Nobull President Frank Bracken on Big Brand Opportunities + Why the Old Sneaker Playbook Doesn’t Work Anymore

Nobull president Frank Bracken sees a big opportunity ahead to reinvent the training category.

One major plus for the brand is the executive’s extensive retail background during his 15-year tenure at Foot Locker. C-suite stints include chief commercial officer, chief operating officer and chief executive officer of North America. And over the years, he’s gained knowledge and a skill set across global retail, omni-channel, merchandising, marketing, and insight on the digital front.

Here, Bracken gets candid about the pitfalls of a “same old, same old” retail strategy against a backdrop where consumers are now demanding more from the athletic shoe brands they buy — namely, performance, style, and comfort. And he talks about the brand’s ability to scale up, following Bodyarmour founder Mike Repole’s 2023 majority stake in Nobull along with an investment from NFL icon Tom Brady in 2024.

Footwear News: What retail trends did you see emerging while you were president at Foot Locker that are informing your strategy at Nobull?

Frank Bracken: The biggest shift I saw was the evolution of consumer choice. Running, walking, fitness, comfort and overall wellness were becoming more than just activities; they were becoming central to how people live. COVID was a true accelerant to that. At the same time, consumers were increasingly willing to look beyond traditional big-name brands in search of authenticity, community and products that fit their lifestyles. They wanted footwear that could take them from a workout to a walk to everything in between. That created real opportunity for emerging brands to meet evolving consumer needs and offer both shoppers and retailers something new. We’ve witnessed the first phase of that over the last six years and now those brands are maturing, and the opportunity is for new brands like Nobull to step up.

FN: Have those trends morphed into something else since then?

FB: They’ve only deepened — especially the desire for human connection and authenticity. What started as consumers trying new brands has become consumers expecting more from the brands they choose. It’s no longer just about the product or an athlete or collab association. People want authenticity, community, content and a brand that supports their identity and total wellness. And consumers aren’t one-dimensional anymore. The same person might do a couple of group fitness classes, try a Hyrox event with friends, go for a weekend charity walk, or join a run club event in the same month. Brands that can serve that full spectrum are the ones that will succeed in the future.

FN: What was the brand playbook for sneakers that everyone followed? Does it still work?

FB: The traditional playbook was built around scale: big sports and athletes, big marketing and perceived scarcity in as many doors as possible. For a long time that worked because consumers had fewer options and fewer ways to discover brands. It doesn’t work the same way today. Consumers now discover brands through their communities, their gyms, their run clubs and their feeds, and they’re skeptical of anything that feels manufactured. The brands that gained share over the last several years won by being specific about who they serve and earning trust in those communities first. Reach still matters, but relevance comes first now.

FN: Does that impact how you think about Nobull’s go-forward strategy? What is the strategy?

FB: Absolutely. Our entire brand and company are built around a singular mentality: Training for Life. That is all we are interested in doing. We’re 100 percent focused on training, but we define training much more broadly than traditional athletic brands do, including mental, emotional, and physical training. It doesn’t have to be someone working out intensely five days a week. And unlike other brands that communicate perfection, we don’t believe there’s such a thing as a good or bad workout day: you either grow or you learn. Our ambition is to build an ecosystem of product, content, inspiration, and support for people who train to get better. That also means being clear about what we’re not doing. Traditional sports like soccer, football, basketball, and tennis aren’t part of our roadmap. We don’t need them to become a multi-billion dollar brand. Instead, we’re focused on four growth pillars across the brand: footwear, apparel, nutrition, and content.

FN: How will proceeds from recent funding be used for expansion, and will you need to raise more capital?

