 |
|  ATF Newswire: 2007 Boston Marathon & More! By Larry Eder volume 10, number four April 12, 2007 American Track and Field
Boston Updates Boston in the spring, like New York and Chicago in the fall,
are meeting places for the industry. This writer will be
meeting with several of the brands over the weekend and
will keep you up to date on happenings in the sport.
******* The idea is to capture the attention of the consumer.
According to a recent survey conducted for Reebok by GfK
Custom Research, 87% of Americans are put off by the "no
pain, no gain" philosophy that many see permeating the
sport of running. While that may be an outsider opinion, the
idea behind the Reebok campaign is to engage potential
runners and walkers in a dialog: any activity is better than no
activity.
Is science with Reebok on this? Most research done on
running, especially the work done at the Aerobic Institute,
suggests that the most benefits from fitness are in the first
miles and the first part of a fitness activity. Dr. Cooper, who
heads up the famous Aerobic Institute, has
encouraged Americans to increase their daily activity with
the goal of overall better health. Dr. Ernst Van Aaken, a
pioneering women's marathon coach, studied diets and
exercise in post-war Germany, as well as the Taharuma
tribe of Mexico where the members of the tribe were active
in their in their 80s and 90s, running, walking and playing a
game similar to soccer. Researchers from Dr. Ernst Van Aaken and Dr. Cooper, to
coaches such as the late Arthur Lydiard, suggest that most
training be done at a pace where one could hold a
conversation. This allows the activity to be aerobic, which
allows the participant to burn fat. When the late Bill
Bowerman wrote his book on jogging, he was encouraging
consistent movement for better health.
"Look, I was at a company for many years that honored the
great athletes, and was focused on the Olympic movement.
... It is about time to make a bold stance and bring the fun
back into running and invite consumers of all levels of
athletic ability to participate. Through our Run
Easy movement, Reebok is defying the way competitor
brands position running as a push the limits ideal," notes
Uli Becker, chief marketing officer at Reebok.
According to global brand marketing leader Rich
Prenderville, the time may be right for Reebok, "We want
runners and walkers to see that self expression is the name
of the game in running. Run Easy is about encouraging the
consumer to get active, in their own way and on their own
plan, and we hope that they choose Reebok to be their
brand for their play." Is Reebok trying to be the unNike? When this writer asked
CMO Uli Becker, he had this to say: "Reebok has a fine
tradition in performance sports, that was where it started in
Europe. In the U.S., Reebok did remarkably well with
women in aerobics and other fitness activities. The truth be
told, Reebok sees the opportunity in engaging the
consumer to find their level of activity and increase it at
their own time frame. The idea is to get active. Running
allows for self-expression and Reebok wants to be this
consumer's brand. Yes, we are the unNike. We do not want
to dictate, we want to engage, we want to create a dialog
between the consumer and our footwear and apparel." The campaign went live on April 2, with the goruneasy.com
(http://www.goruneasy.com) portal. The website
encourages the consumer to chat about run easy, whether
they like it or not. It also gives the consumer tools to post
their own favorite training runs, with photos, a description
and a map, as well. The outdoor campaign has runners of all levels running in
front of a poster with a grimmer view of running. The poster,
in black and white, is then compared to a four-color image
of runners of all levels, running easy. One says "Run to the
beat of your own drummer, Run Easy." Another shows two
famous cricket players from India, running, with the copy,
"Conversation is fuel, Run Easy."
Honoring the goal of participation is key. Reebok's Todd
Klein, manager of athletics promotions, signed Reebok on
as footwear and
apparel sponsor of both the ING Bay to Breakers in San
Francisco, with its 60,000+ runners and walkers, as well as
the Atlanta Road Running Club's Peachtree Road
Race, one of the largest 10Ks in the world, with over 40,000
participants.
"Creating a dialog, getting the consumer to think about
Reebok is key," notes Mark Bossardet, Reebok's head of
global running. Bossardet notes the arguments on
let'srun.com (http://www.letsrun.com) , one of the web's
most committed running communities. "Discussion is good
and let's run is giving Reebok a chance to be discussed." When Prenderville, the global brand message manager,
was queried, Will Reebok stay involved in elite athletics, he
said, "We are a performance sports brand, that is our
history, that is our tradition. We will be looking for,
however, events, athletes and opportunities that allow us to
spread our message. We want the consumer to get up and
run easy, find a way to get active." "I spent the last year looking at the history of Reebok, and
also at what my competition has been doing, and Run Easy
just makes sense for our global campaign. Running is the
largest activity where we can make the most impact on a
global level. Our athletes and spokespeople will engage the
consumer to see how Run Easy fits them." The running business globally is approximately $9 billion
dollars in footwear alone. With nearly 100 million runners,
22 million of them in the U.S., Reebok is looking to
determine its own future. It has chosen an industry that's the
most competitive, but also the most staid in the fitness
world. By getting runners to see that easy days are as important as
their hard days, but getting inactive people to start a
program that gets them outside and active, and by
resonating with the millions of new women runners who are
trying to decide how they'll be involved in the sport, Run Easy
may be win-win for all. We'll let Reebok's Uli Becker get in the last word: "Run Easy
is a movement, another running boom, and it will be good
for all. Of course, we want it to be very good for Reebok."
