Behind the Golf Brand Podcast with Paul Liberatore
It’s like playing a round of golf with some of the most interesting innovators and entrepreneurs and listening to the stories behind their success.
Hi, I’m Paul Liberatore, and I love talking to entrepreneurs and the stories behind their brands. I find it intriguing when people are vulnerable and honest about their struggles and successes. I invite you to join me as I explore other people’s stories. We will celebrate, above all, the challenges and setbacks that ultimately lead to some of the biggest names and brands in the game of golf.
So come join me on my quest to find the stories Behind the Brand.
Behind the Golf Brand Podcast with Paul Liberatore
#140 - ECCO Golf Shoes: Timo Vollrath
ECCO Golf Shoes are a product of ECCO, a Danish footwear company founded in 1963 by Karl Toosbuy. Known for its innovative approach to shoemaking, ECCO emphasizes full control over the production process, from leather tanning to shoe manufacturing, ensuring high standards of quality, comfort, and durability. This vertically integrated model allows ECCO to produce premium footwear that is sold in over 100 countries worldwide.
The brand's journey into golf began in 1996 when Toosbuy and his son-in-law, inspired by their new interest in the sport, decided to create golf shoes that prioritized comfort and performance. Early collaborations with professional golfers like Thomas Bjørn helped establish ECCO Golf as a credible name in the sport. The company gained global recognition in 2010 when Fred Couples wore ECCO’s spikeless Golf Street shoes at The Masters, sparking a revolution in golf footwear. This event popularized hybrid golf shoes, which combine street-style aesthetics with on-course functionality.
ECCO Golf is renowned for its technological innovations. Its signature Hydromax-treated leather ensures water resistance and durability, while FLUIDFORM™ Direct Comfort Technology creates lightweight, flexible soles. The introduction of BIOM® technology further enhanced natural movement and comfort by mimicking the foot's anatomical shape. These advancements have made ECCO Golf Shoes a favorite among professionals and amateurs alike.
Today, ECCO Golf continues to innovate with designs that blend functionality and style. Its commitment to sustainability and craftsmanship solidifies its position as a leader in the global golf shoe market.
What's up guys? Welcome to the Behind the Golf Brand Podcast. We're back with another episode, and this week I have my good friend, timo Vollad from echo golf shoes. If you guys don't know echo golf shoes are, then you probably don't wear shoes. Because they make the most, probably one of the most comfortable pair of shoes in the entire planet and that was before I even started playing golf because they're just so comfortable. I wear them to work not the golf ones, but the regular shoes. So I'm very excited having back on the show. We had them on three years ago and it was a lot of fun. A lot has changed in three years, so welcome to the show. Thank you, all right, so straight up. I already know that Timu is like uh, he's in Denmark, so it's like nine 30 at night there.
Timo:Yeah, exactly.
Paul:Way to go. Chase, just kidding chase, probably watching, and um, just kidding chase. But so are you originally from denmark, or where do you live, like where?
Timo:did you grow up like? No, I'm actually I'm. I'm from germany and I live also in germany, but I work, I work in denmark. Our headquarters are in denmark and just at the border, so I live.
Paul:I can see denmark from my home and I, I work in denmark is it like a big city, so it's like the borders kind of, or you know, I'm saying is like the city's kind of split by the border, or it's almost like a river between them or how's that.
Timo:Yeah, it's like a river. It's um, what do you call it? A fjord? It's splitting, yeah, like so. The city where I live, uh, it's just on the fjord and the other side on the fjord of the fjord, is denmark, but it's not many people living here, it's like 100k but did you grow up?
Paul:you didn't grow up there, did you like that area? It's a big coincidence.
Timo:I did grow up here, um, and when I joined echo I I moved back, like the initial was like I wanted to go back home, to my hometown, uh, was looking for a job, and then I didn't really know. Echo by then did the research and it came out that they were looking for marketing people and it was in driving distance from my home. So that was a. That was a perfect match.
Paul:So like were you a professional golfer before this, or what were you doing?
Timo:No, far from it. Far from it. I actually I didn't. When I joined Echo, I didn't play golf Like. I started golfing when I was a teenager and then I stopped for multiple reasons. You know no car, um, no, I don't know. No, nothing, no money, no the biggest interest in, like many different things wasn't that cool.
Paul:I mean, it was so different, different.
