Image credit: Hylo
For many amateur runners, choosing their next shoe is one of the most important decisions they will make. Those trainers will accompany them for hundreds of miles of exercise, so finding a product that fits well, lasts the distance, and is within their price range is a research task most are prepared to spend time on.
Today, they are undoubtedly spoilt for choice. While household names like Nike, Adidas and Asics were once the brands of choice for most runners, recent years have seen upstart competitors introduce product innovation and fashionable designs into the market that have convinced consumers to switch their allegiances.
Factors like durability, cost and performance gains are all taken into consideration when buying a new pair of running shoes, but there is a new generation of runners who are increasingly loyal to brands which are prioritising sustainability in the historically wasteful footwear market.
One of those companies is UK-based Hylo Athletics, which was founded in 2020 by former professional soccer player Michael Doughty and Jacob Green. Barely two years later, the company was among 29 brands named in the second edition of the Laureus Sport for Good Index, which recognised Hylo for its efforts to put sustainability at the forefront of its sportswear business.
A certified B Corp and part of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), which commits its members to ensuring compliance and minimum standards throughout its supply chain in areas like labour rights, worker wellbeing and environmental impact, Hylo prioritises biobased materials over fossil fuel-derived plastics and seeks to keep trainers out of landfill through its Hyloop recycling platform, which encourages runners to send back their used trainers for repurposing.
At the same time, Hylo maintains that sustainability shouldn’t compromise performance for the community of runners wearing its shoes – which are also vegan. Earlier this year, the company launched the Hylo Impact, its latest model which comprises 40 per cent biobased materials by weight and is part of an ambition to create an eco-friendly product that can compete with the market’s highest-performing everyday running shoes.
While Hylo has earned plaudits for its sustainable approach, raised UK£2.5 million (US$3.24 million) to support its growth, and has now expanded into the US, standing out in the cluttered running shoe market remains a challenge for new brands – especially if they don’t yet have the resources to invest in the loud advertising campaigns that have come to be associated with some of the legacy players in the space.
True to its roots, Hylo is seeking to build awareness more organically through its Local Champions Fund (LCF), which was launched earlier this year. The initiative includes a commitment to donate one per cent of the company’s annual revenues to community-led, sustainability-focused running projects that are delivering positive social and environmental impact in their local area.
“We want to be out there with runners in the community, but how best to show up was a big question for us,” says Hylo’s marketing manager Abigail Nolan, who conceptualised the idea for the fund together with Doughty. “We want to say yes to as much as possible to be able to grow our brand awareness, but also a lot of things don’t quite sit well with our mission, our values, and also our time.
“So it was a question of what we want to be putting out there, how we want to be showing up with these communities, and feeling like we’re making an impact. Because it all comes back to our mission as a company and wanting to make a positive impact.”
Indeed, Nolan believes the LCF is a more authentic way for the company to build awareness than other marketing techniques such as a sponsorship of a big event that would grant the company logo placement and other rights, which she says “doesn’t feel very Hylo”.
Anyone can request funding from the LCF via a form on the Hylo website before applications are assessed monthly by a six-person committee, which is made up of two employees, representatives from the company’s retail partners, and other members of its running community.
Just months into the initiative, Hylo is already receiving up to ten applications a month, which are evaluated based on whether their projects are protecting the planet, promoting access to movement, and creating human connections.
Hylo caps its support at a maximum of US$1,000 for each project, although each programme is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Nolan says the company wants to be giving money “little and often” so that it can benefit initiatives making a local impact throughout the year, rather than pumping most of its money into one big project.
Among the projects that have been approved so far are South Central Run Club, an LA-based organisation led by women of colour which arranges running and wellness events for people of all races, genders and abilities.
Back in the UK, Hylo is supporting a community called Intrspct Collective, a group that aims to break down the stigmas around men’s mental health. Next month, it is bringing its community together for a day of activities and discussions around the topic of emotional vulnerability.
One of the first projects Hylo funded, meanwhile, was Caru Eryri, a volunteer initiative at Snowdonia National Park where participants are on hand to advise visitors and clear any rubbish left on the hiking trails.
The company has even leant financial support to runners on both sides of the Atlantic who maintain community gardens where they grow organic produce and wildflowers.
“The main thing for us as a brand is the organic sharing,” Nolan says. “We feel proud to be able to support these projects and we want to be able to make this impact without being in your face. That doesn’t feel very us.
“All of these are individual projects, yes, but a big thing for us is building these long, lasting relationships with these people. Because the people that are applying for the fund don’t just do one project and that’s it.
“They’re ongoing supporting their community, so we want to be with them in that journey.”
Hylo’s decision to focus on ‘local champions’ also comes at a time when there is a growing community feel around running. That trend was partly driven by Covid, which saw more people take up the sport during lockdown, leading to a surge in activity on digital platforms like Strava.
Now, though, that virtual community is starting to show up in real life, whether it be through the ever-increasing number of recreational running clubs made up of seasoned marathon runners or Parkrun enthusiasts who simply want to start their weekend with some exercise or meet new people from their local area.
And crucially, those communities talk. Choosing a pair of running shoes might previously have been a personal exercise confined to internet browsers, but consumers can now rely on the first-hand experiences and opinions of those they regularly exercise with.
For sportswear firms, then, showing up within those communities seems a natural opportunity to build brand affinity and drive purchase consideration. And for a company like Hylo, which is a business rooted in environmental sustainability and social impact, it sees the LCF as a means to live up to its mission, amplify its message, and hopefully generate grassroots awareness in its own unique way.
“Runners really do try and be somewhat mindful, and trying to increase the amount of conversations around that is really important to us,” Nolan notes. “So showing that we are an option and a more mindful and sustainable option is really the conversation that we want to have.
“That’s a slow process, it will take time, but it is going and it is happening. And even down to the circularity of our product, compared to other shoes, is such an important one, and runners do connect with it.
“Everybody’s always looking for their next new shoe, so to show that we’re that option for the more mindful runners is the goal.”
This feature is part of the Sport for Good Playbook, which explores how brands are implementing strategies that deliver social and environmental impact through sport. To learn more about the Laureus Sport for Good Index, click here.