Trail Runner magazine Blog
Symposium asked this month: Is trail
running becoming too commercialized?
Today, as trail
runners, we are bombarded daily, actually hourly, by ads. The latest shoes,
gear, bars, gels, gadgets are coming out on a quarterly basis. It is
overwhelming. There is always something newer, something better then what you
already have. Not long ago, trail shoes were just plain old road shoes with a
different sole. Now we have a shoe for every type of terrain imaginable.
Welcome to the age of commercialization. Commercialization is defined as:
… the process or cycle of introducing a new product or production method into the market. The actual launch of a new product is the final stage of new product development and the one where the most money will have to be spent for advertising, sales promotion, and other marketing efforts.