Timo:It was 20 years ago. It was such a different game. If golf would have been in the state as it is now 20 years ago, I probably would have never stopped. It would have been my thing all the way.
Paul:Were you playing soccer? What were you doing? Oh sorry, Football.
Timo:Football. Yeah, I didn't know. I did a lot of skateboarding, did you really?
Paul:yeah, did you ever see a documentary about tony hawk? It's so freaking good dude. It came out like a year ago. It was like it was like the history of skateboarding. I'm like I'm not in a skateboard, I'm like this is cool as hell, because I remember that stuff. But I don't remember like how yeah big it was. You know what I mean. Like I don't know you're a skateboarder.
Timo:Oh, that's cool as shit, dude yeah and and some surfing and stuff, so it was more into germany or denmark, or were you going like spain?
Paul:yeah, and there's some. There's some waves actually like a boat's going by and then it's like a wave comes by and you're like, yeah, exactly I've seen what.
Timo:What movie is that it's called? It's not Endless Summer, it's the other one, Deep Blue or something like that, where they go to different places. And there's actually a place where they go boat wave like they go big tankers by and they write a movie or is it like a documentary, like guys dorking around movie.
Paul:Is it a real movie or is it like a?
Timo:documentary like guys dorking around movie. It's a documentary and it goes different places I can't recall.
Paul:It's a very good one. I love that world. I have friends who live in California and LA. It's like that vibe the surfer vibe is very contagious. I have a buddy who owns a brand and I went out to stay with him and he's like just follow me around for my day and I was like, okay, cool, yeah, like we like he lived like a block from the beach, right, so like we got up and like the first two hours every day they're out surfing and then you go to work and I was like why?
Timo:are you?
Paul:so chill and he's like bro, I was gonna. You know like he was always chill, I was like that.
Timo:That's probably why you know what I mean, exactly, exactly. I actually met in in socal, I met john ashworth and, uh, we went, we went play gold hill, um, and all that area. Now it's just and sydney does, and it's just what what a lifestyle.
Paul:It's so cool, dude, I'm jealous. All right, so what? Where did so? You started playing golf in high school, or college, or high school?
Timo:um, yeah, we don't have college or high school in germany, but, um, between between school graduation and becoming a student at university, um, and then. But then I stopped like after three years and then I picked it up again when I joined echo. But I didn't join for golf in the beginning, so I joined as a was called retail marketing manager, um, and then I did the research on the brand. It's like, wow, those guys, they make golf shoes. They didn't make golf shoes when I played, like, because that was when I joined 15 years ago. Um, so that was cool to see that I'm actually gonna start to work for a brand who is in the golf industry because they make all kinds of shoes.
Paul:I mean I, it's like, I I feel like when you're in that arena, whatever that is like golf. I don't golf right now, right, but like you, don't you forget that this is a major shoe company. The golf is the part of it, but they make such good golf shoes. You forget that they're a major shoe company you know what I mean.
Paul:It's like yeah, it's like oh, nike makes basketball shoes, like, nah, they make a lot of shoes. But like if I talk about you know, I don't know, I just think like you guys make literally the comfort, most comfortable shoes ever. Like they're so comfy, like air, like my dress shoes for work, I'd wear them. I wear them to court, I'd wear them all the time like they're. They're just so comfortable, like straight up.
Timo:I might even lie. Yeah, yeah, it's true, definitely it's. I mean, there's multiple reasons for that, um, but of course it it's amazing. You know that it's such a everything starts with the foot. You know it's engineered nature, or whatever you would call it, and that's the reason why it feels like. It feels like and I always like to say, you know, it's not like a sofa comfort where you like you sink in and you feel like lazy. It's more like your favorite sweater comfort. You put it on and you feel great and then you have a great time.
Paul:And it's like you're I don't know. It's like I remember back but I really didn't have a pair of Echo golf shoes. When I like started out, I had like my echo dress shoes and I was like, oh, they make really comfortable dress shoes, like I know that for a fact. And then I had jasper on the show and I was like, oh yeah, this is like. They sent me the boas, I think, I don't know. I was like probably v1 boas or something and like I was like holy crap, like I was in love. I was like I'm not going, I'm not gonna let you go. Um, so when you started, there's like, was this like your first job out of school or what? Or out of university?
Timo:um, no, no no, no, far from it. I I did multiple different jobs, uh, in different industries. Um was all in fast-moving consumer goods, basically, um, and, funny enough, I had, I remember a situation when I had talked to our to one of our ceos in one of the brands I worked for and she said, like what, what would be your dream job? And I said I would like to be a marketing director for a fashion brand. That would be my dream job. Um, now you can argue, is shoes fashion or not? It's me, of course. Part of it is fashion, um, and I am now the head of my global marketing for a fashion brand, plus golf, plus I'm back in my hometown.
Paul:So it's um, it's quite nice actually, what is your title right now? What's your title at echo? It's head of global marketing, golf dude, this guy's legit like I gotta like. This is. This is the top dog right here. Golf, like you want to know what's going on these shoes? This guy knows how big is your team. It's probably massive, right. I mean, it's global and it's a global team?
Timo:definitely it's. It's less big than you would expect. I I would say, of course, if echo golf would be a company by its own, probably would be. I don't know. 200, 300 people, I have no idea would be. I don't know. 200, 300 people, I have no idea it would be so many people, yeah, massive. But since we leverage everything from the main brand, r&i, finance, logistics, everything is not part of golf, because it's part of no, it's just like siloed out, so it's like you still have the mothership right.
Paul:And then it's like yeah, exactly, we could be good at that one thing here, we could be good at one thing there, like essentially so and then then we are, only we are.
Timo:We are one guy looking after asia, pacific, uh, one guy looking after canada, yeah, like it's her baby, right.
Paul:Like you know what's going on. You better know what's going on.
Timo:Like yeah, they know, they know it so much um, and then we have we have myself for marketing, we have um, a head of product and the head of golf, which is my boss, so we're actually three people in headquarter plus one girl, uh, doing all the logistics for us. Uh, so it's four people at the headquarter plus one regional plus one other regional. So you could say it's six people. But then there's the design team, which is also big, and so it's a lot of people they're probably not just making just golf like, but they're not making just golf shoes.
Paul:They're making like all kinds of shoes and that's like. Okay, they're probably guys that specialize or women that just on the golf stuff, but like because they know what works and they know what. Yeah, my like I'm also much about echo shoes too outside of the comfort is that they're not ugly. You know what I mean. Like some golf shoes are ugly as hell. Dude, like I would not be caught dead wearing that, you know. Yes, yeah, you know.
Paul:I thought it was weird too. I'll tell you this. So, like, I just noticed like everyone's starting to do like boa stuff. Lately I saw my son plays baseball, right, and we were at this and like and one of the baseball bat brand shoes and they had boa shoes and I was like my buddy who plays in the mlb and he's like, he's like he goes. This is cool, but this is stupid because I think it's gonna break off like someone slides and he's gonna pop that thing right off your hose right, like like for golf or some other sports, fine, but if you're not gonna have like metal leads coming at you, do they make like those kind of shoes for football as well. Football, see that not not?
Timo:I don't. I don't think they have boa shoes in football, because I think actually it could be dangerous.
Paul:You know, when you take I know right, a big old nubby thing like doesn't matter where it's at, like it could still hurt somebody or break off, and then when your shoe comes on loose, it's changed shoes in the middle of the pitch. Pitch, see that I don't mind my soccer. I remember when I went to italy once my dad bought me a milan opel shirt. I was like tied to, I was like that came italian fit.
Paul:That's what they it's is yeah, I look like an italian grandma dude. Like I wasn't gonna wear that, like I was like I'll put that on my wall. Thanks, dad. Um, it's like a size small, like this big. We're having that shirt. Um, so what is coming out this year with echo shoes? Like what are they? Yeah, I did see you guys at the pga show and you guys did send me um some of the new arrivals that are coming out. But, like, what is the? What's the big thing this year, you know? Um, let me share too. Let me show you your screen. Here we go. How fancy is this? Look at this.
Timo:Oh, look at that. Yeah, if you click on the, oh, there's two Boa shoes, three Boa shoes. If you click on the white one, this one, the Biome H5s, right.
Paul:So this is new for this year. Yeah, new rival. Look, I can read. Okay, that really helps.
Timo:Yeah, and as it says, it's Biome H5. It's multiple things we are hyper proud of. I think calling a product the fifth edition of something already means a lot.
Paul:I think it tells you a lot too, that it's like it's. It's getting better and better, but it's still there's a huge demand for it, you know yeah, one and done.