******* ******** RN Women's Insert is out the door! 600,000+ women will be reading the Spring 2007 women's
Running special insert that's going into the 26 regional
Running Network publications and several of its national
pubs, as well. Congrats to Brenda Barrera, project editor,
two fish design, project designers, and thanks to
Nike, adidas and Saucony for supporting the project! ********** Top 50 Running Stores in America is on for 2007! A printed insert will appear in selected publications in the
Running Network and Footwear Intelligence in the
January/February 2008 timeframe. ******* Coverage of Boston RN will again do live coverage of the BAA Boston marathon
on Monday, April 16. There will be atf newswires on Sunday,
April 15, and Monday, April 16. After that, Running Network
and atf newswire will again cover the Flora London
Marathon. ******* PUMA: A friendly takeover? The running industry is hot right now. Look at how well
Brooks has done under its new ownership and how hands
off Bershire Hathaway has been on the #2 performance
running shoe brand. Well, rumors have persisted about PUMA for 3 years now. It
all has to do with CEO Joachim Zeitz, who has championed
a 7-year plan for PUMA, pushing the teams to create better
product, focus on sports lifestyle and slowly, slowly develop
new performance products in both running and soccer. His bet has paid off. PPR, Pinault-Printemps-Redoute,
owners of such high-end brands as Gucci, Belacauga, Yves
St. Laurent and Stella McCartney, have acquired 27.1% of
PUMA's stock for 1.4 billion Euros and have offered to
purchase the remaining stock for a total cost of 5.3 billion
Euros, or $6 billion. How has PUMA responded? Well, here is the official press
release: "The Puma Board of Management is convinced that
PPR, as one of the world's top fashion and retail
companies, will be the perfect partner for Puma, one of the
world's leading sport-lifestyle companies. Both companies
have a European background and ideally complement each
other with regard to their global perspective. With the
support of PPR, we plan to strengthen our position as the
leading company in the sport-lifestyle market with a
continued focus on long-term sustainable growth. We
strongly believe that this friendly transaction is in the best
interests of the company and that the offer price is fair to
all Puma shareholders." Francois-Henri Pinault, the chairman of PPR and CEO
responded in kind: "I am confident that PPR is the ideal
partner to support Puma in its current development phase to
become a global iconic sport-lifestyle company." Pinault
added, "Puma is one of the leading
sport-lifestyle companies in the world. The successful
expansion strategy, as well as the long-term growth
potential of Puma, complements the PPR portfolio perfectly.
We guarantee Puma's continuity as an autonomous
company within the PPR Group and we will support the
management with our resources and our know-how in
strengthening Puma's unique brand positioning." Final thoughts: PUMA is a lesson for the industry. The
companies that are thriving are focusing on what they do
best--footwear, apparel. A partner that recognizes those
core needs and is willing to invest long-term can do well in
sports footwear. As Brooks, ASICS and others have shown,
keep it simple, and focus on what you know. ****** It's late on Thursday evening, and I have returned from the
opening party of the BAA Boston weekend, traditionally held
at Cheers Pub and at time when the press, athletes, BAA,
volunteers and sponsors get a chance to salute the event
and spend some relaxed time before the weekend begins. My planes were late today, as usual, and we were redirected
through Detroit. For me, this party starts the marathon
weekend. I was able to catch up with Kathrine Switzer and
husband Roger Robinson. Kathrine's new book, Marathon
Women, is launching this weekend. Kathrine is one of the
true legends of our sport, and her book (I have started
reading my copy) should be required reading for
anyone interested in women's sports and where the future
of road running is. Executive director Guy Morse, ready for
race week, seemed relaxed and focused. Jack Fleming, the
man behind the BAA, is all smiles and thoughtful action, as
the hours count down. Dave McGivallry, BAA Boston race
director, seems pretty relaxed as well. In deep conversation were New England Runner publisher
and editor Michelle Le Brun and Bob Fitzgerald, with the
road racing stalwarts of New England. This evening is was unique as well. It was the first Boston in
20 years that will not have the charming presence of the late
Marja Bakker, who championed each and every Boston
marathoner's needs for the past 20 years. It was Marja who
our son, Adam, all of 7 months, allowed to hold him and fall
fast asleep. That was 20 years ago. It was Marja whom I
would go to when I needed a writer credentialed at the last
minute or to check on protocol. Marja was there, and
we became accustomed to her wisdom, sense of humor
and most of all, honesty. While Marja may not be here with us in person, one
thoughtful person said that she is probably up in heaven,
wondering what the staff will have to handle next at Boston.
The weather could be a huge part of the marathon story this
weekend. Rain, snow, nor'easters? Marja, how do
we handle this one? ******
About American Track & Field | About Running Network | Privacy Policy | Copyright | Contact Us | Advertise With Us |
|
|
