According to Ad Age, athletic shoe brands are starting to put major marketing dollars behind lightweight or minimalist running styles this year.
The 2009 book, Born to Run, which followed a tribe of distance runners in Mexico who run in flat, homemade sandals, is credited with bringing the category in to the mainstream.
Lightweight products accounted for 28% of the running category in the second quarter. Minimalist styles, a subset of lightweight, accounted for 5% of the running category.
New Balance, which launched its Minimus collection in March, used 3point5.com, a training portal, to educate store employees. The brand is also running an ad campaign from Arnold/Boston with the tag, “Like barefoot only better.”
