Run Intel | The Marketing of Running

Running brands can't stop talking about community and culture. Every run club, race, and product launch seems to be about one or the other. But do runners actually care what brands have to say about either? And when does participating in running culture become exploiting it?

Paul Mellor takes over Run Intel this week with a challenge for running marketers. As the industry grows and competition intensifies, brands are reaching for community as an easy way to stand out. Paul thinks they're missing the point, and that the harder, more interesting work is being ignored.

• theoutrider.cc | USA GTM for European Running Brands
• borderlands.cc | The Heart of Trail Running

Running brands spend real money on Instagram ads, but how do you know which content is worth promoting? Organic performance can tell you a lot before you spend a dollar. Josh breaks down why brands keep paying to push content that isn't working, what to look for before buying attention, and why being willing to look stupid is part of figuring out what actually resonates.

Plus, one number from Mike Hahn's Work in Running: $120,000, the top of TYR's advertised salary range for an in-house photographer-videographer. And something worth noticing: Cole Townsend's Running Supply residency at Heartbreak's Cambridge store, where an independent running newsletter is becoming a physical retail experience. A few thoughts on HOKA's new subelite program and Nike's renewed attention to specialty retail round out the week.

• Work in Running Email (WIRE)
• Running Supply
• Running Sucks

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Run Intel is a weekly podcast about the business and marketing of running, from the Borderlands Podcast Network. Hosted by Josh Rosenthal, it explores the brands, people, ideas, and decisions shaping the running industry. Made for the marketers, founders, retailers, and industry insiders building the future of the sport.

Have something worth sharing? Send it to intel@borderlands.cc.

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• borderlands.cc

Running brands want to get closer to runners. But what actually earns that relationship, and where does it create value? From running store economics to personalized marketing, the business of running is finding new ways to connect with the people who make the sport matter.

Katie Douglas of Running Wylder responds to last week's conversation with Vivek Gowri. DashLX shares newsletter results that should get marketers' attention. Freetrail and Rogue Expeditions are taking runners to Switzerland, while the Kansas City Marathon is giving a local running store a bigger role. Plus, a look at ANALOG, Borderlands' experiment in celebrating running culture beyond the finish line.

Chapters

• 00:00 — Katie Douglas Responds to the Run Store Economics Conversation
• 01:36 — One Number: DashLX's Newsletter Results
• 03:36 — Money in Running: Freetrail × Rogue Expeditions
• 05:13 — Kansas City Marathon × The Running Well Store
• 06:44 — ANALOG: A New Way to Celebrate Running
• 08:46 — Closing Thoughts

borderlands.cc

Running is booming. So why are independent running stores struggling?

In Episode 2 of Run Intel, Josh Rosenthal sits down with Vivek Gowri, owner of San Francisco Running Company, to understand the economics of independent run specialty and what running brands are getting wrong.

Despite growing enthusiasm for running, local stores face rising costs, increasingly complicated inventory, and remarkably thin profit margins.

Vivek explains why a well-run store might only keep 7% of its revenue as profit, how brands can better support specialty retailers, and why direct-to-consumer sales aren't necessarily the threat many assume.

We also explore the relationship between run clubs, local running stores, and the communities that sustain them.

CHAPTERS

• 00:00 Why is run specialty struggling?
• 01:58 Rising costs and the 7% problem
• 04:27 What running brands misunderstand
• 06:57 Are DTC websites competing with local stores?
• 09:31 Run clubs and the future of specialty retail

ABOUT RUN INTEL

Run Intel is a podcast for running marketers, exploring the business, culture, and decisions shaping the running industry. Subscribe for new episodes and share this conversation with someone working in running.

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Outrider Office of Strategy | USA GTM for Global Running Brands

Borderlands Podcast Nework

Running marketing is getting closer and closer to the runner. More field teams, more events, more community roles, more brand presence. The question is whether that proximity is actually building affinity or starting to feel extractive. Run Intel 1

For episode one of RUN INTEL, Josh looks at three brands approaching that problem differently: Unknown Runner through service, Roark through media, and Craft through events. Then he pulls back to what hiring trends across running might be signaling about where brands are putting their attention, and why getting closer to the runner only works if you are giving something back.

• WIRE | Work in Running Email
• ONE NUMBER | 9.9%
• Borderlands.cc

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Outrider Office of Strategy | USA GTM for Global Running Brands

Borderlands Podcast Nework