FB: Nobull was recently valued at $1 billion. We have the resources we need for the foreseeable future to keep investing across product development, marketing, and distribution, and we are seeing steady growth across our core Nobull business, with all the franchises growing and apparel up more than 100 percent. Mike Repole has a philosophy I’d describe as being patiently aggressive, and that’s how we’re approaching growth. We have the ambition and the capital to grow, but we don’t need to force expansion before the brand is ready. We see the potential for $1 billion in revenue in the next few years. The market is primed for newness and disruption, and Nobull is uniquely positioned to deliver both.

FN: More people are participating in sports, and community matters more. How does that play into Nobull’s strategy?

FB: It’s central to it. Human connection is one of the most important things to our consumer and to us as a brand. Gyms, group fitness, run clubs, community walks, and events like Hyrox are where people train together, and those environments naturally connect our product and our community strategy. We believe everybody is an athlete. Whether you train twice a week or compete at a high level, we want Nobull to be a partner in your journey.

FN: What do Hyrox and CrossFit athletes need in a shoe. How is Nobull different from Puma and Nike and who are your competitors?

FB: These athletes need a shoe that can do a lot of things well in a single session: stability for lifting, responsiveness for running, and durability for everything in between. Our Drive 2 collection does exactly that, supporting everything from strength training and conditioning to cardio and dynamic workouts, making it the perfect choice no matter how you train. Every Nobull shoe starts with three non-negotiables: performance, style, and comfort. Individual franchises can be more specialized around different training needs. Other brands may offer a training shoe as one product in a much larger multi-category lineup. For us, training isn’t a category or trend. It’s the entire company and brand focus. That focus is what separates us, rather than any single competitor comparison.

FN: Will distribution change beyond online, gyms, and specialty boutiques? Are you considering wholesale?

FB: Yes, but deliberately. Today we’re primarily direct to consumer, and a digital-only model does limit how many new customers you can reach, so diversifying our channels is important over time. The progression we see is establishing key markets and communities first, then specialty retail and pop-ups, and then broader wholesale opportunities. Specialty running and gym retail is a logical entry point. The goal isn’t to open hundreds of doors overnight. We want to understand how to tell our story locally and connect with consumers authentically in each market before we scale. And we also need to partner with the retailers to tell a better training and Nobull story.

FN: Does Nobull plan to work with athletes on endorsements?

FB: Tom Brady is a great example of how we think about this. He isn’t just an owner of the company; he naturally represents what Training for Life means. We’ll continue working with athletes and ambassadors who genuinely live that philosophy, whether they compete at the highest level or inspire people in their own communities. From Matthew Schaefer (New York Islanders defenceman and alternate captain) and Livvy (Olivia) Dunne (actress, model and 2017 U.S.A. Junior National Gymnastics Team member) to Robin Arzon (athlete, author and Peloton instructor) and Alec Smith (former professional football quarterback), Nobull shares a similar mentality to athletes whose commitment to training is exactly what our brand stands for.

FN: Who is Nobull’s ideal consumer, how will you reach younger consumers, what’s the male/female split, and how will you use social media?

FB: Our ideal consumer is anyone who is looking to put in the work to get better mentally, emotionally and physically. They might do hybrid training, group fitness or Hyrox, weekend 5Ks, run clubs or community walks, and their frequency and intensity vary a lot. We skew 25-plus in age and higher income relative to the average. And to reach new and younger consumers, we’ll show up where they already train and connect. Social and content are a big part of that, but the goal is to extend real community experiences rather than simply advertise.

FN: Any possibility of acquiring other brands?

FB: Our focus right now is building Nobull. We think we have a tremendous opportunity across product, community, and distribution, and that’s where our energy and investment are going.

FN: What are the big challenges as you position Nobull to be a major player in training?

FB: The biggest challenge is discipline. The easy move would be to recreate the traditional sneaker playbook. But our leadership team combines deep footwear expertise with perspectives from outside the industry, and that mix of experiences pushes us to approach the industry differently. The other challenge is reach and customer acquisition. A digital-first model has served us well, but it eventually hits practical and competitive limits on customer acquisition, so expanding our channels thoughtfully is a priority.