Run, Taylor, Run!

Long timey, no talkey.

There's a rich culture surrounding the running world -  a culture where a mainstream is shunned, and brand loyalty is a statement of that.

To many (or maybe just me) Nike is the status quo when it comes to trainers. Those who choose to run in Asics, Newbies, Mizunos and/or Sauconys are making a statement of rejection (or affluence) by choosing their brands.

Then there are those I like to refer to as the "Gagas." These are the people that buy the most obscure brands out there. The brands whose following has to be esoteric enough to call Animal Collective sell-outs. These are your Pearl-Izumi buyers. (I don't know any brands because I don't fall into this category...I hope).

Take a walk with me...

In 2009, Christopher McDougall published his best-seller, Born to Run. It was a book that rocked the foundation of running shoes and what we expected of them. Born to Run highlighted the fact that the Tarahumara indians, a tribe of Native Mexicans world-renowned for their long distance running capabilities, ran on little-to-no shoes, and had no documented (or documentable) cases of run-related injuries. To further the argument for barefoot running, instances of run-related injuries have steadily increased since the advent of the running shoe...Sorry Nike.

No longer was your running shoe expected to "correct" over or under-pronation. Barefoot was the right way (or left) to run.

Quit walking...

Many would call Nike's release of the "Free" line as a reaction to McDougall's book. I do.

Either way, it doesn't matter why Nike created their new line, but what it did to the industry. Now, to stay alive, many of the shoe companies that pride themselves on their status amongst runners are finding that there is a viable market in the minimalists (and with good reason).

I've been on some sort of quest to find the perfect minimalist running shoe. It started with my Nike Free V4's. They were 5.0's (this means they were designed to resemble 50% of a shoe). After running about 3-5 miles a day for 3 weeks I developed tendonitis in my peroneus brevis. So I dumped the shoes and went back to my $140 Asics that contained more technology than a Ghostland Observatory concert and...problem fixed.

Old habits die hard. I went and bought my second pair of Nike Free's. Same result. Switched back to Asics. Same result.

I'm wearing my third pair of minimalists - the Saucony Kinvara. They're lighter and more breathable than any Nike Free I've owned. They don't restrict what little, natural range-of-motion I have left in my feet. You know the direction this is going in. I've owned these for close to a month and have logged who-knows-how-many miles in them, and my feetsies are fine.

Nike, call up Saucony and ask 'em what they're doin'. They're doin' it right and you're not.

Facetime

Disclaimer: This is strictly commentary. Not an instruction manual - I hope you're smart enough to know you shouldn't take instruction from me.

Sorry. If you expected this to be a post about the iPhone App, I'm sorry. Truly. Sorry.

I'm just kidding, I don't care.

This post is about branding. Sort of. This post is about faces. Sort of.

There's an interesting case study published by a psychologist named John C. Marshall. It's called "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat." The case study (which starts on pg.7 of the link if you actually want to read) examines Dr.P's affliction. He's a professor of music who can't recognize nearly anything unless influenced by the context of music, most likely due to brain trauma. In one instance he describes a glove as a container with five compartments.

But it wasn't the uniquity of this case that interested me so much. It was the realization that it brought me to: we often neglect the ease with which we recognize objects. Faces in particular.

When I see my girlfriend, my mind doesn't dig into a filing cabinet and pull out a picture of her face: it retrieves a unique combination of measurements that correlate to relay a message. "That's my girlfriend." That, in turn sets off a totally different combination of reactions. Reactions that...nevermind.

The reason I use that example is because our mind does the same thing when we recognize a brand. That recognition also ignites a series of reactions. We call those
"brand associations" in
"the industry" that I'm
"not a part of."

I'm going to use McDonald's, Nike, Starbucks and Gatorade as four examples. Interestingly enough, the aforementioned all produce a consumer good. I'm having trouble coming up with a service provider that proves to be as synonymous with its logo as those four.

Chances are, an image of the golden arches or the swoosh will recall certain emotions and/or experiences that we associate with the brands. All of which are unique to every individual. (Negative or positive, each of the four brands mentioned has market saturation in their respected product categories so they're doing something right).

McDonald's and Nike dropped their brand names from their logo awhile back so that they just include a symbol. Gatorade, and more recently, Starbucks followed suit. That seems to be the trend. A trend that is by no means an easy feat to attain, but pretty much says "I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

Once I recognize my girlfriend, a myriad of emotional messages begin hopping across synapses. This too, is true for brands.

Just did it.

To Whom It May Concern

I haven't blogged in awhile, so I thought I would refresh "Hairy Pottery" with something a bit universal.

There are a few common misconceptions that I disagree with:
1. Good coaching is hereditary (see Pat Knight)
2. Black makes you look thin
3. AppleBee's serves food.

