OFF Stories: Read, watch or listen to stories that move by On | On United States (on-running.com)
Split into four primary categories: Movement, Culture, Athletes, Planet, Off Stories provide training insight, motivational stories from On sponsored athletes, informative strategies being implemented by On to offset the brand’s effect on the planet and cultural discussions on community activities which foster fitness and well-being.
The allotment of employee energy to the creation of content on the brand website is often taken for granted by brands. With social media allowing for the immediate gratification of a like or a view number brands spend more time going where people are. Over time the connection to fans on social turns into 1-2 second scroll, tap and on to the next dance craze on TikTok. The brand loses control of the narrative, and they lose the opportunity to engage visitors to their sites.
The OFF site doesn’t compete against On’s social media presence. It offers a way for the brand to tell the longer story about the why behind a product. I note this often when discussing the power of an internal marketing team who takes the time to create content, search remains the primary driver of traffic to websites and can overcome the pay to play aspect of shopping from social or through social.
The most important aspect of OFF, is the fact that sneaker media tends to dwell on release dates and hype which often leaves more thoughtful storytelling lost. Take a moment to search for a collaboration like the Cloudnova x Rosenkranz on Bing and there aren’t any additional sites on the first page discussing the shoe. On completely owns this search. That’s a powerful tool. On doesn’t leave a sneaker media site in control of the story that created this limited-edition sneaker. In 2024 internal marketing and content teams will become the next wave and On has a fantastic head start.
