Running With Friends

If you're a runner, you're a part of a community.

The thing that I always look forward to on a run are the strangers who run with you.

I don't know them. But go out running enough times in a consistent routine and you'll start to notice the same faces.

Keep crossing their path, and you notice the days they don't go out.

Where did they go? Didn't they run today? I wonder if this stranger friend of mine is okay.

Park run is a big deal in my area.

It's a 5km community run every saturday. Runners of all levels come out.

After about my third time I started to meet a few people. Our 5kms became a weekly catch up, and when they weren't there, I noticed. When I wasn't there, they noticed.

Shared identity mixed with expectation means that there's an obligation to the community. They keep me accountable to showing up on Saturdays.

Here's the thing:

Although I started to run alone, I'm not anymore. I notice them. They notice me. And the fact that we are in this together means we're in it all the more.

That means I got more reason to get up on those sleepy mornings. I mean, if I don't, I'll have someone to answer to later.

This effect is much the same as the mob mentality.

That's to say that I am motivated to run because others run. I care what they think, and that's not bad! It means I get my exercise.

My point is this:

A customer's relationship with your streetwear brand isn't too different from a running community.

Runners make a decision to get up in the morning.

Your customer make a buying decision.

It becomes a lot easier to make a decision when other people are counting on you.

Truly,

Elijah