The Mid-Week 10/17
A thank you, Honda, playbooks, Nike, Veloci Running, and a story of a 103yo runner
First I want to thank you all for subscribing to the newsletter. The inspiring response and quick growth has been exciting and motivating. I really hope we can continue to grow this brand marketing conversation in running. Feeling very grateful.
David Callahan stumbled upon this Honda ad and shared it on LinkedIn. It’s really great and worth the watch. I had coincidentally been working to pull together my own concept using this forward/reverse tactic. It was really cool to see Honda execute it so well - very creative and high difficulty. Worth a watch for some inspiration.
This Substack article entitled “Burn The Playbooks” really resonated with me. They argue that while playbooks are good for important things - like FDA approval of drugs - they are the death of creativity and joy.
“I see this every day, in my particular line of work, every time a new startup hits my inbox promising to build X for Y but much better at Z in a $B market. Playing startup. Startup Mad Libs®. And I feel bad because you’re supposed to applaud the heroic effort required to start a startup, but a lot of these don’t feel heroic. They feel safe. And they feel doomed by that safety.”
Nike dropped an ad this week that sought to bring it closer to the runner psyche - to show runners that they really understand them. I like the ad a lot and had been (also coincidentally, weird) working on a similar concept for a client. More on that in a few weeks. These types of fan truths around the sport create powerful brand connections and associations. I expect we see a spike in runners posting this type of video of themselves and friends after the NYC marathon in a couple weeks. That’s the power of the fan truth - it will advertise itself.
A friend brought this old ad from Flora to my attention. It’s the same concept as the Nike ad. Many might say Nike “ripped off” this old ad but I don’t see it that way. So much (maybe all) of creativity is inspiration and iteration and, for me, this falls right into that category. The late, great Virgil Abloh’s 3% approach to product design can certainly be applied to creativity more generally. That entire Harvard speech from Virgil is a great watch btw.
NFL trades are going down right now. My sorry Browns packed it in by trading their top wide receiver. It made me think about what it would look like if we had trades in running? What if Hoka could trade/sell Jim’s contract to Brooks because they wanted to invest deeper into trail? Or if Nike decided to trade/sell high on Ruth Chepngetich after her WR in Chicago? It happens in soccer (football) all the time. Could small brands sustain themselves that way like small market teams do? What a wild world that would be.
I had a call earlier this week with Veloci Running founder Tyler Strothman. He’s a senior and D1 runner at Rice who has spent the last 10 months developing a running shoe, starting a company, courting VC and angel investors (he has both) and pre-selling his shoes into 21 run specialty shops before they officially launch in January. Sheesh. Impressive guy. Makes me feel terrible about myself, kidding. Tyler is crushing it so don’t sleep on Veloci. He will be at TRE.
My friend Kirk Horton made a beautiful film about an atypical running team. It’s a follow up to an earlier film Kirk made about 103 year-old George Etzweiler. It’s a beautiful story worth watching. More than any finish time or race resume, I aspire to be like these guys.
Thick skin and a POV. Advice from Ana Andjelic whose approach and ideas I find myself drawn to in marketing and strategy.
“Good writing is hard. It takes time and focus and research. I have been doing it since the beginning of my career, as a way to clarify my thoughts, explore an idea, and become better at my job.”
Lastly, some inspiration that got me fired up both as a person and a parent.
