The next time you see the familiar Nike swoosh, it may not be attached to one of the company’s signature filmic TV spots. In a bid to reverse a slide in market share among hard-core runners, Nike has invested in a grassroots campaign called the Nike Trial Van that directly targets runners where they play.

‘It’s really about focusing on the target,’ says Caroline Whaley, director of marketing for Toronto-based Nike Canada.

‘You can write as many ads as you like about running shoes but it’s not until you’ve tried them that you can really understand whether they’re the right shoe for you.’

The move is designed to counter the erosion of market share Nike has suffered in its running business. While figures are not available for Canada, in the U.S. the slide has been significant. According to SportScanINFO, a West Palm Beach-based research firm, Nike’s share of the running market fell from 63% in 1998 to 40% in 2002, ground lost to competitors like New Balance.

Created by Vancouver-based Inventa Promotions, the Trial Van is currently making pit stops at running events in Toronto and Vancouver where interested consumers can try on a pair of Bowerman series shoes (there are 15 different styles in all) and take them for a test run. ‘[Runners] can go for a run as long as [they] like,’ says Whaley. ‘In fact we’ve even had people go and run half-marathons in [the shoes].’

Introduced in 1999 and named after Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman, the specialty shoes emphasize specific qualities demanded by runners: they’re functional, not overdesigned and as light as possible, according to Whaley. When testers come back, they fill out a form, providing their contact information and feedback on the shoes.

The promotion, also running in Europe and the U.S., began in April and is scheduled to operate for a year and a half before re-evaluation.

According to Brent Nichols, co-founder of Inventa, the Trial Van will visit about four events per week, and he expects ‘tens of thousands’ of consumers to be exposed to the promotion. The vans, each carrying 150 pairs of shoes, visit events as small as 35-person running clubs and as large as 10,000-person marathons.

At every Trial Van stop, consumers are directed to nikerunning.ca, where they can register for a chance to win four free pairs of sneakers – at the end of the summer, three participants will be randomly selected to win the prize, with each receiving one pair of shoes every three months over the period of a year. People can also opt to be sent information on Nike product launches.

To get the word out, Inventa, which in the past has arranged Nike’s sponsorship of the Canadian Snowboard Federation, has a staff of 20 full- and part-time runners whose job it is to simply tell people about the promotion and the Web site, and thereby spread the word virally. Paid staffers earn between $11 and $15 per hour while volunteers receive as much as $800 in free Nike gear.

Via the Web site and Trial Van appearances, consumers will be directed to retailers selling Nike shoes. In keeping with the target of running enthusiasts, Nike is focusing on specialty retailers such as The Running Room and Frontrunners, rather than general sporting apparel stores. In-store marketing includes staff product seedings, window decals, ceiling banners and footwear wall shoecards.

‘How much involvement each retailer takes on is in the control of that retailer,’ says Nichols who, along with his brother and Inventa co-founder David, has been running for seven years. ‘We want to be there as a sport tool for them and as an exposure tool for the consumers.’

There is no print or TV associated with the campaign, further evidence, asserts Nichols, that this is a serious attempt to reach a hard-core audience unimpressed by flashy advertising. Says Nichols, ‘We have to be there touching and talking to runners. TV can’t literally put shoes onto people.’

Depending on the promotion’s success in Toronto and Vancouver, it could also be rolled out to more Canadian cities.