Source: Zen Running Club US
When I first heard of Zen Running Club, my first thought was “another company using Asian inspiration to capitalize on the rush to monetize meditation.” I tend to lead with the first skeptical thought… don’t ask why; maybe my chakras need alignment. Seriously, I’ve been very skeptical about covering new sneaker companies. With the abundance of Kickstarter launched brands there are more sneaker companies than ever. Those new companies see a flawed amount of success and then find trouble extending their reach beyond the Kikcstarter. Due to the number of new sneaker companies and the ease of a company being born via Instagram, I simply don’t want to share information about a new brand rolling out shoes that will eventually end up in a landfill. I write this, not to fire a shot at Zen Running, but to highlight that Zen is entering a space to compete with On Running and Allbirds, as opposed to simply entering the sneaker marketplace with “just” a cool shoe that doesn’t lead with purpose.
What exactly is Zen Running?
Zen Running Club is based in Holland and their USA warehouse in New Jersey. The founders of Zen Running Club – Richard Rusling, Andy Farnworth, and Dominic Sinnott – come from within the sportswear and fashion industry, where they created products and stories for powerhouses like Nike, Adidas, and Puma.
The new footwear company has a tagline of “Made from good decisions™”. As I stated above a lot of companies utilize Kickstarter as a store. That was never the true intention of Kickstarter. Kickstarter was a method of raising funds via social crowdfunding. Over time, it has become about the reward. Companies are using Kickstarter as evidence of success. It is not and the incorrect approach to Kickstarter contributes to the eventual failure of companies. Brands who launch there aren’t hoping to catch lightening in a bottle in a similar manner to Allbirds. They are running campaigns as a sales strategy. It works for a while, but if you recall the brand Inkkas, the business had to garner an investment on the show The Profit, to remain afloat. Other brands have simply faded away.
Zen Running launched a Kickstarter and then they did something unheard of. They hit $20,000 in sales there and then they cancelled before it ended:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zenrunningclub/the-zen-run-01/posts
The company moved to a true launch via their website. A much more difficult task as Kickstarter is an incredible feeder for the launch of a company. Here is the catch with Kickstarter, it can create a false positive. You can go back to the well of Kickstarter a few times, but eventually the well runs dry and at that point a brand has to connect with a new consumer to continue growth. Brands that return, never truly learn to sell. Zen Running understood that building community, generating content and rolling out the product through the site might be damn hard, but in the long run the strategy will pay dividends. The launch isn’t moving very quickly and that’s unfortunate. I’ve stated that any company entering the footwear market today, should lead with sustainability as their calling card. This doesn’t mean the product will connect. Quite the contrary. The average consumer knows a couple of brands. They trust the brands they know. The average consumer doesn’t care about sustainability. Being an eco-friendly company at the start means spending an inordinate amount of time educating the consumer before attempting to land the sale.Why Compare Zen to Allbirds?
I shouldn’t do that. Allbirds began as a running shoe company, shifted to a Silicon Valley darling, and they are now returning to their initial goal of being a performance shoe company. Zen Running approached the market with a running sneaker built from similar materials as Allbirds. What I’ve come to find is that Allbirds isn’t necessarily as sustainable as they have stated. When I began learning about Zen I wanted to ask how was it different?
Answer:
In the picture above are the elements which make up the ZR 01 trainer.
- Weight: 286g / 10.09oz (US M 9 / UK 8 / EU 42)
- Heel Drop: 9mm
- Midsole: Forefoot 24mm, Heel 33mm
- Neutral running style
- The Vegetarian Society approved Vegan product
- Sugarcane based rocker midsole
- TENCEL™ Lyocell sock-fit upper
- FSC Certified natural rubber outsole
- Castor bean sockliner
There isn’t any hype around Zen. A quick search online reveals a longstanding Running Club named Zen Running Company which isn’t associated with the brand at all. While the brand’s site shows up as the first link, the description is for the running club. The small problems of growth lie in the ability for a brand to absorb keywords for search until enough people are aware of the brand to make Zen Running Club overtake the multiple findings for the club. Their social platforms aren’t well formed:
https://www.facebook.com/wearezenrunningclub
https://www.instagram.com/zenrunningclub/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmDdIQj2fZXdc3O-gx6uo-Q
And all of the imagery for the company looks like what you see in this post. Everything is polished. That tends to be the issue with companies created by people who worked with brands before. They look bigger than they are and in looking bigger, they can distance themselves from the people. On their site should be:
- Discussions about Zen
- Interviews on mediation and running
- Breakdown of Braskem, something Allbirds never really did
- Behind the scenes
- Real people struggling with their first mile
Zen is a new company and while I think they are worth a look, they might have to be a bit more grimey in their eco-friendly approach. Will you consider the brand for your next pair of trainers? What do you think about what you can see here and from the links. It will be interesting to see the growth. Use the links throughout to check out the brand. Oh, the story of the box design should be amplified much more than it is on the site:
