Sigh. I find myself writing this with less enthusiasm now that I have experienced the first loss of a fully written post. Must remember to save in future.
I finally returned to my running club on Saturday. I was so proud of myself to have gotten out of bed after only a few hours sleep. When I arrived I found that in the weeks I'd missed everyone had been given Puma hoodies - tiny pink ones for girls and khaki for boys. I've never had much to do with Puma before, but have to admit I was secretly jealous, even more so when I looked around and realised most people had other other cool Puma running kit as well. A photographer turned up to capture our colour-coordinated warm up. I had to hide at the back with the other stragglers.
So, it turns out that my running club is sponsored by Puma, and when I paid attention to all the other runners around me, it looks as though all the main sports brands are participating in this type of grass-roots sponsorship. When we split into groups my team ran past the Adidas Urban Gym on our way to a patch of grass where we were to begin our rocky-style hill training around the motorway on-ramp and the station flyover. A group of pretty serious looking Fila outfits were stretching in the corner. Then from the left came a fast pack of sporty shell suits. The coach claimed our turf, shouting "Oi Reebok, we've got the motorway today". That settled it.
I guess there's lots to say about trends and brand engagement, but I haven't really thought it all through yet.
Most of all I like the way that people here really like brands, and the brands seem to really like people.