Timo:Yeah, exactly, and it's so. It's the fifth edition of a hybrid shoe, which is also something, uh, people might, might don't know anymore, I think, because 12 years ago, echo Golf basically changed the world of golf shoes when we invented the very first hybrid shoe with no spikes now it's the whole industry. Yeah it's up to 80, depending on the market you look at. Are you serious?
Paul:yeah, so do most players prefer spike or spikeless, based on your. What do you think?
Timo:oh, it's, that's. That's really, um, how should I say? It's a question? It's a good question because it really depends on the person, right? Yeah, um, from our point of view and from my personal point of view, no one needs spikes. It's um, the the amount of grip uh, our, at least our hybrid shoes give you.
Paul:They are even better than spikes because there's less clogging and anything from you know, leaves and mud and everything because back back in the day is like you had to have spikes because the bottom was there was no grip to the bottom, exactly, yeah, like you, essentially the flat shoe with holes that put spikes in. Yeah, true, and you probably have the in the mold and technologies. You can start really figuring out where the put the. I don't know what you call that the tread, yeah, grip, I don't know what to call that, but like, so you can start really figuring out where the put the. I don't know what you call that the tread, yeah, grip, I don't know what to call that, but like, so you can have that spin or whatever exactly, yeah yeah, I know nothing about shoes, but I know, like the top, I don't know I I could see.
Paul:So what? What's different about this over the h4s?
Timo:um many different things. Um, so already you can see from the silhouette that the midsole uh looks quite kind of rugged um, and that's because we think it's it's a first of all. It's a very cool look. You know to have that thick looking midsole. You know to have that thick looking midsole. It looks um, but also what's what's typical for biome is that your foot really sinks in into this uh midsole. So your foot is much deeper inside the the actual shoe than you would think when you look from the outside.
Paul:So it gives you like a very nice right, because it looks like oh, my foot's up here, but really it's not.
Timo:It's probably like down no, exactly, yeah, exactly, so it's really a lot of support too right and like in the ankle and yeah um, and it's it's based on the scan.
Timo:We like we scan, uh, the feet of two and a half thousand athletes and that's what biome stands for. Basically it's based and that's why it feels so natural to wear it's biomechanical motion, and that's basically because it's based on the human foot. Um, and the way we do the shoe is the midsole. You can feel when you, when you go inside with your hands, you can feel that the foot pad actually mirrors the curves of the human foot and it it's not in the insole. You can take off the insole and the curves are still there and that's why it feels so natural to wear that shoe.
Paul:I think it's cool and it comes in two colors too, right, like it's black too.
Timo:Yeah, the boa comes in two colors and the lace version comes, I believe, in another four. And also, what's very new to the h5 compared to the h4 is that we, that we actually it's a, it's a waterproof shoe. We think performance shoes should always be waterproof and this time around, as you can see, the knitted sock, like when, like when you go on the end step of the shoe, it's actually the waterproofness is in this knitted piece.
Paul:It's almost like I have a name for that right when like a scupper that's kind of a weird name right when it kind of like blocks the water going in. I can't think of the name.
Timo:A membrane, which is not a weird name, but that what we got no, I can't think I remember writing.
Paul:I did a video on something like that once. That's freaking cool. So then the h5 comes both as what the um?
Timo:it comes both as a boa and then a lace, or just boa only it comes in boa, it comes in lace, it comes for men's and women's, and on top of that we also added a textile version. Now you can see the leather upper, which is waterproof. As I said, I don't know if the US side is already having the one, having the one if you go down. We also added two textile versions of it which are hyper breathable and actually don't have waterproofness, but those are for the hot summer days where you don't need any proofness. You only crave for breathable footwear so what?
Paul:what's interesting between the C4 and the H4 when it comes to that series?
Timo:C4, now we have C5.
Paul:Yeah, C5.
Timo:Yeah, yeah, I remember C4. And then C4 is still there and that's I mean, that's very typical Echo, that you work on the season plan and say, okay, you look at the life cycle of a product. Probably I mean, every brand should do that and I'm sure they all do it you see when the product is peaking and you see when it's time to replace it. And you know to diversify. You see when the product is peaking and you see when it's time to replace it and to diversify the risk also a little bit. We would never do H6 and C6 at the same time.
Paul:So you always go like this and this the numbers are always equal to each other, right? Each season, or each year, I guess, right?
Timo:Yeah, each life cycle basically, so you could anticipate what will come next year maybe then.
Paul:So potentially there could be like a c6 and an h6 and a c7 and h7 as as the shoe develops along. But what's the difference between the c series and the h series?
