The full impact didn’t hit Jim Jenson and the KT Tape team until the Facebook testimonials started rolling in.
It was then that Jenson, vice president of marketing and sales, and the entire staff knew they’d hit on something. But it had taken a while for the public to be clued in.
That’s where the 2008 Beijing Olympics came in.
Beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh was wearing the tape and the massive exposure of the Olympic stage brought the product to light.
“During the Olympics, kinesiology tape was, I think, the second most Googled term behind Michael Phelps,” Jenson said. “There was this mass, mass interest.”
Kinesiology tape isn’t new. It’s been around for decades and is used by athletes, trainers, chiropractors and massage therapists, among others. But this colorful consumer brand is new. Made by Lumos Inc., the tape was launched late in 2008 and started gaining a widespread foothold in sporting goods stores in early 2009.
And for the everyday athlete with aches and pains and injuries, it’s been a smash success.
“Given the nature of the product, it really was one of these amazing clinical products that had never been offered to the general consumer, but it was really perfect for the general consumer,” Jenson said. “We saw real opportunity there. There’s no reason the average person shouldn’t have access to it, and as long as we give them good instructions on how to put it on, there’s no reason why they can’t apply it successfully.”
The Facebook page for the product is generally a three-subject site — information provided by those who have used it, questions from those who are curious and instruction from those who show the masses how to apply it correctly.
It’s a free-flowing stream dialogue, including joy over pain-free activity that runs the gamut of ailments: “Thank you for getting me through 26.2 miles running the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon! Works great on plantar fasciitis!” or, “Just applied some kt tape to a recently dislocated finger. Feels great. Really helps with the pain and is helping with my range of motion.”
The tape is 100 percent cotton woven in a way that allows it to stretch in length, but not width, the idea being to provide support without sacrificing motion.
“The technology basically boils down to the microfibers,” Jenson said. “It’s engineered so that it will stretch length-wise to 140 percent, which is the same elasticity basically that skin has. By mimicking the way skin or tissue moves and by applying it in a certain way, the tape can provide stability and support. It can be used to address acute muscle pain; it can help to relieve people with swelling. It does a lot of kind of amazing things that other type of tapes really aren’t designed for.”
It can be used for any sport, is durable enough to stay on the skin even with exposure to water, and can stay on for days at a time.
“We knew at a technical level what the product did,” Jenson said. “But what we had no idea of was how much passion, how, at an emotional level, how people would respond. We didn’t appreciate how personal it was. For people who have been training or if they are playing on a team, this is their lifestyle. To be sidelined by injury, that’s a huge disappointment. So what we have found is people don’t tend to be very casual about it. When they use it, try it and it works, they are pretty excited.”
Chris Dempsey: 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com
Where to find it
KT Tape is sold in rolls and can be found at retail stores such as Sports Authority or Dick’s Sporting Goods. More information on the product can be found at or .
