements indicated she wanted to/thought she could, but facts are facts. She has had a good running career and she is cashing in as much as she can. She would be a fool not to. She had the longest line at the Boston Marathon expo on of people waiting to meet her, the day before the race. Some folks here can't stand her (perhaps rightfully so) but the majority of people in the running community do like her and many will wait to meet her and gladly buy whatever product she endorses. She is very marketable. I never met her and I don't judge people based on interviews alone because they can be edited and quotes taken out of context. She could be a great person or a selfish bit*ch. I don't know nor do I care. Signing her will help Skechers as much as Meb has even if she never wins a major marathon. It is all business and likely a good move for her and Skechers.
Dave_3307 wrote:
Mommy Runner wrote:BTW , Desi has the fastest two times by any american woman at Boston in its history.
Last time I checked 2:22:02 (Flanagan 2014) is faster than 2:23:54 (Linden 2014) or 2:22:38 (Davila 2011).
The quote was fastest two times. Flanagan has only run it once.
Joanie : 2:22:43 , 2:26:12
Desi: 2:22:28 , 2:23:54
I think some may be misinterpreting her statement about Meb's win. It wasn't that she jumped on board with Skechers because the shoes helped him win- it's more that Meb put the company in the spotlight in a whole new way with his win. The company is on the rise, and that's a good thing for her to be a part of.
As far as not wanting to overshadow Meb, she probably just didn't want to look as if she were trying to elbow her way into the spotlight with her sponsorship news immediately following Meb's win.
It baffles me that anyone would consider Kara marketable. She has virtually nothing in common with hobby jogging mommies. She is not young and isn't attractive. She is not witty and seems to have below average intelligence. And those eyes are particularly vacant and flat. How many thousands of extra pairs of shoes does Skechers need to sell just to cover her sponsorship? I guarantee that this is a money losing deal for Skechers.
On the other hand, they might possibly make a little bit of money off of Meb. The commercials must cost a fortune, but maybe there is a return there. They're not putting Kara in a commercial.
Chris Moore wrote:
It baffles me that anyone would consider Kara marketable. She has virtually nothing in common with hobby jogging mommies. She is not young and isn't attractive. She is not witty and seems to have below average intelligence. And those eyes are particularly vacant and flat. How many thousands of extra pairs of shoes does Skechers need to sell just to cover her sponsorship? I guarantee that this is a money losing deal for Skechers.
On the other hand, they might possibly make a little bit of money off of Meb. The commercials must cost a fortune, but maybe there is a return there. They're not putting Kara in a commercial.
Let me guess you are a 20-something dude who probably describes himself as "sub-elite". Kara is marketable given her many features in running world and endorsements. I (unlike you) actually know a lot of women runners and most of them really like Kara.
Whether she is attractive and young is a beside point.. they aren't looking to attract shallow dudes. The biggest knock against Kara is that she is extremely vanilla but that never stopped corporate America.
How much does the average running dude have in common with meb anyway (less than Kara)
Chris Moore wrote:
It baffles me that anyone would consider Kara marketable. She has virtually nothing in common with hobby jogging mommies. She is not young and isn't attractive. She is not witty and seems to have below average intelligence. And those eyes are particularly vacant and flat. How many thousands of extra pairs of shoes does Skechers need to sell just to cover her sponsorship? I guarantee that this is a money losing deal for Skechers.
On the other hand, they might possibly make a little bit of money off of Meb. The commercials must cost a fortune, but maybe there is a return there. They're not putting Kara in a commercial.
Yeah. It's not as if she is a stay at home mom; isn't adam the "mommy"? She can't compete in looks with Sharapova or even Venus Williams. I've never heard her say anything slightly interesting. She doesn't win races, so they can't exploit her accomplishments like they do with Meb.
I know a lot of "runner" women. None of them have stay at home house husbands. Most of them wear jogging skirts and Lulu Lemon. We live less than an hour from Goucher's house, and I'll bet a whopping amount of money that less than 10% of these gals have an inkling who Goucher is. They care a lot more about what color a shoe is than what a sponsored athlete wears.
Fried is fattening wrote:
I know a lot of "runner" women. None of them have stay at home house husbands. Most of them wear jogging skirts and Lulu Lemon. We live less than an hour from Goucher's house, and I'll bet a whopping amount of money that less than 10% of these gals have an inkling who Goucher is. They care a lot more about what color a shoe is than what a sponsored athlete wears.
Then is would appear they picked the right woman...
" She has already offered her input to company designers, from suggestions on the shoe’s firmness to its color. The first pair she tested was black. “I am not a huge fan of black,” she said. “They were like, ‘What do you like?’ Well, I like pink. So the next shoe they sent me was pink. So to have that kind of input is pretty fun.”"
http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/kara-goucher-signs-with-skechersMarketing genus wrote:
Then is would appear they picked the right woman...
" She has already offered her input to company designers, from suggestions on the shoe’s firmness to its color. The first pair she tested was black. “I am not a huge fan of black,” she said. “They were like, ‘What do you like?’ Well, I like pink. So the next shoe they sent me was pink. So to have that kind of input is pretty fun.”"
http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/kara-goucher-signs-with-skechers
I love it! As if Skechers didn't already make dozens of pink shoes for women. No, they specially made that shoe just for Kara, and the only reason you will be able to buy pink Skechers in the future is because of Kara's input.
Well while it is quite true not all women runners know who Kara is (I do know many who are aware of her) and the comment about her input being for Skechers to make a pink shoe is funny, if you look at the message/comment sections on Runner's World after articles related to her and see the long lines women wait in to meet her at the Marathon Expos (NY, Boston, etc.), as well as Facebook likes, blog following, etc., it does demonstrate she has some popularity and why Skechers would be interested in having her be a sponsored athlete. Osielle thought so as well and even Nike as they reportedly offered to renew her, but maybe with a pay cut, even if her best days are behind her. I am not commenting on her intelligence, looks, or related items (as many of her critics here have), only her marketability based on what I have seen over the years.
Marketing genus wrote:
Fried is fattening wrote:I know a lot of "runner" women. None of them have stay at home house husbands. Most of them wear jogging skirts and Lulu Lemon. We live less than an hour from Goucher's house, and I'll bet a whopping amount of money that less than 10% of these gals have an inkling who Goucher is. They care a lot more about what color a shoe is than what a sponsored athlete wears.
Then is would appear they picked the right woman...
" She has already offered her input to company designers, from suggestions on the shoe’s firmness to its color. The first pair she tested was black. “I am not a huge fan of black,” she said. “They were like, ‘What do you like?’ Well, I like pink. So the next shoe they sent me was pink. So to have that kind of input is pretty fun.”"
http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/kara-goucher-signs-with-skechers
As with any elite runners going advice on footwear , its a nice muse to make them feel better. Kara may have personal likes as any runner may have but by no means any qualification to design , develop or build footwear. I do think they listened to Meb , as the current shoes are faster runner type with the exception of the Ultra. They may have to pull back and maybe look at product for the masses now they have their attention with Mebs win.
dude, really? wrote:
it's not the shoes
Well Meb did credit the switch to Sketcher shoes to keeping him nearly injury free...
Stumble in your shoes wrote:
As with any elite runners going advice on footwear , its a nice muse to make them feel better. Kara may have personal likes as any runner may have but by no means any qualification to design , develop or build footwear. I do think they listened to Meb , as the current shoes are faster runner type with the exception of the Ultra. They may have to pull back and maybe look at product for the masses now they have their attention with Mebs win.
so they don't listen to elites unless they do... great add to the discussion dude.
Why not hire someone with a lot, a whole lot, more name recognition than she has? Some minor celebrity like Ashley Judd or Tara Lipinski? It probably wouldn't cost as much, and the return would be infinitely greater. They seem to be making they type of marketing mistakes that cost CEOs their jobs.
Really, they could have asked 20 random women for free if they preferred pink or black.
Actually they already did a few years back. I think it was Brooke Burke (Dancing with the Stars and modeling fame) or someone along her lines. Besides her they also have Joe Montana. Since they are moving into the running shoe market more and more, they decided to sign a high profile female runner to go along with Meb.
Joe Montana,runner or not, will sell a thousand times as many shoes as Goucher. Skechers is wasting their money.
barber wrote:
Joe Montana,runner or not, will sell a thousand times as many shoes as Goucher. Skechers is wasting their money.
Women are not going to buy shoes because of Joe Montana. LOL. The fact that you think men will buy is just as funny.
You still don't get it wrote:
barber wrote:Joe Montana,runner or not, will sell a thousand times as many shoes as Goucher. Skechers is wasting their money.
Women are not going to buy shoes because of Joe Montana. LOL. The fact that you think men will buy is just as funny.
I guarantee that women are 100 times more likely to know who Joe Montana is and will buy 100 times more shoes because of him than they will because of Goucher.