Nike, please stop dressing EVERY runner in a race in the same singlet

two bills wrote:

My point is, if your viewer watches for just 1 minute and moves on, but he notices a field full of runners in Nike gear, the impression is made. That's what marketing is about--standing out from the crowd.

Barakus Obama wrote:

Wrong, the only moment he would actually see what gear they use is when they show each runner before the start. During the race you can't see if its Nike or Asics.

Exactly. Two Bills, I think you have it backward. If a mildly interested sports fan sees 10 east African guys in matching gear running laps, he changes the channel. He doesn't know or care that they were all in Nike or Adidas gear.

If the same guy actually watches to the end of the race to see if Kenya beats Ethiopia, if Canada beats the USA, if yellow jersey holds off gold jersey, maybe he finds out that Nike is behind a maniac like Kemboi and Adidas is behind a beast like Rudisha. But first he needs to watch.

RunWild wrote:

I can say this right now - it will look much better on Nike if every athlete is wearing the same colour shoes than if they are dressed exactly the same. People will not turn off the TV because they can't tell the competitors apart, yet, they will notice that bright neon green or baby blue on 75% of the athletes shoes.

How Nike could sell more stuff wrote:

I agree about Nike putting them all in the same color shoes, like at the Olympics with all of the Volt shoes. Give the athletes distinctive singlet so you can tell them apart, but with the same colored shoes, everyone can still tell they run for Nike - or at least people who care about that sort of thing.

Totally agreed. A pile of matching shoes is actually pretty good marketing because of course everyone decides they need to know about it and want the same thing.

A Duck wrote:

Nike knows there is one marketable runner in the world, and that Puma has him.

Oh, god. It was only a matter of time until A Duck came along and said something stupid.

rollinginthegrass wrote:

This is nothing new. Every year the shoe companies have new kits that they outfit their elite runners with. Why does this bother you?

If you're going to sit at the grownup table please pay attention.

rupp-certified saladbar wrote:

Oh, god. It was only a matter of time until A Duck came along and said something stupid.

And your list of marketable runners includes?

I bet if they offered elites custom singlets for $10, most would do it because it's fun and makes them stand out.

Still distinctive, and everyone would look at and talk about how they like nike's singlets , which obviously transfers to where they will look for singlets and running clothes to buy.

For "brand identity" or such bullshit, they could only offer singlets with a gigantic Nike swoosh on the back. That still allows customization.

Honeysuckle wrote:

For "brand identity" or such bullshit, they could only offer singlets with a gigantic Nike swoosh on the back. That still allows customization.

I think you are on to something with this, put a big swoosh on the uni, but let the athlete customize their own swoosh. national flag designs, club team designs, something like that (Hell, put a big L and R with a small "ets" and "un"). Something to break up the monotony.

30th Avenue homey wrote:

And your list of marketable runners includes?

Symmonds, Farah, Felix, Lagat, Willis, Leer. Just off the top of my head

I started disagreeing with that stupid move the first time I saw it. That is one thing LRC is not much good for. If you try to stop something that is obviously stupid you get criticized or ignored. (Mostly just ignored.)

Is there any question which brand has the largest presence in the top echelons of our sport, when watching a train of them at the front of these DL races? No. It’s NIKE, full stop.

That’s all they want, and it works. Nike owns the sport. Do you think they’re just trying to sell spikes on national TV? The goal is to have folks that casually choose to watch track instead of another college football blowout remember that NIKE is what serious runners wear. It’s the same approach that they’ve taken to college sports ever since they sponsored the University of Miami back in the 80’s. Unfortunately, the approach has been successful for decades, whether us running nerds like it or not.

who was Flojo's sponsor in 1988?

Yeah as I was watching Pre on TV yesterday in one race I thought most of the africans were from Ethiopia cuz they had colors like the Ethiopian flag and all had the same singlet with those colors but then when they showed the list of athletes with their times at the end it was only like a couple ethiopians and I was like wth how are you supposed to tell the difference on tv when you don't know exactly what the individuals look like?!

I have no idea what brand they were wearing cuz I don't pay attention to that. I pay attention to colors to try to figure out nation and to try to differentiate between competitors but with everyone wearing the same singlet I can't do any of that, and brand tells me nothing nor do I even notice it. They should at very least have singlets with their nations colors on them, not just the exact same singlet.

It is confusing to the casual viewer,I think they should have different uniforms,or at least colors based on each country, they can have nike or ? Printed on the outfit somewhere! But im watching the Pre classic today and pretty much the whole field in the womens 1500m, have the same green and yellow uniform! This is allowed and benefits the sponsors and them only! Yes they need to get the brand recognition, but its too much!! I think Its wrong, you should at least be able to tell wat country is being represented by the uniform and its colors,just like the olympics....u can easily tell what country is being represented by their uniform and colors. All these athletes do not hail from the country of "Nike"! Just my humble opinion.

Run nude!

Other than carbon plate shoes that left every other shoe company in the dust?

agreed. Its silly to see almost every runner in the field with the exact same kit. USATF restricts the logo size way too much so they are part to blame. Perhaps if the logo was larger Nike wouldn't be so dependent on colors for branding.

Having the different Nike camps in their own Nike kits would also give the announcers some talking points and build some interesting narratives and inter-squad rivaleries. Help spark viewer interest.

We just saw an incredible race. A 16 year American record taken down. Was Alan Webb mentioned once? (Nike athlete his entire career. If so, I missed it. How about Nuguse's coach Dathan. Another Nike athlete whos own career was intertwined with Webb's. What a great story line totally thrown away.

Begs the question though. Was that missed opportunity just crappy commentary, or was it personal?

I understand that it may seem boring, but is a classic approach to branding. It certainly was good advertising for Nike at the WC distance races when a majority of runners seemed to be wearing hot pink VF3s.

Webb was mentioned a few times in the telecast. But I find your stress on the Nike connection to Webb and Dathan strange. It was an NBC telecast, not a Nike telecast so the Nike connections shouldn't be expected to be part of the story. That is especially true with the guy gunning for Webb's record isn't even a Nike athlete.