John Meadows is here! John started by slinging shoes in run specialty before becoming one of the first field service reps at Hoka in 2014. After contributing to 10 years of Hoka’s explosive growth he made the move to Salomon to build again. John shares the wild story that led him to Hoka in the first place and how his career almost never happened.
We also discuss:
Hoka's Rise: The brand's journey from a niche product to a major player in the running shoe market, including the challenges and key factors contributing to its success.
Product Differentiation: The significance of creating unique products that stand out on the shoe wall.
The Role of Timing and External Factors: How events like the COVID-19 pandemic and the minimal shoe trend influenced consumer behavior.
Sales and Marketing Strategies: Including word-of-mouth marketing, strategic account openings, and the interplay between field marketing and sales teams.
The Customer Experience: Focusing on the importance of comfort and the first impression when trying on shoes.
Salomon’s Shoe Lineup: The new AeroGlide 3, S-Lab UltraGlide and a future model coming in the gravel category.
John’s Youtube Career: We’ll never know what could have been but John might have topped my fellow high school alumni, the Paul brothers.
PRIZE GIVEAWAY
John and I are giving away THREE pairs of the new AeroGlide 3 from Salomon. Subscribe to MoB and comment “Salomon” here on Substack or on the Instagram post and I’ll choose one commenter at random. No purchase necessary. The giveaway is open from the time this post drops until Friday March 7th at 11:59pm MST. You’ll be notified by Substack or Instagram DM.
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