Brooks: Running Towards Smooth CRM Practices

Welcome to PostFunnel’s 22nd episode in the Seven CRM Commandments series – where we analyze one brand’s basic CRM tactics.

This week, we’re analyzing Brooks Running, the American company that designs and markets high-performance running shoes and gear.

Ready to find out how they score and rank against the rest? On your marks, get set, go!

1. Be Transparent 8/10

In a recent press release, Brooks announced that it had joined a new coalition, the Running Industry Diversity Coalition (RIDC), for running brands and runners that support and represent Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC)

The point in being transparent as a brand is humanizing it. And joining such an initiative and making it public playing into that value exactly, while, of course, supporting the cause of ending systemic racism in the running industry.

“Brooks and HOKA are brands comprised of people who love running. We are committed to continuing the work of representing our sport—and all runners—in authentic ways, and to making the joy of movement accessible to everyone. We are proud of the work RIDC has committed to doing and look forward to seeing progress made within the industry and sport we all love so much,” Brooks CEO Jim Weber and HOKA ONE ONE President Wendy Yang said in a joint statement.

2. Incentives and Perks 6/10

When analyzing the brand, we couldn’t find promotions or other incentives and perks right off the bat.

The brand does have a sale category that offers customers deals, but this is not the same as offering special incentives for customers to build long-lasting relationships.

And only towards the bottom of the HP did we notice this signup offer:

3. Be Relevant 6/10

We have analyzed many other brands to date that show recognition for global events such as climate change or the coronavirus pandemic in one way or another.

Whether it be empathy, new offerings, a dedicated “commonly asked questions” page, or simply mentioning how the product/service has been affected, like possible shipping delays.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any of the above on Brooks’ website asides from the curbside pickup banner all the way at the bottom of the HP, with the text that reads: “Get curbside pickup or same-day delivery. All fees on us.” Curbside pickup is a buying method that became more popular since social distancing is a thing.

Furthermore, since Halloween is coming up as well as the Fall season, perhaps a banner or some coloring alterations would have been nice to have to get into that festive mood.

We did give the brand a couple of points here due to their recent coalition on systemic racism (which is probably in response to BLM protests from the summer) mentioned in more detail in the first commandment above.

4. Be Helpful 10/10

In honor of Gabe Grunewald, a distance runner who lost the battle to cancer, Seattle-based Brooks Running shoes partnered with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Grunewald, who represented the United States at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships, partnered with Brooks Running shoes back in 2010.

And now, Brooks is introducing a special edition Launch 7 in honor of the late Grunewald, “Brave Like Gabe Launch 7” and all proceeds will go to cancer research.

5. Realtime Personalization 5/10

What’s neat on the Brooks website is the ability to build your own shoes and bras to personalize them to your specific fit, needs, and likings.

When looking for a bra, you can design the shape that suits your body perfectly:

This process is excellent for the customer experience as you can literally design the bra of your choice and then get a list of bras to choose from according to your specific needs.

If you’re still unsure, you can ask Gurus questions about gear. “Get expert tips on selecting the right running gear, advice on gifts for your favorite runner…” as they put it on their website.

After adding items to your cart and using the shoe finder feature (more detail on that below), we couldn’t help but notice this messaging from the brand – which shows how they value the personalization factor of customers:

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Save your recommendations

You’ll never forget your perfect shoes when you shop because we’ll do the remembering. Create an account or sign in for instant access to your recommendations.

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However, all these capabilities and options will help their score on our next category below. And here we are looking for that more automated realtime kind of personalization. And, as with other brands, no realtime retargeting efforts were implemented by the brand, and we didn’t notice any upselling or cross-selling techniques either.

6. Master UX 10/10

Our overall experience with the brand was great. Their website is clear and simplistic, making it easy for runners to find what they’re looking for – at top speed.

The personalization options described above are fantastic.

The shoe finder feature allows customers to find the perfect shoe in less than 5 minutes by filling out all of the desired qualities: where they will be training (road, gym, trail), how many mile runs, the purpose of the run (health, marathon, or more) and even if they’ve endured any injury in specific areas of their legs.

The whole shoe finding experience was exciting.

At the end, they recommend you with a list of perfect shoes to choose from according to all the questions you filled in.
The details of the products are presented to customers in a truly unique and engaging way. Details on a smooth transition, soft cushioning, plush fit, and so much more are super helpful both for the professional and beginning runners alike.
Finally, we love the neat way of presenting the star ratings and real customer reviews here:

7. Leverage Social Media 10/10

Brooks’ Instagram account boasts more than 600k followers. The brand knows what it is doing on this platform, using the Insta Story Feature, and posting high-quality content in high frequency. Including the Rundestober challenge with Boston Marathon Champion Des Linden:

On Facebook, the brand has over 1.5 million likes. With several local accounts, Brooks is actively engaging its running community in so many ways – that work!

On Twitter, not only does Brooks promote its own products and challenges, but it also tweets on the upcoming U.S. presidential elections, among other events in the world. They also use the platform to promote giveaways, provide a glossary of weird running words, and so much more.

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Overall, Brooks is getting a 55/70 here (79%) placing them firmly within the leading bunch. Well done!

It’s evident that the company’s marketing and CRM teams are trying to cover all bases – with 3 perfect 10s and no score below 5.

Offering customers promotions that make sense at this time are a great way to strengthen and create loyal customer relationships. And by deploying realtime processes will push them into the top 5 for sure. The faster Brooks realizes this, the better!

Here are the full rankings of all the brands we analyzed to date:

1. Pets at Home 91%
2. Lowe’s 90%
3. Petco 90%
4. Target 87%
5. Uniqlo 86%
6. West Elm 81%
7. Brooks Running 79%
8. Best Buy 78%
9. Etsy 76%
10. The Body Shop 74%
11. Gymshark 73%
12. Iceland Foods 71%
13. Total Wine & More 70%
14. Tommy Hilfiger 70%
15. Walgreens 70%
16. Kohl’s 70%
17. Buy Buy Baby 68%
18. Fiverr 67%
19. Next 63%
20. Patagonia 61%
21. Burberry 60%
22. COS 57%

We publish a new analysis every week, so watch this space for more brand analyses coming your way!