by Larry Eder
This is my daily chat with #RunBlogRun viewers and track fans on all things track & field!
This is my daily chat with #RunBlogRun viewers and track fans on all things track & field!
This is #coffeewithLarry for Wednesday, April 3, 2024!
Coffee with Larry is sponsored by JAMBAR, the Original Organic Artisan Sports Energy Bar founded in 2021 by Jenny Maxwell. You can find JAMBAR at www.jambar. Chock full of organic ingredients, made in small batches in Northern California, with 34 grams of carbs and 10 grams of protein, sweetened with maple syrup, JAMBAR should be your sports energy bar.
Please use code LARRY15 for a 15 % discount for coaches, athletes, and fans! Please support the brands that support our sport. Please go to www.jambar.com , #jambar, #partner, #CoffeewithLarry, #sportsenergybars, #organicartsansportsenergybars,
Our topics:
1. The Boston Marathon is just 12 days away, April 15, 2024, www.bostonmarathon.com.
2. This is the first year of Bank of America sponsorship, which replaced long-time sponsor John Hancock, who began in 1986 and ended in 2023.
3. The NYC Marathon has 165,000 applications for this year, so that tells you about the sport’s health.
New York, New York, USA
November 5, 2023, photo by Kevin Morris
4. Brands like HOKA, ON Running, and Brooks continue to thrive in an environment where many brands are treading water.
5. adidas continues to build momentum with new products and the move from the Kanye West era to other collaborators.
6. NIKE is hiring 35-40 new EKINS (Nike running reps), as the media questions the existence of current CEO John Donahue.
7. NIKE is building relationships with DSW, FootLocker and running retail after walking slowly away. Another brand should be wetting their pants.
8. Under Armour is now under the Kevin Plank watch again. The Media loves to kick his butt; the truth is, his management team did what they were told to do, and the consumer has lost confidence in their footwear. A complete revamp, where management listens to footwear professionals, would be in order.
9. Saucony has excellent shoes, but Wolverine Worldwide, the holding company that almost killed Brooks in the 1980s-1990s, may just do that with Saucony. Most of their marketing team, many of whom would not know how to return a phone call if given a class on it, have left. The key players, the footwear designers, are making great products, but with NO marketing and Wolverine mismanagement, good luck.
10. ASICS has a great product but no team in the US who knows the market and can respond to retail needs. Japanese management decimated ASICS in the US about a decade ago and gave the business away. Consumers love the shoes, or they would be dead in the water.
11. PUMA has a pretty good product but does not seem to know who their audience is and how to build interest in media. The recent Olympic launch of Jamaican uniforms, which they have done before to great success, was a snorer as content creators, collecting more pairs of PUMAs were invited, and 2 of the 55 content creators we follow actually had any traction. I hate it when that happens.
12. Consider this: from 2006 to 2012, PUMA organized global events with key media, actual media that had outlets and could communicate in complete sentences. At the time, PUMA products sucked, but PUMA built relationships, and it paid off. This time around, not sure anyone there knows what they have: a wonderful brand with a great history that needs to get out to the consumer, telling stories and building interest. PUMA seems to have forgotten that completely. The problem is with brands that forget their focus (selling shoes) is that the promo money runs out, and no one even picks up the phone then. PUMA needs to remember who their long-term supporters and media were; anyone will take a pair of shoes or a trip to Jamaica. Nobody could put the story in front of several million readers who purchase running shoes.
See you tomorrow at Coffee with Larry.