Timo:ah, okay, yeah, so that's, that's um. It's one is with the waterproofness, that's h5 or the h series, and the c is with a gore tech, surround technology, which adds extra breathability. And when you look at those c shoes, c biomes, you would see holes in the middle of the sole and those are ventilate. You can say ventilation holes, um which actually provide a airstream to the inside of the shoe really I don't know, I always wonder
Paul:what the difference was like, like what made them different, you know? I mean, you could see it look different, but I didn't know. I knew there probably was a little reason behind it. Yeah, it's basically the waterproofing and breathability technology is the difference. What do you prefer to wear? What do you like of the two? Just personal preference. Do you like one more?
Timo:than the other. I like to see a little bit more um. It's actually also still now our best-selling product, the c series, c series with the boa dial. When you look at the global performance of the products, then this one is the absolute home run.
Paul:Is it worldwide that's more popular. In Asia it might be different than in the US, but overall that is the more popular style, I guess preferred.
Timo:And especially in Asia, boa is even preferred above laces. Whenever you would look at BOA is even preferred above LASIS. So whenever you would look at BOA numbers, excluding Asia Pacific, the number would be maybe I don't know 40% BOA, I don't know. I don't know the number. No, it's cool. Including Asia Pacific. Boa is just a skyrocket game because people like it a lot.
Paul:All right. So the H5 just came out, right? Yes, and then what else just came out? This year? Something else did too, didn't it? I remember seeing it at the show.
Timo:Yeah, basically we did some color updates on existing platforms, which is also always nice, and then we launched in um, in autumn winter last year uh, autumn winter 24 we launched a shoe which is called street 720.
Paul:Yeah, that's what it was, would you probably like?
Timo:a skateboard shoe. Exactly it's. It's such a cool looking shoe. I'm wearing that shoe all the time. Uh, I'm gonna pull it up um, all white.
Paul:You like the white more than the black. I'm just pulling up the first one.
Timo:I see, yeah, they look like a skateboard.
Paul:They look like old school airwalks, dude, or like exactly. They look really like the airwalks. I love airwalks. They're not even around anymore. Yeah, I don't know, I haven't. I haven't seen them for a while. I remember my mom like taking me to the mall and going to like the skateboard store or whatever and getting like the airwalks because it didn't last that long, right, but like they had all those cool designs on top, you know, like very 90s stuff. Um, totally, I love those shoes. Am I dating myself?
Timo:probably don't even know what a molly is yeah, that's the exactly these came out in the winter, I guess that specific style came out spring, summer now, but the group or platform, as we would call it, came out last winter. So what makes these special outside? That?
Paul:they're cool looking, but the group or platform as we would call it came out last winter, so what makes it so special?
Timo:outside that it's cool looking. Yeah, exactly, I mean they also have the Gore-Tex surround technology, like the C4s when you can see, with the holes in the midsole, so they are more breathable than any other shoes we would do. And yeah, um, yes, performance, echo leather, it's. It's a casual looking shoe skate.
Paul:Course you bro? Yeah, it does. I mean that's also that's cool.
Timo:Um, the outsole, you see there it's yeah, it's uh similar to the very first hybrid outsole. We did, like 12 years ago, when Fred Couples was wearing the street, as it was called then, at the Masters.
Paul:Dude, these are definitely really cool. Like these are definitely like you could probably go play around in these and then go out to hang out with your friends. You know what I mean. Anything Like those are really, really. I can see you guys do all kinds of crazy patterns too. If you ever wanted to like limited stuff for like a tournament, or you know what I mean like just yeah, it stands out, yeah, yeah, exactly um, and it's also.
Timo:It's the funny story on that one is actually we went um to the lpga event in Singapore the HSBC and Lydia she's one of our ambassadors she didn't bring enough shoes with her and the Street 720 was one of the styles we had in stock in Singapore and she liked the style a lot, so we gave that shoe to her on the Monday, she practiced in it and she played the Pro-Am in it and she figured okay, I'm going to play the tournament in it. And then she won the tournament in it.
Paul:I mean, I'm sure she didn't win the tournament because of all the shoes, but at least I mean it proves that you can actually just walk in play with these shoes and you're not at a disadvantage, you know, or like yeah, and I think it's cool, disadvantage yeah exactly what does that mean?
