Dive Brief:

• Athletic retailer The Finish Line has partnered with Adidas on the exclusive release of the latest PureBoost shoe, endorsed by NFL star Josh Norman and available online and in select stores nationwide.
• The PureBoost features a low cut design with breathable Primeknit fabric on the upper, leather accents on the heel near the sole and includes Adidas' Boost energy pellet technology inside its midsoles.
• There are approximately 970 Finish Line branded locations, primarily in U.S. malls as well as shops inside Macy’s department stores.

Dive Insight:

Pro Bowl cornerback Josh Norman has had a busy week as a product pitchman, first hawking Charmin and Febreze to help consumers deal with heavy bathroom usage during the Super Bowl, and now backing new shoes from Adidas for sale exclusively through The Finish Line.

Norman actually appears to be working directly with The Finish Line in this arrangement, participating in exclusive digital and in-store content, including videos, blog posts and social media postings.

Boost technology has gotten of credit for fueling the recent rise of Adidas to challenge Nike's dominance in the athletic footwear game. Adidas has aggressively pursued new technology developments in recent years, among other endeavors building a robot-staffed factory and making 3-D-printed shoes for recycled materials. It's clear that Adidas feels its technology efforts are playing an important role in its market growth.

While Boost does sound like an interesting technology, creating the right marketing relationships can be just as important. The Finish Line and Adidas have had a mutually beneficial relationship for a while now, as the retailer has been an important channel for Adidas, and the footwear company's own market rise has in turn helped Finish Line's revenue grow.

Bringing on an NFL star to talk up these new shoes should only help their case in the marketplace... although maybe we should see what happens with Febreze and Charmin this week before saying too much about that.