Marketing Lessons Learned by Running
Categories: Advertising, Marketing, Miscellaneous, Public Relations, marketing communications.
Fifty-one beats per minute (51bpm). As of this week, that’s my resting heart rate low, and in fact, it’s my lowest heart rate since I was in college more years ago than I want to admit.
Although I’ve always been a pretty active guy for most of my life, I finally decided about a month ago to stop fighting reality — the reality that I have a runner’s body, a runner’s physique. Heck, when I got married nearly 28 years ago, I was 5′10″ and weighed 125 lbs. Seriously! Looking at my old pictures, I now see that I was almost as skinny/emaciated as a Kenyan marathon runner. And back in 1981 when I got married, I was training to run in the Deseret News Marathon, so guess what? Yup. I looked like a marathoner!
Today, I average about 175 lbs., but I now acknowledge I’m not a weight lifter, I’m never gonna be a mixed martial artist or hold a black belt, and although I like cycling, I’m really not a cycling enthusiast per sé.
No, when it comes to getting and staying in shape, my best bet is running. And for as long as I can lace up the shoes and put one foot in front of the other without my knees giving out, I’ve decided that I’m gonna run.
So . . . four weeks ago I started on this new journey. My initial goal? Four to six days a week (depending upon what’s going on in my life), morning runs preferred, starting at 20 minutes per outing Week 1 when I walked for five minutes then jogged for five minutes, walked for five, ran for five.
I’m now running 30 minutes at a time, and I’ve already run four times this week. And although I’m slow as molasses (let’s just say I have yet to break a 10-minute mile on this go-round), I am getting faster and my overall fitness level is improving. How do I know?
Well, 51bpm is part of that answer. During my runs I find that I’m in the range of 160 beats per minute, sometimes a little higher, sometimes a little lower. But five minutes after running my heart rate drops down to the 110bpm range, and within 15 to 20 minutes after running, I’m down in the 80bpm to 70bpm range.
I’m also seeing improvements in general muscle tone, as well as on the bathroom scales, as I’m noticing my weight creaping down closer and closer to the 170 lb. range.
My Running Background
My first experience with running came when I was in high school and got my arm twisted by a neighbor to join the wrestling team. He was good at wrestling; I never was.
But since wrestling involved up to three rounds per match and potentially 9 straight minutes of non-stop grappling, our coach felt that one of the best ways to build aerobic endurance was running. Unfortunately, San Carlos High School was perched halfway up the coastal mountain range bordering San Carlos, so we ran cross country-like routes all over the place, both on streets and on trails, typically 3-4 miles at a pop, five days a week. Soon, I hated running.
My next real experience with running was while attending Brigham Young University when I decided in early 1981 that it would be fun to run a marathon. Yeah, 26.2 miles.
Truth of the matter was I got to the point that I actually enjoyed running. At the height of my training, I was running six days a week and alternating between running six to eight miles per day. And somewhere around mile four to mile five, the endorphins kicked in and I felt like I could just run and run. That was cool!
About five days before July 24th(race day, a state holiday here in Utah known as Pioneer Day), I ran an 18-mile carbohydrate depletion run during the middle of the day with no problems on one of the hottest days of the year. I even attended a Preference Dance that evening with my soon-to-be wife, Allisha. Again, no problems.
However, I did not appreciate how bowed the roads were leading up to and back down from Little Mountain in Salt Lake City, and during the race I ran on the right edge of the road heading up the Little Mountain road, which meant my right foot/ankle were constantly rolling from left to right under growing pressure. About six miles into the marathon I began to develop serious pain in my right foot, pain that only grew the further I ran. After 16 miles I could barely walk and dropped out of the race, only to ingloriously throw-up near the finish line. How embarrassing!
The only redeeming point after the fact was having a doctor examine my x-rays and state authoritatively that I had suffered a stress fracture and to stop running for at least a month. Unfortunately, I did and I haven’t been a consistent runner ever since.
Running and Marketing Comparisons
So what does all of this have to do with marketing, let alone The Betty Factor? Let’s see if I can draw some parallels.
1. You have to start.
The only way to gain the benefits of running is to actually start running, placing one foot in front of the other. The same is true of marketing (whatever aspect of the marketing mix you’re considering). If you never begin a marketing campaign, you can NEVER gain the benefits of a marketing campaign. Sounds simple, and it is, but it’s still true.
2. Start with simple goals.
My first short-term goal was being able to run 20 minutes without stopping (or having a heart attack). This was a very specific and measurable goal, and I’ve now achieved this goal. I also wanted to lower my resting heart rate. That meant starting out knowing what my resting heart rate was before I started running (it was about 70bpm). Today, my first thing in the morning best resting bpm is 51 beats per minute. In marketing, you also need to set goals/objectives. I recommend little goals to start with, then advancing from there.
3. Monitor/analyze your progress.
Improvement in running is IMPOSSIBLE unless you are taking and monitoring key measurements: heart rate while running, resting heart rate, time per mile, etc. The same is true in marketing. It is impossible to know if you are improving or reaching your goals/objectives if you to NOT measure and analyze your progress.
4. Some progress is still progress.
Sometimes when running, improvements take time, sometimes more time than we expected or want. That’s okay: some progress is better than none. Besides, some progress is still progress. The same is also true in marketing — it’s often hard to see immediate progress or the progress may not match expected outcomes. If this is the case,
- give your marketing time to work,
- be patient, and
- evaluate what you’re doing and the results you’re achieving, and if necessary, modify your marketing regimen.
5. Modifying your efforts can improve results.
As alluded to in #4 above, sometimes you may find that you’ve hit a plateau when running or exercising. The same might also be true in your marketing efforts. If this is the case, try modifying your efforts to help you break through to the next level of results. For example, if you find that you’ve hit a wall and can’t run any faster, try some speed work.
For example, run the same distance or same length of time, but twice a week, run normal speed for a set distance or time, then run at a faster rate for the same distance or time, and alternate this effort throughout your workout. Done consistently, this farklet (or “speed play”) training will help boost your overall ability to process oxygen or maximum aerobic capacity (aka VO2 Max). Playing around with your marketing mix, always testing new variables to see if a higher result can be generated is a great way to maximize marketing outputs.
6. Extend/expand your goals as you achieve success.
As mentioned above, I’m now at 30 minutes per run. But my new goal is 45 minutes per run. And once I achieve that goal, I’ll set a new running goal altogether. Newer goals that expand the reach/potential of a marketing program are critical for success.
7. Go public with your efforts.
As a social media maven, I’ve been quite public about my efforts at running. I’ve also found great support from within my networks for my efforts to get back into running. I’ve also entered my first race in nearly 30 years, the 2009 BYU Homecoming Cougar Run, a 5K (five-kilometer race), something that I’m also being public about, both here and in other forums. The point is this: Telling other people, including competitors what it is you’re doing is a good thing as it publicly forces you to acknowledge your goals/objectives/efforts. It also gives you a venue for disclosing why you’re doing what you’re doing.
Conclusion
Naturally there are other comparisons that can be drawn between running and marketing, but I suspect these will suffice for now.
My final thought on the subject is this: If you’re not exercising today, start immediately, even if it’s only taking a walk around the block once a week (for starters). Twenty minutes per day for three days a week is a great starter program.
Ergo, consider a similar approach when it comes to marketing and the marketing communications mix.
I’ve also been reminded recently how much I enjoy getting down in the trenches to work with clients, craft strategic plans, roll out campaigns, pitch story ideas to journalists, and see concepts become reality.