Let me start off by saying I would never knock something without trying it first. I'm optimistic. And I would never go to AppleBee's under my own gumption. I'm pessimistic.

I turned 23 recently. I spent that birthday in Salem, IL. A google image search for the town will result in a picture for a sewage treatment facility and a picture of a pregnant woman. I don't know what that means.

Anyways, I spent my most recent birthday there, which is becoming a trend I hope ceases to exist. For my birthday dinner, my family (not me) decided to go to AppleBee's. I had preconcieved notions before I stepped in, but did my best to restrain them.

I order something. I don't remember what it was, and it doesn't matter because it's all probably microwaved, mechanically-separated meat (google it). What I do remember doing, was not ordering anything with diuretics, which our waitress managed to ignore.

The climax.

My uncle told our waitress it was my birthday.

I don't know where franchised restaurants get off thinking it's pleasant to have all the waitresses on staff come and sing you happy birthday. I would have laughed and smiled; had they laughed and smiled, but the scene was too morbose. The waitresses sang a rendition of "happy birthday" that Rihanna could've written (that's a joke cause Rihanna doesn't write her own music...sorry, kids), and stared at me. Just. Stared.

But hey, I got free ice cream and food poisoning out the gig, so I can't complain.

Whack Friday

Hopefully everyone enjoyed their holidays. I did.

I have yet to experience the phenomena that is "Black Friday." The name wreaks of evil. Maybe Cusack could've raked in a few more bucks in the box office had "2012" been named "Black Friday."

Nomenclature aside, there's more gravitas reasons as to why I choose not to partake in the "running of the bulls-esque" parade of white trash that takes every Walmart and Target by Storm the first Friday after Thanksgiving.
1. I'm still in the process of working off a gnarley turkey hangover.
2. My idea of fun does NOT include being trampled by morbidly obese Texans (usually named Bertha or Leroy or something along those lines).
3. I HATE standing in lines.

I don't care what it is I'm buying, or who I'm buying it for - lines drive me crazy. I usually have nowhere important to be, but I usually find myself criticizing the hell out of people for everything from what kind of shoes they wear, to which groceries they've decided to buy when I'm stuck in a line. I promise I'm usually not a cynical person (despite the tone that many of my posts may take) but waiting lines can bring the worst out in me.

I'm a product of my generation. The "Y" generation is noted primarily for its need of immediate satisfaction. Call it what you want, but if you want to harp on this trait, then I'll deem you nostalgic and thwarting progression. I can't have it. Luckily, the "Black Friday" circus has gone digital for the people like me who don't see the point in waiting 45 minutes for a Chipotle burritio when Freebirds is half a block away. Enter, "Cyber Monday."

No, I know what you're thinking: Cyber Monday has nothing to do with chat roulette or live webcams. It is simply the culmination of the anger from a multitude of people who share the same sentiments about Black Friday that I do.

Google "Cyber Monday," and watch what returns. The first two sponsored results are for Walmart (the hell spawn responsible for the dimensional tear that occurs every Friday after Thanksgiving) and Amazon (what I would consider the online version of Walmart, minus the low grade groceries I wouldn't give to my dog).

And rightly so. These two online storefronts, along with Target.com received the most traffic on Cyber Monday, and offered the most coupons (Google it).

Beware of "Identity Theft Tuesday."

Brubway Brandwiches

Ah! Fat Jared! I miss ol' tons 'o' fun.

I was stoked when I heard about Subway's relatively-recent entry into the fast food breakfast market. I love subway. I mean, what's not to love about a salad and two chicken breasts stuffed into a foot-long loaf for five bucks? (By the way, I love how "our" healthy fast food chain still manages to appease my mean, gluttonous streak by offering me a twelve-inch long, nearly two pound sandwich for a five spot.)

I used to LOVE McDonald's breakfast until I realized I can only sustain my body on preservatives and mechanically-separated meat for so long (eat your heart out, hot dogs!) So when I heard my favorite once-fat man, J-Red was now hittin' up Subway for breakfast and a cup of Seattle's Best Coffee, I followed suit.

Last Saturday I made my way to Subway at 9 in the a.m. to give it a go.

Last Saturday, 9 a.m. - I'm nursing a bourbon and beer-induced hangover, and in need of the fountain-of-youth-extracted elixir they call coffee. My feet and stomach select Subway as the destination in mind.

9:15 (roughly) - I arrive at Subway. My motor skills summon every ounce of coordination they can muster to mutter something along the lines of "coffee, food-coffee" to the Subway...sandwich...maker...person.

