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Tracksmith's Anti-Nike Approach to Growth Marketing
Plus: Building Leverage Through Own Media Publications

The global running apparel market is surprisingly expected to grow from $13 billion in 2023 to $16 billion, largely driven by:
Rising popularity of smart wearables and integration of tech into running apparel, footwear and lifestyle apps.
Consumer behaviour has shifted towards a more active lifestyle and the growing popularity of marathon
Increasing draw towards designer athleisure and designer running apparel and shoes
A competitive market to enter but Tracksmith figured out a way to reach their consumers directly, carving out their place in this niche.
In today’s edition, I’ll be covering the following:
Acquiring customers through their own media company and blog
The anti-Nike approach that grows their community
Paid advertising approach on Google and Facebook ads
Trend Spotlight: Virtual Influencers Are On The Rise
Hope you enjoy today’s breakdown, and don’t forget to vote in the poll 🙏
- Dev
FEATURE CASE STUDY
Tracksmith

Context: Tracksmith is a pure running label that is on a mission to uncomplicate running. It doesn’t dabble in other sports or lean into the hybrid fitness trend, it simply stays focused on its community of ‘amateur runners’.
Established in 2014 by an ex-Puma marketing executive, Tracksmith was built out of Matt Taylor’s frustration with how established running brands were ignoring the ‘core runner’ and watering down their messaging to appeal to a broader fitness/athleisure market. Through its launch, the brand was presented to the world with a more understated, less loud aesthetic compared to other running brands. Its connection to the running culture and history of the Boston Marathon is central to the brand’s identity and origin.
CONTENT MARKETING
Prioritising Owned Media Channels
Tracksmith publishes a magazine called Meter that accompanies their more brand-related blog. Meter explores the culture and untold stories of running without overt product promotion or ads. The blog focuses on bite-sized inspirations, stories, lookbooks and short films/videos.
“As a consumer, I felt that there was a kind of cultural void….Not only from a performance perspective, where American distance running was at its worst, but the sport as a whole was nowhere to be seen in the media landscape.”
Their content creation efforts focus on two things:
→ Relatable content
Create engaging content that resonates with competitive amateur runners.
Show them they understand their wins and pains.
→ Focus on storytelling
Build an emotional connection through deeper stories most brands would avoid. You can get a taste of one of their popular essays below.
Although Meter runs alongside Tracksmith, it has a clear purpose that adds immense value to its growth.
It’s helped them:
Reinforce the brand’s values showcasing its commitment to the running community and its passion for storytelling.
Build a strong community of passionate runners, who typically become life-long VIP customers.
Differentiates itself from other running brands by focusing on culture and untold stories of running rather than only focusing on product marketing (what most of their bigger competitors like Puma, Reebok and Nike do).
Meter and their blog help Tracksmith create a strong brand identity that runners are proud to be a part of. The content is honest, authentic and confident, which increases trust and customer loyalty.
COMMUNITY BUILDING
The Anti-Nike Approach
Tracksmith invests in serving the community to keep them involved and engaged by taking a more subtle approach to brand building than Nike.
Unlike Nike, which often focuses on elite athletes and broad consumer markets, Tracksmith targets amateur runners and the dedicated, almost cultish running community.
The Anti-Nike Approach:
Building relationships with micro-influencers, especially those their community looks up to or mentions.
Tracksmith hosts free runs for their community with their retail store in Boston serving as a meet-up spot.
Partners with running clubs, teams, and organisations to support their initiatives and events, expanding the brand’s reach.
Therapy sessions within their physical stores
On top of all the content from Meter and their blog, they send regular newsletters to their engaged community, updating them on events, products, and importantly stories from the running world.
Not the most growth marketing hacky tactic but they do design their products with committed runners in mind — consistently emphasising quality, durability, and timeless aesthetics. No doubt this has helped increase their word-of-mouth coverage.
PAID ADVERTISING
Using Paid Ads to Support the Overall Marketing Strategy
Google Ads

Strategy: Centred around targeting specific keywords related to running, such as “running shoes”, “running apparel”, and “marathon running”. This is to make sure that they are in front of ready-to-buy customers who are actively searching for products like theirs.
What they focus on in their Google ads channel:
Retargeting website visitors, cart abandoners, and engaged users across the display ad network
Keyword research targeting their ideal customer profile
Ad copywriting that highlights quality, durability and use of emotional language
Placing ads on running-related websites and blogs, such as Runner’s World, Competitor, and iRunFar
Advertising on niche apps like Strava and RunKeeper
Their approach delivers two key outcomes:
Increases conversions → through targeted keywords, capturing ready-to-buy customers.
Scale and cost-effectiveness → paying for clicks only when people click + consistently re-hashing budget to focus on best-performing keywords.
Meta Ads

Strategy: Through their ad copy they emphasise a hero message, highlight specific product benefits through visuals and ensure they drive shoppers straight to the relevant product pages.
What they focus on:
Lead with targeting engaged users who visit their website, cart abandoners and engage with their Facebook/Instagram account.
Visually appealing creative, leading with product and social proof. They use carousels, stories, and vertical reels.
Use dynamic product carousels to re-serve cart abandoners the products they considered purchasing.
High-quality video content gets audiences turning their heads. Tracksmith knows this and uses it to hero a product or tell their brand story.
Remarketing ads consist of testimonials in image and video format.
Their approach benefits them by tailoring creative assets and messages based on the customer’s buying stage.
TREND SPOTLIGHT
Virtual Influencers Are On The Rise

Source: Eater.com
35% of U.S. consumers have bought products promoted by virtual influencers and the virtual influencer market was valued at a whopping $4.06 billion in 2022, forecasted to increase by 26% in 2025 🤯
Here’s why brands are getting behind this:
→ It’s more cost effective than traditional human influencers. It achieves the same outcome and AI influencers don’t require compensation (obviously) for their time and any other costs associated with real people.
→ Have more control over virtual influencers as they can easily edit, customise and manage their content & persona. This allows for faster turnaround and less risk of mistakes and controversies.
→It has a global reach and can be programmed to communicate in multiple languages across multiple regions, making it a versatile marketing tool.
Some examples of virtual influencers in action:
The Colonel (KFC’s virtual influencer): based on the legendary colonel mascot have collaborated with brands like Dr Pepper.
Lil Miquela: One of the most well-known virtual influencers with over 3 million followers on Instagram who speaks out on social issues, releases music on Spotify and even launched her clothing. Her rising popularity has seen her collaborate with brands like Prada.
Knola: A digital avatar created by the fashion brand Kenzo to personify the brand’s creative vision and values. It’s an interesting use case for fashion brands to build deeper connections with their customers.
Why this matters: Offers DTC brands a flexible, cost-effective, and scalable approach that aligns with their marketing funnel. It's low-risk, highly customizable, and achieves similar outcomes as traditional marketing. Importantly, it resonates with younger audiences who are the future customers of DTC brands.
FIN
Thanks for Reading!
Hope you enjoyed that and please email your thoughts on what else you’d like me to cover in this newsletter. Remember, the goal is to make this a repository of actionable strategies that we can refer back to in new campaigns. Until next time 👋
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