I feel like current running marketing is bad for shoes and clothes. For shoes, it's not always clear if the shoe is a dedicated running shoe or if it's just supposed to look cool and you wear to class.
I am guessing that a lot of money that running companies make come from the chunk of people who buy <3in running shorts, running singlets, racing flats, multiple pairs of shoes, etc that I would call "serious runners". They aren't serious because they buy those things. They buy those things because they are serious. The "other group" is people who buy a tshirt every once in a while, and 1 pair of shoes a year. There's a lot more of these people, but they buy a lot less.
Here are some marketing ideas that I think would appeal to the "serious runners".
1. Professional runners as the model for every product. Whether they are in a photo studio, or in a workout on a track, or in a race. It lends credibility to the product and gives someone an idea of what it will look like when they are running in them. This also offers sponsored athletes an easy way to become the face of their sponsor (and thus continue contracts and get paid more).
2. "Competition Lines"Some companies do this, kind of. They release their Elite singlets, etc. I think an effective strategy would be to have a link to stuff marketed to competitive runners all in one webpage: Here are our daily trainer options, our Long Run shoes, our "fast workout" shoes, our racing flats, our spikes, our singlets, our 2 and 3in split shorts, our half tights. A sense of exclusivity or at least a sense of shared understanding of the product's intended purpose. Separate the "true" running shoes and clothes from the weekly run/gym workout stuff.
3. Shoe specs, always. Front and center, not buried in specs or whatever The type of cushioning, the stack height, the weight, the heel-toe offset, the support (if there is any), the intended distances. You should be able to sort by these things. Runningwarehouse does it better than any company website.
To some degree, 2 and 3 are already used, but I think not enough. Let me know what you think.