9:16 - To my demise, I'm informed that there is no coffee. I assume that the more productive members of society's needs for caffeine outweighed the incapacitation my hangover caused. I order a sandwich anyway, simply because I needed something for my mouth to do that didn't include speaking - there's no telling what kind of trouble it would have gotten me into that morning.

I have frequented Subway twice since then for breakfast: on Monday, and this morning.

Both times - disappointment.

Monday morning, my girlfriend and I went twenty minutes after this certain location (which I will leave anonymous, but is located at 1109 University Ave in Lubbock, TX for those whom it may concern) opened to find that nothing was ready. No coffee, no food, no nothin'. The dude (emphasis on "the" since he was the only employee on-site) looked beastly, like he had just rolled out of bed. By the power of deduction, I assume he was late. We left abruptly.

This morning produced similar results. The food was ready, still no coffee. Damn you, Subway breakfast.

In an increasingly-competitive and profitable fast-food breakfast market, Subway needs to perform at a higher caliber if it plans on market penetration, ESPECIALLY since an absence of drive-thrus at most locations makes it an underdog. I know my experience may be a case specific only to that certain brick and mortar location, but the powers that be at the Subway HQ (wherever that may be) need to communicate the importance of reliability when executing new ventures, to their franchises.

While their sandwiches don't, this lapse has left a bad taste in my mouth.

Back to the drawing board, kiddos.

Mmmmm! E-Bagels!

Einstein Bro's Bagels opened in Lubbock today, and you'd think Robert Pattinson made a return trip to Crickett's. You know your town is located in the center of the universe when stories of mediocre bagel shops opening fill more corridors than Ron Jerem...forget that thought.

I'm not trying to knock Einstein Bro's. It's better than a lot of breakfast places around Lubbock. I mean hell, they serve Lox sandwiches, which was enough to make me drag my ass in there at 7:00 o'clock this morning. And I have to give them credit, it was a mighty fine slab of smoked salmon on my pumpernickel bagel (yeah, I keep it kosher for my non-gentile bruhs).

The coffee-shop culture of Seattle birthed the over-priced coffee giant, Starbucks. The bagel shop culture of New York inspired (but did not create) Einstein Bros. A lot of people knock Starbucks for attempting to engineer culture from coffee, and by doing so on a massive scale - the antithesis of what a coffee shop is "supposed" to be.

Sidenote: I could give two shits about which coffee shop I go to, and which crowd it attracts. I wake up in the morning and need caffeine, and my motor systems in conjunction with my neurological lead me to my fix.

Starbucks gets props for its inclusion of its customers into its workings through social media. They allow users in the online community to have a say in products offered and promotional deals amongst other things.

Bagel shops and coffee shops have one things in common: they cater to a very niche market, so their customers have created a microcosm around the food and/or beverage.

Einstein Bro's came along in 2006, long after Starbucks had the coffee industry by the groin. Still, their attempts at replicating Starbuck's goals prove feeble. There is NO online community, and their online storefront is lackluster to say the least.

In a day and age where social media is growing more and more prevalent, it seems absurd for a company that sells a very specific product, or provides a narrowly-tailored service to ignore the wants and needs of its consumers. It's proven effective with Starbucks, Dell and Mountain Dew, so it's definitely possible with Einstein Bros.

They don't even have day-old dozen bagel specials.

"I'm Your Density...I Mean...Your Destiny."

Ferris Bueller said it best, "life moves fast, if you don't stop to take a look around, you might miss something." Forgive me if I butchered that quote, but if you've seen the movie then you know what I'm talking about.
We live in a constantly-evolving world with constantly-evolving everythings. Hell! Newspaper's about dead (so they say) and DVR is murdering the commercial.
I guess it is true: video DID kill the radio star, but it didn't kill the industry - MTV did. Kidding. The music industry is a thriving, prosperous industry regardless of how video changed it.
Internet changed it.
Internet changed everything. Early (and current) internet advertisements included banners and pop-ups. Everyone hates, or doesn't care about either. But like the "ever-evolving" (I hate saying that so I'll use "juice box" instead) world around us, internet advertising is following suit.
It seems that a shift towards interactive advertisements and content-sponsored media is the trend in internet advertising.
In this article from BMG's marketing blog, they highlight the fact that the curtain that used to exist between a company and its customers is fading as social networking becomes more prevalent. This is smart. Internet in its simplest form IS an active medium. We sift through what we want to. Users see banner ads and pop-ups as hindrances, so by allowing us, the consumers, to create the content we wish to view i.e. Facebook fan pages, advertisements become...not advertisements.
The same goes for content-sponsored media. As annoying as it may seem, Youtube needs a way to pay the bills. We can't watch videos of sleep-walking dogs if Larry the bean counter for Youtube can't balance the checkbook.
Juice box.