Playground →
Runner's World sits at the top of Hoka's neighbor set at 0.79, but the more revealing structural fact is that the top 10 splits cleanly into two distinct audience neighborhoods — one anchored in running and fitness media, the other drifting toward sport-adjacent and lifestyle content.
The shape is two-peak. The first cluster groups around endurance and active-lifestyle content: Runner's World (0.79), Livestrong (0.77), Eat This, Not That! (0.76), Triathlete Magazine (0.72), and Fitbit (0.73) — three Fitness brands and two magazines, all oriented around training, nutrition, and performance tracking. This cluster is the expected one for a footwear brand in the Fitness subcategory. The second peak is less obvious: USA Lacrosse Magazine (0.74), Pinehurst Resort (0.73), and Electronics (0.73) pull the neighbor set toward organized sport spectatorship, resort hospitality, and consumer tech — categories with no direct thematic link to running shoes. Michael Phelps (0.72) and Spartan (0.70) round out the ten, adding athletes and competitive fitness events that sit between the two peaks.
No other Fitness brands appear in the top 10 beyond Livestrong, Fitbit, and Spartan — the three that do appear are all on the performance and tracking end of the subcategory, not apparel or footwear peers.
The split suggests Hoka's audience is shaped by both dedicated endurance participants and a broader active-lifestyle segment that extends well past running.