Timo:I think it's cool. It's a street-style looking shoe and you can win a global tournament in it. I think that's the beauty of our shoes you can do anything. They are made for pure performance. You can play the best round of your life. But it's a little bit even more about to have the best round of your life. It's more important that you will remember the people you played with way longer than your score. That's what Echo Golf is all about.
Paul:That's cool. So you like the white better than the black? What does the black look like?
:Yeah, I like white shoes.
Paul:I like, because you can see it's a golf course print, right, exactly, yeah, exactly, oh, dude, and I bet it's super rugged. You can tell that it's probably comfortable. It can get pretty. Are those air pockets, or what are the holes for?
Timo:Yeah, they go all the way through so you can actually look through them. And then there's another channel going up so you can get air to your underfoot.
Paul:Oh, that's just for cooling too? Yeah, I'm assuming, because it's a. No, that's cool. So if you're going to play golf, then what would you play? C? Well, are the C5s out yet, or no, I don't think they are.
Timo:No, not yet. That will take some time, but they will come.
Paul:They will come out, probably before summer, I would assume, because golf season and stuff. So the H5s are out, these are out, and then C5s will come out at some point. We know that. We don't know exactly exactly. Okay, so here's a question. This is this is gonna be a hard one for you this potentially what the c5s are, or the h5, what would you?
Timo:wear uh, and I would go for c5, actually still then, it's the best and best of everything I just, I just.
Paul:Why do you like c? I think c5s are cool, but, like personally, why do you like the c5? Just because it's more?
Timo:airy and more. Yeah, exactly, I just like that technology, you know, get a little bit more fresh air to your foot.
Paul:Um all right, so let's look at last season's c4s. Should we look at the Boas or should we look at the Ties? Which one would you like better?
Timo:the Ties the Boa. The Boa is the grey. Yeah, that's a new color for this season, grey with the yellow pop that's a new color.
Paul:For what season? Spring, summer 25 that one, yes, okay, so like those are actually really cool good colorway too. Yeah, good colors too. They're not like sometimes shoes are butt ugly, you know what I mean like they put some weird color on it and it's like a really cool but then it looks weird and you're like I'd still never wear that. I'd wear that. That's cool. Yeah, that's so why.
Timo:Yeah, go ahead sorry, yeah, no, I mean what we think is always important that when you look down on the shoe that you, you don't see a lot of stuff happening. It's a little bit also danish design, you know, it's simple. It is, um, it's not crazy. Uh, it's pure forms, it's pure colors, but then you can play with the colors on the side or on the bottom or whatever, but when you wear the shoe, you look down on it. You shouldn't, you should not be irritated by your shoes no, I think it's smart.
Paul:It looks cool too like it just looks like a cool shoe. So this one's cooler right, because what you have the air pockets below it, you have the upper, that's all mesh right or the the tongue is it's, uh yeah, where the tongue is. It's a mesh, and then it's perforated leather um is it perforated leather on both sides or just one side?
Timo:um, if you spin it around, I think there's only one side. Oh, there we go I'll see that it's also on the inside.
Paul:Yeah yeah, what's this for? Is this for air too, in the back, the heel thing? No, that's, that's just an icon. Oh, it's an icon. Okay, that's so cool dude. So this you have. I bet you like 100 pairs of shoes, huh.
Timo:Oh yeah, I need to clean out every now and then when my wife says you know what, now it's time.
Paul:You're like I'll get rid of my, I'll get rid of my shoes, and you go your purses.
Timo:And then she's like yeah, and I mean so the.
Paul:The mean part is that I'm I'm sample size, so whenever you know we have it's just what do you think I stay like you, like the the perfect size foot, like there's probably part of your interview but like what's your size? They're like oh, I'm 14 in the us, not not hired, sorry, exactly like i'ma, I'm a man's ten and a half. Yeah, I don't know what, I have no idea.
Timo:I figured what's the standard size 10 uh, yeah, 10 and a half is 44 and European I think it's a.
Paul:43 is our sample size, so it's why the United States does not use the metric system.
Timo:Oh, so many times, I don't know how can you not use it?
Paul:Arrogance, like yo, we're not going to use the metric system, we're going to use yards and feet. And then you talk to everybody else in the world and they're like it's 49 centimeters.
Timo:You're like what the hell is that right? I have no idea it goes. The same same goes for temperature. Why would you not choose the temperature where water freezes is zero? Why is it 30?
