Golden feet

January 29, 2012|Shira Springer, Globe Staff

WITH ONE LAP REMAINING in the women’s 1,500-meter final at the 2011 World Championships in track and field, US runner Jenny Barringer Simpson clung to the back of the lead pack. She was in ninth place. Then, halfway around the track in Daegu, South Korea, she shifted to the outside and started gaining ground. She exited the final curve in fourth place and accelerated toward the finish line. She passed one runner, then another, then another, and took the lead with 40 meters left. She crossed the line world champion. Half a world away, inside New Balance headquarters in Boston, a breakfast viewing party erupted, employees cheering the win.

At the stadium, Barringer Simpson celebrated by taking off her New Balance racing shoes. Striking a victory pose for photographers from around the world, she raised an American flag and both shoes. It was a shout out to the employees back in Boston, to the shoe designers and developers based in Lawrence, to all the people who support her and her running career. “You can’t just grab people out of the stands and thank them for everything,” says Barringer Simpson. “I immediately thought of my shoes as the closest thing to me to represent all the people that were a huge part of my getting to that point.” Covered in yellow-and-purple plaid, the shoes made their own statement, clashing brilliantly against the stars-and-stripes background. This was the image New Balance dreamed of when recruiting and signing Barringer Simpson in January 2010, the global exposure payoff on its endorsement bet. Recalling the moment and proudly noting how the plaid shoes popped, New Balance product line manager Claire Wood says, “The goal is to stand out in a sea of swooshes.”

Those would be Nike swooshes. In the ultra-competitive business of athletic shoes and sponsorships, it’s all about standing out, about brand- and profit-building through the triumphs of top athletes. And the biggest competitions present the biggest opportunities. For shoe companies and track and field athletes, there is no larger stage than the Summer Olympics.