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FAME, FRIENDS, FORTUNEGetting its clothes on famous bodies has been a inning st!ateg" fo! Roots

The press clippings are piled three inches high on a table in Michael Budman's Toronto ofce. The co-owner o Roots Canada Ltd. strides into the sunny room stops to sur!ey the pile pluc"s out a picturethat eatures #rince $illiam wearing the red Roots %lympic hat. & idn't see that one & Budman

mutters. &(uh.& (e brandishes the photo at two public relations assistants. & 'ya see that one) *t's agreat one. $ith the hat. (uh.& Budman sha"es his head in apparent ama+ement puts the photo bac"atop the pile. *nstead o loo"ing at the hat he would li"e to tal" about it--and the rest o the clothesRoots supplied to the Canadian team at the recent $inter ,ames in apan. &This is the nest %lympicclothing e!er made & he says enthusiasm bringing out the /merican twang in his !oice. &The way they

elt in their clothes was part o the success o the Canadian team. This hat is a uni ying piece oCanada.&

(yperbole) #erhaps. But that hat is e!erywhere these days0 spotted on singer 1arah McLachlan at the unos on director ames Cameron at the %scars on ice rin"s and s"i hills across the country. /nd i thehat is a symbol o Canada it is also the best symbol o an unusual and aggressi!e mar"eting strategythat has helped ma"e Roots an unparalleled Canadian retail success story. The company is owned byBudman and his partner on ,reen and they care ully guard their nancial data. But ,reen says sales&were well o!er 2344 million& last year and massi!e e5pansion is planned or the months ahead.

The strategy boils down to this0 get amous people to wear Roots clothes. 6amous people ha!e obligedup to now and the sales gures spea" to the plan's success. But in mass-mar"eting %lympic gearRoots may ha!e gone too ar. /thletes ha!e told Maclean's that because anyone can buy their uni ormit cheapens their %lympic e5perience. /nd some retail analysts as" how long it will be be ore cynicalconsumers tire o seeing (ollywood stars shilling their a!orite com ort clothes.

The Roots story has ta"en on the dimensions o a national myth. Two young hippies rom etroitenthralled with Canada a ter summers at camp in /lgon7uin #ar" open a shoe store in Toronto in389: selling something called the &negati!e heel shoe & with a heel lower than its toe. $ithin wee"sthe shoe is a raging trend and the entrepreneurs e5pand0 new stores more products. *n the early38;4s they catch the birth o the

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with the amous. /nd their subse7uent campaigns ha!e all been about the !alidation they get whenthey see their clothes on amous people.&

*n act Roots has been an inside secret in (ollywood e!er since Budman and ,reen made riends withthe 1econd City comedy troupe ?@ years ago and ollowed pals ohn Candy and an /y"royd to(ollywood bringing armloads o clothes on !isits. ,reen and Budman downplay the celebrity tie-in

saying they =ust "now a ew amous people who happen to lo!e their clothes. *ndustry analysts demur.&They are consummate image mar"eters & says retail mar"eting consultant Len Eubas. eople li"e toidenti y with success especially young people who are into who's wearing what.& ,ood products andthe appeal to &latent Canadian nationalism & he says ha!e rein orced that success.

/nd unli"e companies li"e i"e *nc. Roots has or the most part managed to put its products oncelebrities without shelling out huge endorsement ees. &$e don't pay people to wear our clothes &insists Budman. &$hen it's appropriate we gi!e clothes to people we belie!e represent the companywell.& *n act s"ater Al!is 1to="o and snowboarder Ross Rebagliati are paid or endorsements. Butindustry insiders agree that most others including actor Matt amon Fwhose Roots-clad image nowgraces bus shelters across the countryG do the ads because they genuinely li"e the Roots owners--andthe ree clothes. Both >.1. #resident Bill Clinton and #rime Minister ean Chretien ha!e been spotted inthe leather =ac"ets they and other /sia-#aci c leaders recei!ed rom Roots at a summit in Hancou!er

last o!ember.

Roots' %lympic sponsorship negotiated in 3889 was a pricey promotional gamble nonetheless. >nderthe one-time deal Roots pro!ided the Canadian %lympic /ssociation with !e ree sets o clothes oreach o I44 athletes and support staJ--worth Budman estimates &between a hal million and a milliondollars.& *n e5change or the right to mar"et some o those same clothes embla+oned with the%lympic logo Roots also agreed to gi!e the C%/ an undisclosed royalty rom each sale.

But ambiguities in the contract ha!e le t Roots and some o the athletes it clothed at odds. C%/e5ecuti!e director o mar"eting #aul 1hugart says its deal with Roots did not spell out what would besold to the public e5cept that the parade =ac"et worn during opening and closing ceremonies wouldnot be. But se!eral other C%/ members told Maclean's pri!ately that Roots initially was to mar"et onlya red-and-blac" !ersion o the %lympic =ac"et with the distincti!e red-and-white parade coat reser!ed

or %lympians. et that =ac"et is now being sold in stores across the country or 2@8;. Budman insiststhat Roots has "ept to its contract and was permitted to sell the replica =ac"ets.

Those sales still ir" many athletes triple gold-medallist rower Marnie McBean or one. Most %lympicathletes she says &don't win a medal don't get sponsors. The only thing they ha!e is the sense thatthey're part o something wearing the Canadian uni orm--when you de!alue that you ta"e away theonly thing they ha!e.& 1aid a s"ier who competed in apan but did not want to be identi ed or ear o

=eopardi+ing uture personal sponsorships0 &*t upsets me. That clothing was supposed to be uni7ue to%lympians.& /dds a speed s"ater who li"ewise would not be named0 &*t's disgusting. That's %lympicgear they're haw"ing.&

But many C%/ members and athletes e5pect little protest rom the organi+ation. Budman estimates

Roots has paid royalties o &well in e5cess o hal a million& to the C%/ thus ar. /nd 1hugartac"nowledges that the Roots deal is one o the most lucrati!e sponsorships the C%/ has e!er had.Roots has now sold more than 3@4 444 o those hats at 2:8.8@ each and says 1hugart &the numbers"eep going up and up. $e ha!e earned in a year K rom Roots in e5cess o what we would normallye5pect or our years.&

Roots would plainly li"e to "eep the aJair ali!e. *t has bid to supply %lympic clothes through to ?44;.But Bruce #hilp says Roots' aggressi!e %lympic mar"eting may bac" re. &They should ha!e let theathletes shine more & he argues &should ha!e "ept the Roots name a little smaller.& Most consumershe says are going to assume Roots pays or celebrity endorsements and respond with a degree o

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cynicism the company did not ace when it was =ust a down-home ma"er o cottage clothes. But as thepress clippings pile up and the phone rings oJ the hoo" in Michael Budman's ofce such worries seemwell rootless.