Skechers Races toward Higher-Profile Marketing

Skechers, the shoe company, is racing toward higher-profile marketing. It just signed rock star Ringo Starr (the Beatles' drummer, remember?!) to appear in an ad campaign for its Relaxed Fit line of footwear. Other ongoing endorsement deals are with veteran football quarterbacks Joe Montana and Joe Namath and other athletes.  

Earlier this year, Skechers got a huge recognition boost among serious runners when Meb Keflezighi won the Boston Marathon--wearing Skechers shoes, which he endorses. Tomorrow's New York City Marathon may give Skechers the same kind of boost if the social media-savvy Meb Keflezighi races over the finish line first.

In fact, Skechers is going for even more publicity with a limited-edition running shoe released especially to coincide with the NYC Marathon. The supporting campaign includes the #haveafastday hashtag to tie in with the Marathon. Skechers' Twitter account today, on the eve of the race, shows its two elite running endorsers: Meb Keflezighi and Kara Goucher. Same for its YouTube channel.

All this publicity and social media mania can only help Skechers in the heated race for market share, competing against Nike, Adidas, and other big-name performance shoe marketers with mega-buck marketing budgets.

UPDATE: Meb finished fourth in the NYC Marathon, Kara finished fourth among US women (14th overall).