Paul:I don't know. You know what I'm saying. I seriously disagree. This is like inquiring minds want to know, dude. I want to know why. There's a place in Arizona it's so weird like down by the border, where Mexico is like the highway is both in meters or whatever kilometers and it's in miles. So it's like they have a corridor from like Tucson to the Mexican border which is like 50 miles right, but in that most of it's in kilometers. It shows in kilometers. Now you're like even more confused because you're like Tucson is 4,000 kilometers. You're like even more confused because you're like 2,000 kilometers, what?
Paul:does that even mean you know, like it's only two minutes. Okay, you know whatever?
Timo:I don't know, I know, but yeah and it's also when we you know, when we I mean I have the pleasure of traveling the world for for echo golf, and then when we also go go golfing most of the times, because it's it's part of research, it's part of the culture. You embrace it, you need to do it. You need to do it.
Paul:We have to. We got to research these things out on the course with our friends, I mean you get so many insights. I'll be back in two weeks, sweetheart. I got to test these. I'm out testing.
Timo:I want your job. You know those door signs, gun surfing, that's like what we put it differently, you still skateboard anymore or no?
Paul:no, I don't get hurt, I'm gonna break a hip yeah, exactly.
Timo:No, I dislocated my shoulders three times doing it. I don't want to do that again what were you doing?
Paul:were you doing? Were you just messing around?
Timo:Yeah, I'm stupid and when it happens once it just goes easy.
Paul:the other times oh really, I didn't know that we're old bro. We just got to accept it. I'm fine with that. You probably look young though. You freaking Europeans man, you guys all look young though. You freaking Europeans man, you guys all look young. I bet you're like what 37?, 45?, 43. Really, I wish I looked like you.
Timo:I'm a little bit older than you, but not that much. You don't look older than me.
Paul:Bro, I'm older than you. Maybe it's the filter. It probably is probably chemicals and I do everything in met, not in metric, so it's like, oh, I could have. No, I'm just kidding around. So where can people find echo shoes? Like what's the best way to like? Is it go to the website? Or I know you're in every retailer in every place in the world. But like what are you?
Timo:I mean, you get, you get the full portfolio on our website, of course, um, but we also know that, and that's that's even myself. You know, I like, I like to go into a multi-brand store a retailer and I'm not going there to buy one item. I always go buy a bag of teas and maybe balls or a new glove or whatever. It's just a shopping experience, and we also know that golfers are like that and that's also why we have to feel the shoe.
Paul:I feel it's hard to buy a shoe online. My wife does it. I don't know how she does that, but like dude, I got to feel these things and walk around the store and then you're like I'm going to go play golf in these things. These better be damn ass comfortable, Like I'm wearing them for eight hours and my feet hurt. No dude, her or no dude, I don't know you don't want that, no who's your best senator right now?
Paul:do you think foot joy. Who's the biggest? Who's the biggest elephant in golf? Forgot for shoes is probably foot joy.
Timo:Right, yeah, it's foot joy, but it I mean it always depends on what you how. What would you call a competitor?
Paul:you know that brand is so big. Everyone's doing different, doesn't really? It's so.
Timo:It's so out there yeah, and, and the you know title is and foot joy together.
Paul:It's just but that's just for golf, right? They're not like they don't make other stuff, like it's not. It's not like nike, like nike's the giant right, like that, I feel like.
Timo:But and and I think actually, if you look at nike, um, then it's interesting to see, like, how we're not super far away from those guys, you know, and they are such a sport brand and it's such a such a achievement from a small danish brand compared to like total advantage, right like you're over.
Paul:Like any brand that's overseas in the us market has a massive disadvantage yeah, also that, yeah, exactly.
Timo:And we also, we, we don't have what we always say. We don't have those famous silhouettes, you know, adidas, nike, they can. They can go with the with the zamba, or they can go with the with the air jordan, or they can go with stan smith or they can go with Stan Smith, or whatever.
Paul:It's just called history.
Timo:And use that silhouette. I mean, we created our own history with the hybrid shoes and we can always only copy ourselves.
Paul:You know what I mean. You were doing stuff that nobody else was really doing, like what Nike did for basketball. No one was doing that like. Essentially, you had to create something that wasn't existing before as a danish company you know, it's not like I don't know.
