Gene McCarthy took over as CEO of Asics America Corp. in September. Three months later, the brand signed a 10-year contract with 16-year-old sprinter Candace Hill, making her the youngest professional track athlete in U.S. history. McCarthy spoke to
staff writer Ben Fischer earlier this month about how the footwear brand is altering its strategy to reach more casual runners and how he hopes Hill will usher in a new perspective on athlete marketing.
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You want to reach new, more casual fitness enthusiasts. How does sports marketing fit into that goal?
McCARTHY: The days of just signing the fastest runner, or the guy who can jump the highest or the point guard who scores a lot, those days are over. It’s more about how do you find a partner that’s organic to the brand? The second part is how do you have a conversation about who the athlete is, as opposed to how that athlete does?
It only made sense to have somebody who is just as good a student as she is an athlete, and to make sure that our relationship with her over 10 years embraces her education. It encourages her education while celebrating her track-and-field exploits. … Who she is trumps what she does.
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Does that mean you’ll have fewer, more extensive athlete deals going forward?
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Asics endorser Candace Hill made her pro debut last month in Birmingham, Ala.
Photo by: AP IMAGES
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McCARTHY: That’s a fair assessment, if only because we’re going to be highly selective. And as the brand has grown over the last years, the consumer that’s loyal to us is also not getting any younger. A person like Candace fits into the idea of “younger, faster fresher,” and we’d like to use that as a template for everything we do. That includes how we hire and our messaging. So she fits right in. I’d rather have fewer athletes that are intriguing to people who run and people who don’t run, rather than have a large stable of athletes.
■ How do you protect such a long-term investment?
McCARTHY: The story about Candace is not about the [Olympic] trials, or the Games, either now or in 2020. That’s a natural end to all that she is and all she’s doing, but the thing we’re celebrating now is that she’s just a tremendous student and a good athlete. She’s young, and we have to remember that.
It’s not like we signed a sports marketing asset and we’re hoping she wins a medal, because whether she does or she doesn’t — whether she makes the team or not — that doesn’t change the relationship with the brand.
■ You ended your sponsorship of the New York City Marathon. What’s next in terms of property deals for Asics?
McCARTHY: One of our strategies is to author, not sponsor. We have an event coming up, called Asics Vine Body Sole (a fitness festival in Napa Valley, Calif.), and that is something we own.
It takes us to a new consumer that may not have considered us in the past. … I also think that it’s wonderful to be involved with marathons, but we’re speaking to the converted. If we want to expand the brand, we have to start speaking to those who know us but don’t buy us, and if they don’t know us, we’ll introduce ourselves to them.
