This year, FootJoy is celebrating its' 100-year anniversary. From the beginning, the brand has sought to address the performance needs of the golfer but from the early days of adding spikes to shoes specifically for the purpose of playing golf to today's fully fleshed-out ranges, this has changed drastically.
In this exclusive interview Neil Tappin speaks to those at the top at FootJoy about the past but more important, where they intend to take the company in the future. The video and article below, provide a candid insight into the workings of one of golf's most ubiquitous brands.
How does it feel to be leading the brand into the next 100 years?
Chris Lindner, President (centre in photo)
We always want to move the brand forward but in a way that’s relevant to players around the world. Perley Flint, one of the lead innovators for FootJoy in the 1920s, had a great passion for the game and an entrepreneurial spirit. He was trying to design the world’s best golf shoes and to propel the game forward. We’re doing that in different ways now, but we’re staying true to what FootJoy stands for.
Who were some of the first players to wear FootJoy?
CL: Walter Hagan selected FootJoy to be the shoe of choice for the first Ryder Cup team. Johnny Farrell was a key player on that team who fell in love with the brand; he went on to win the 1928 US Open in a playoff against Bobby Jones. That’s a pretty cool story.
How do you set about updating a well-loved shoe?
Ken LaRose, SVP Brand Consumer Experience (left in photo)
There’s a certain level of expectation that if you’re going to come up with the next great model of shoe, it’s got to be better than the one golfers have loved for so long. So, there’s always a bit of fear when we update our iconic franchises because our consumers are so loyal. However, the depths that we go to are insane.
Chris Tobias, VP Global Footwear (right in photo)
Performance needs to be evolved season in, season out. This is something we work on two to five years in advance. Golf is changing, consumers are changing and swing speeds are getting faster.
Are your Tour ambassadors quite demanding?
CT: We hear a lot of, ‘It’s great, don’t change a thing!’ You’re talking about the best and most discerning golfers in the world. We’ll do five to six visits with them over the product creation calendar.
KL: It’s fun to talk to them about their history with the brand. Justin remembers his first ever pair of FootJoys, as does Adam Scott. When we talk to them they become like kids again!
What have been the biggest leaps you’ve witnessed at FootJoy?
CL: One of the biggest advancements has been with new styles and trends. Whether it’s the east or west coast of America, European influences or Korea – where we have over a hundred stores – we’ve been mining different insights from all over the world.
It feels like FootJoy has increased its offerings for women in recent years?
KL: We have our ambassadors on the LPGA Tour. Working with a player like Jessica Korda, for example, on the fit, the cut of a skort, those changes come from conversations with her. We also spend time investing in consumer insight projects, so we’re getting a better approach to how we architect the women’s game.
The style of golf clothing has changed a lot. Does this represent an opportunity to help broaden the appeal of the sport?
KL: New players bring new requirements. What we’ve seen is that depending on the occasion – where you are, who you are playing with – you might want to be ‘modern classic’ on one day and more ‘athletic’ on another. FootJoy can credibly participate in those styles, because we invest in design, we invest in trend, and we invest in understanding the marketplace.
CL: Look at where the growth of the game is coming from – juniors, women, different ethnicities. Not long ago we were talking about players suddenly wearing hoodies – which is now one of our hottest-selling items. As the game continues to welcome new voices and inspirations from outside of golf, it allows us to broaden our pallet.
How does it feel when you see a FootJoy player winning a major?
CL: It’s humbling and testament to how hard the team works. It’s everyone, our design, development and advanced concepts teams, coming together. I always think a lot about the millions of hours of work that went into the product.
What is the brand’s long-term vision?
CL: Geographically there are opportunities in every corner of the world as golf continues to thrive. We have a great team working on new innovation and expressive designs for men, women and juniors around the world.
KL: We’ll continue to inject that passion we have for the brand and embrace new consumers. It’s important for us to celebrate that crazy love for the game and that crazy love for FootJoy, and then marry that up with performance innovation.
CT: We work with several universities and we have an advanced concept team and an innovation lab that complement our product engine. We also have our Manchester Lane facility and the TPI to make sure that we’re always at the cutting edge of technology and maximising all the different inputs around how to make your game better.
