I'm always amused by the running companies and the marketing communication strategy and tactics used to reach out to us and define their brand. Often, the successful ones truly stay on their brand position, create an emotional connection and earn a runner's trust. Additionally, the product must back up that position or that trust is lost.

I was recently extremely amused by Pearl Izumi's ad "We Are Not Joggers." "At Pearl Izumi, we don't jog, we run. The thing is running is endangered. You might find this hard to believe. After all, the number of entrants in your local 10K is surely on the rise, and every Saturday the park is packed with people prancing around in brand-new trainers. Unfortunately, few if any of them are running. They're jogging. And with all this jogging going on out there, runners are losing the soul of their sport. Joggers are prey. Runners are hunters!" Boy….now I really understand who you are?? Hey, dude! The only difference between a runner and a jogger is the name on the entry form!

Under Armour's "Athletes Run" indicating "all runners are athlete's" is credible, but the product and brand is a little short in delivering believablilty and authenticity with core runners due to it's intense sporting goods and team sports (football/cleated) communication.

ASICS, utilizes "A Sound Mind, In a Sound Body" derived from the Latin phrase, Anima Sana In Corpore Sano, which is also an acrynom for "ASICS." Pretty good! Do we trust them? Yup! Sound Mind, Sound Body, Sound Product!

Nike, "Just Do It!" In technical running, they did it for years! At one point Nike owned 50+% market share in the "Specialty Running" store channel. Over the past 6 years they have lost market share in Specialty Running, because they lost the "Trust" runner's had in their technical footwear product. Guess what? They are back and as a brand are "Just Doing it" again with great product such as the Structure Triax and the Air Vomero and technical innovations, like the new Lunar Glide.

Mizuno, "Your Passion Is Our Obsession." Mizuno's Serious Performance positioning exemplifies their market communication headline and their product always backs this up with more Runner's World, Editor Choice Awards than any other brand in the past 12 years.

Saucony, "Loyal To The Sport" represents that they are committed to the running community and their product. I believe them and the proof is in rapid market share increases in the past 12 months. They truly get what a "Running Company" is all about with the most improved product line in the industry.

Trust, believability and consistency, all trademarks for why we choose products and bond emotionally with the running brands we love. However, just like a marriage, that lost trust and believability can be a reason for divorce.