Paul:That's my opinion. I think you guys make freaking dude seriously like I love you guys too. They're so comfortable to like all your shoes, but especially your golf. Like, if you don know, if you're a walker dude, if you're on a walk, you definitely want comfortable shoes that are not going to kill your feet. And then you have a choice If it's hot out and in the grass ain't that wet, you can go with the C series, or if it's a little bit wet or colder, you go with the H series. Right, but essentially, exactly yeah, same technology.
Timo:You know, I mean like base technology, just different shoes. Yeah, yeah, it's the same way you put the other shoes on the new ones. True, exactly it's. It's the same way we do the shoes. It's always the, the leather we do our own leathers, which is also you're very unique. Um, the way we it's based on the human foot is everything is the same and you can basically can pick your favorite shoe and you will always get the same comfort there's no doubt about that.
Paul:Do they do like I don't know because this might be a dumb question but like, do your shoes like run smaller or larger, because some feet, you know? I mean like, if someone's like I'm a 10, like I know some shoe brands, like all the like I know I'm like I'm a 10 and a half, but I know certain brands and I can't wear it, it has to be 11 and I'm not 11 you know.
Paul:But it's like, what do you what we're? What about echo? Is it? Is it true to the size, or is it run low, small or bigger? Just everybody's different.
Timo:I don't know, honestly yeah, exactly that's the thing it's always. What is your point of departure? Um, so what? What we, what we can say, is that echo shoes will always be the same size. Now you could say, okay, the h5 is a little bit more roomy than the h4. Maybe that's because we are not using a membrane anymore. The membrane is in the net technology. Inside the technology changes a little bit. But if you're not like in between sizes, end of the day, 42 or 10 would always in. Echo would always be a 10 for you in norman circle circumstances. I would say, if you are a 10 and echo, you probably are a 11, and nike and adidas because sports shoes, small as shit yeah super small, never fit me, like they're never right, ever, ever.
Paul:What are we wearing? A airwalk shoe? What do you think on? What is your opinion? Airwalk shoes? Just kidding, I don't know. Dude, you know I'd be your best friend if I found you a pair of airwalk shoes like the old school ones.
Timo:Those would be sick, yeah, yeah why?
Paul:what was the other brand back then? Air walk and somebody else. I just remember airwalk. I don't know why. There's something else. Yeah, what happened to those guys? And then I know bands, but like bands, bands are unfamiliar and what was the other one, dc yeah.
Paul:Yeah, dc, remember that. Yeah, it's like my kids. I go listen to music and they're like, oh, this is nineties music, this is old. And I'm like what are you talking about? This is the best music ever made. This is old, yes, anyways, well, being on the show, it's pretty late there, so I don't want to not make him happy with me, because he probably wants to go to bed, so it's like 10 o'clock.
Paul:Oh my god, it's 10, oh wow see, I told you to go by fast and I put it off by 10, didn't I? I was like you can go to bed, watch some football. What did? I don't know what you guys drink in your country. I have no idea if I'm beer, of course. Yeah, actually, I got beers. Yeah, I can't be a day drinker, though, so I can't do that. Um, so, thank you so much for being on the show. Like this guy's, a real deal man like this. This is likewise like some guy that works at the mall. Like this is the head of, you know, global marketing for echo. So if you guys want really, really, really, really comfortable shoes like I'm being straight, like you, go wear Echo, like go to like a store. You want to walk in them. I'm telling you right now they're going to be super comfortable, and I actually learned a lot today because I didn't know the differences between the shoes. That's really kind of cool, and those new shoes look really cool too, those like streetwear shoes.
Timo:But so, bjorken, is this Echo echo golf, or is echocom?
Paul:or what's the website? Uh, for us it would be usechocom yeahedugermanybuyourshoesuksomething else. Well, thank you for being on the show and thanks for having me I got a new friend. Now I'm gonna go to germany for skateboarding. I'll go like five feet, I'll fall off probably. But skate.
Timo:Combine skateboarding and golfing. Maybe that's the new you should call red bull and make a sport out of that you don't want to get.
Paul:I actually want to get like one of those like e-bikes they have, like those e-bike golf cart things that people just still yes, yes. Then I'd probably jump in sand traps and crap. Well, thanks for being on the show and I'll see you guys in the next episode thanks for listening to another episode of behind the golf brand podcast.
:You're gonna beat me. Stay connected on and off the show by visiting golfersauthoritycom. Don't forget to like, subscribe and leave a comment. Golf is always more fun when you win. Stay out of the beach and see you on the green.
